Johannes van der Kemp arrives at the Cape

The VOC slaver Hasselt arrived with 228 enslaved people taken from the West African coast. Together with the Amersfoort shipment, their arrival expanded forced labour at the Cape.

The colonial administration organized free settlers into an armed commando shortly before open conflict with Khoikhoi communities. The militia strengthened settler control over land and livestock.

Khoikhoi fighters led by Doman raided settler herds in an attempt to recover cattle and land appropriated along the Liesbeeck River. The raids opened the first sustained anti-colonial war at the Cape.

British forces attacked the Cape during the French Revolutionary Wars. The battle began Britain's first occupation and transferred colonial power without consulting the indigenous or enslaved...

Dutch colonial authorities surrendered the Cape to Britain. Indigenous communities and enslaved people remained subjected to colonial rule under a new imperial power.

A British invasion defeated Batavian troops near Cape Town and began the second British occupation. Colonial rule over the Cape's African and enslaved population changed hands again.

More than 300 enslaved people and Khoikhoi labourers, led by Louis of Mauritius and others, attempted to end slavery and marched toward Cape Town. Colonial forces defeated the uprising and executed...

Makhanda led thousands of amaNdlambe fighters in a daylight attack on the British military centre at Grahamstown. The assault was a major attempt to resist British invasion and land dispossession on...

The Cape government promulgated Ordinance 50, formally ending compulsory passes for Khoikhoi and other free people of colour and recognizing equality before colonial law. Economic coercion and land...

Slavery legally ended in the Cape, but formerly enslaved people were compelled to serve a four-year apprenticeship. Slave owners received compensation while the emancipated received none.