Up from Slavery by Richard E. van der Ross

Records suggest that these three regions contributed approximately a quarter of the enslaved Cape population until 1808 when Britain outlawed the oceanic slave trade in its colonies. Therefore, the VOC looked to eastern realms such as the east African coast, the middle South Asian circuit and the easternmost Asian circuit to supply the additional labour. In addition, the directors of the VOC, the Heren XVII or the Gentlemen Seventeen, did not support enslavement of indigenous people. The VOC, however, could not rely on West Africa as a source of slaves because the Dutch West India Company had a monopoly on this trade. Thus, the VOC decided to import slaves to increase the available workforce. Neither the VOC employees, nor the indigenous Khoisan produced adequate provisions to satisfy the demand of ships passing through the refreshment station. The VOC envisioned the Cape as a refreshment stop for company ships on their way to and from the East. Save for a short-lived Batavian period (1803–1806), the British ruled the Cape from 1795 throughout the 19 th-century. These results contribute to an improved understanding of the dynamics of slave trading in the Indian Ocean world.īetween the years 16, the Dutch East India Company (VOC) governed the Cape Colony of present day South Africa. Possible provenances were suggested for two individuals. In addition, the 87Sr/ 86Sr data suggested that the non-locally born men came from more diverse geographic origins than the migrant women. Using three proxies, 87Sr/ 86Sr, δ 13C dentine and the presence of dental modifications, a majority (54.5%) of the individuals were found to be born non-locally. The aim of the study was to elucidate individual mobility patterns, the age at which the forced migration took place and, if possible, geographical provenance. This study integrated new strontium isotope data with carbon and nitrogen isotope results from an 18 th-19 th century burial ground at Cobern Street, Cape Town, to identify non-European forced migrants to the Cape. Cape Town became a cosmopolitan settlement with different categories of people, amongst them a non-European underclass that consisted of slaves, exiles, convicts and free-blacks. The indigenous Khoisan, however, did not constitute an adequate workforce, therefore the VOC imported slaves from East Africa, Madagascar and Asia to expand the workforce. The Dutch East India Company (VOC) intended the Cape of Good Hope to be a refreshment stop for ships travelling between the Netherlands and its eastern colonies.

Up from Slavery by Richard E. van der Ross