Editing History of South Africa (section)

===British at the Cape===
{{Main|British Cape Colony|History of South Africa (1815–1910)}}
[[File:Punch Rhodes Colossus.png|thumb|upright|''[[The Rhodes Colossus]]''—[[Cecil Rhodes]] spanning "Cape to Cairo"]]
In 1787, shortly before the [[French Revolution]], a faction within the politics of the [[Dutch Republic]] known as the [[Patriottentijd|Patriot Party]] attempted to overthrow the regime of [[stadtholder]] [[William V, Prince of Orange|William V]]. Though the revolt was crushed, it was resurrected after the [[Low Countries theatre of the War of the First Coalition|French invasion of the Netherlands]] in 1794/1795 which resulted in the stadtholder fleeing the country. The Patriot revolutionaries then proclaimed the [[Batavian Republic]], which was closely allied to revolutionary France. In response, the stadtholder, who had taken up residence in England, issued the [[Kew Letters]], ordering colonial governors to surrender to the British. The British then [[Invasion of the Cape Colony (1795)|seized the Cape in 1795]] to prevent it from falling into French hands. The Cape was relinquished back to the Dutch in 1803.<ref>{{Cite web |title=South Africa - British occupation of the Cape {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/South-Africa/British-occupation-of-the-Cape |access-date=2022-07-12 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref> In 1805, the British inherited the Cape as a prize during the [[Napoleonic Wars]],<ref name=":0" /> [[Battle of Blaauwberg|again seizing]] the Cape from the French controlled [[Kingdom of Holland]] which had replaced the Batavian Republic.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/batavian-republic-1803-1806 | title=Batavian Republic 1803-1806 &#124; South African History Online }}</ref>

Like the Dutch before them, the British initially had little interest in the Cape Colony, other than as a strategically located port. As one of their first tasks they outlawed the use of the Dutch language in 1806 with the view of converting the European settlers to the British language and culture.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kachru |first1=Braj |title=The Handbook of World Englishes |last2=Kachru |first2=Yamuna |last3=Nelson |first3=Cecil |date=2009 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-1405188319 |pages=160–161}}</ref> The [[Cape Articles of Capitulation]] of 1806 allowed the colony to retain "all their rights and privileges which they have enjoyed hitherto",<ref>{{Cite book|title=Human rights and the South African legal order|publisher=[[Princeton University Press]]. Princeton (New Jersey).|year=1978|isbn=0-691-09236-2|author=John Dugard|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/humanrightssouth0000duga}}</ref> and this launched South Africa on a divergent course from the rest of the British Empire, allowing the continuance of [[Roman-Dutch law]]. British [[sovereignty]] of the area was recognised at the [[Congress of Vienna]] in 1815, the Dutch accepting a payment of 6 million pounds (equivalent to £31,2 billion in 2023)<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |title=Measuring Worth - Purchase Power of the Pound: economic share |url=https://www.measuringworth.com/calculators/ukcompare/relativevalue.php |access-date=2024-04-16 |website=www.measuringworth.com}}</ref> for the colony.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The War in South Africa|publisher=Nabu Press.|year=2010|isbn=978-1141789283|author=Arthur Conan Doyle}}</ref> This had the effect of forcing more of the Dutch colonists to move (or trek) away from British administrative reach. Much later, in 1820 the British authorities persuaded about 5,000 middle-class British immigrants (most of them "in trade") to leave Great Britain. Many of the [[1820 Settlers]] eventually settled in [[Grahamstown]] and [[Port Elizabeth]].

British policy with regard to South Africa would vacillate with successive governments, but the overarching imperative throughout the 19th century was to protect the strategic trade route to India while incurring as little expense as possible within the colony. This aim was complicated by border conflicts with the Boers, who soon developed a distaste for British authority.<ref name=":0" />