Rebecca Govender 10w
Wynberg Girls’ High School
Essay Question: How and why do we remember slavery at the Cape?
It is vital that we remember slavery at the Cape. It is our history and gives us some answers as to why and how the Mother City has become what is today. This essay will explain how and why we remember slavery at the Cape. The following points will be discussed: when and why slaves were introduced at the Cape, where they came from, the roles they played in Cape society, the resistance of slaves, their liberation, their change of status in society after being liberated and in conclusion the lasting impact they have made on Cape culture as we know it today.
One cannot pinpoint the exact date when slavery was introduced at the cape.
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The other African slaves were traded to VOC by African Chiefs, and in exchange they got access to guns and European technology. The slaves were prisoners of certain tribes and enslaved. Some people even fled from warfare in their own countries and into slavery because they thought it was better than the lives they had. Slaves were kept in terrible conditions on the ships, they were chained together and had very little space to move, and they were hardly taken to the deck of the ship for sunlight and hygiene was very poor. As a result many slaves died before actually arriving at the Cape. The slaves had had a piece of themselves stripped away from them when they were bought by slave traders when they finally arrived at the Cape as they weren’t allowed to keep a religion (even Catholicism or Christianity), they often got separated from their families and renamed if their names were too difficult to pronounce or if the slave owner wanted to. They were given biblical names like Maria, Jacob, Abraham and Sarah; classical names such as Titus and Cupido; even months of …show more content…
They had travelled from farm to farm in disguise as a Spanish captain, and British officers and persuaded slaves and servants to join them. Everything had seemed to be going to plan but the resistance started to grow and the news soon reached the governor of the Cape. He sent soldiers to wait just outside of Cape Town in anticipation of the rebellious group. The rebellion was soon defeated and almost all the slaves were captured, trailed and sentenced to death, including Louis of