Slavery is formally abolished in the Cape Colony

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...

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...

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.

A fortified Voortrekker commando defeated a much larger Zulu force, consolidating settler expansion into the interior. The battle later became central to Afrikaner nationalist memory.

The colonial proclamation pushed the Cape-Xhosa boundary to the Kei River and placed more African land under British authority. It followed the War of the Axe and intensified dispossession.