Makhanda leads an attack on Grahamstown

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.

The missionary Johannes van der Kemp arrived and later worked with Khoikhoi and Xhosa communities. His activities included criticism of settler abuses, although they also formed part of the missionary...

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...

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.

During the Sixth War of Dispossession, Hintsa entered Governor Benjamin D'Urban's camp to negotiate after receiving assurances of safety. The British detained him and demanded cattle and territorial...

Hintsa was shot while attempting to escape British custody. His killing became a lasting symbol of colonial betrayal and Xhosa resistance.

Four years after formal abolition, the enforced apprenticeship period ended. Formerly enslaved people gained legal freedom but generally received neither land nor compensation.