Editing History of South Africa (section)

===Boer people and republics===
{{Main|Boer Republics}}
After 1806, a number of [[Dutch language|Dutch]]-speaking inhabitants of the Cape Colony trekked inland, first in small groups. Eventually, in the 1830s, large numbers of Boers migrated in what came to be known as the [[Great Trek]].<ref name=":1" /> Among the initial reasons for their leaving the Cape colony were the English language rule. Religion was a very important aspect of the settlers culture and the bible and church services were in Dutch. Similarly, schools, justice and trade up to the arrival of the British, were all managed in the Dutch language. The language law caused friction, distrust and dissatisfaction.
[[File:TrekBoers crossing the Karoo.jpg|thumb|300px|An account of the first [[trekboer]]s]]

Another reason for Dutch-speaking white farmers trekking away from the Cape was the abolition of slavery by the British government on Emancipation Day, 1 December 1838. The farmers complained they could not replace the labour of their slaves without losing an excessive amount of money.<ref>SA History.org [http://www.sahistory.org.za/topic/slavery-south-africa ''Slavery in South Africa''] Accessed 23 April 2015</ref> The farmers had invested large amounts of capital in slaves. Owners who had purchased enslaved people on credit or put them up as surety against loans faced financial ruin. Britain had allocated the sum of 1,200,000 British Pounds (equivalent to £5,53 billion in 2023)<ref name=":4" /> as compensation to the Dutch settlers, on condition the Dutch farmers had to lodge their claims in Britain as well as the fact that the value of the enslaved people was many times the allocated amount. This caused further dissatisfaction among the Dutch settlers. The settlers, incorrectly, believed that the Cape Colony administration had taken the money due to them as payment for freeing their slaves. Those settlers who were allocated money could only claim it in Britain in person or through an agent. The commission charged by agents was the same as the payment for one slave, thus those settlers only claiming for one slave would receive nothing.<ref name=krugerp>{{cite book|last=Kruger|first=Paul|title=Memoirs of Paul Kruger|year=1902|publisher=George R Morang and Co|location=Canada|page=[https://archive.org/details/memoirsofpaulkru00kruguoft/page/n26 3]|isbn=9780804610773 |url=https://archive.org/details/memoirsofpaulkru00kruguoft}}</ref>

====South African Republic====
{{Main|South African Republic}}
[[File:Flag of Transvaal.svg|thumb|left|200px|[[Flag of the South African Republic]], often referred to as the ''Vierkleur'' (meaning four-coloured)]] The South African Republic (Dutch: ''Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek'' or ZAR, not to be confused with the much later [[Republic of South Africa]]), is often referred to as The Transvaal and sometimes as the Republic of Transvaal. It was an independent and internationally recognised nation-state in southern Africa from 1852 to 1902. Independent sovereignty of the republic was formally recognised by [[Great Britain]] with the signing of the [[Sand River Convention]] on 17 January 1852.<ref name=Eybers>{{cite book|author=Eybers|title=Select_constitutional_documents_illustrating_South_African_history_1795-1910|year=1917|pages=357–359|ol=24129017M}}</ref> The republic, under the premiership of [[Paul Kruger]], defeated British forces in the [[First Boer War]] and remained independent until the end of the Second Boer War on 31 May 1902, when it was forced to surrender to the British. The territory of the South African Republic became known after this war as the Transvaal Colony.<ref>Boereafrikana.com [http://www.boereafrikana.com/Geskiedenis.htm ''Geskiedenis'']. Accessed 6 June 2015</ref>

====Free State Republic====
{{Main|Orange Free State}}
[[File:Flag of the Orange Free State.svg|thumb|200px|[[Flag of the Orange Free State|Flag of the Republic of the Orange Free State]]]]The independent Boer republic of [[Orange Free State]] evolved from colonial Britain's [[Orange River Sovereignty]], enforced by the presence of British troops, which lasted from 1848 to 1854 in the territory between the Orange and Vaal rivers, named Transorange. Britain, due to the military burden imposed on it by the [[Crimean War]] in Europe, then withdrew its troops from the territory in 1854, when the territory along with other areas in the region was claimed by the Boers as an independent Boer republic, which they named the Orange Free State. In March 1858, after land disputes, cattle rustling and a series of raids and counter-raids, the Orange Free State declared war on the [[Basotho]] kingdom, which it failed to defeat. A succession of wars were conducted between the Boers and the Basotho for the next 10 years.<ref>Cameron, T. (ed) ''An Illustrated History of South Africa''. Johannesburg: Jonathan Ball Publishers, 1986, pp. 137, 138, 143, 147–9, 169. {{ISBN|0715390511}}</ref> The name Orange Free State was again changed to the [[Orange River Colony]], created by Britain after the latter occupied it in 1900 and then annexed it in 1902 during the [[Second Boer War]]. The colony, with an estimated population of less than 400,000 in 1904<ref>Openlibrary.org,[https://archive.org/stream/cu31924030396067#page/n235/mode/2up Census of the British empire], 1906, p. 169. Retrieved 3 May 2015.</ref> ceased to exist in 1910, when it was absorbed into the Union of South Africa as the [[Orange Free State Province]].

====Natalia====
{{Main|Natalia Republic}}
Natalia was a short-lived Boer republic established in 1839 by Boer [[Voortrekkers]]  emigrating from the Cape Colony. In 1824 a party of 25 men under British Lieutenant F G Farewell arrived from the Cape Colony and established a settlement on the northern shore of the Bay of Natal, which would later become the port of Durban, so named after [[Benjamin D'Urban]], a governor of the Cape Colony. Boer ''Voortrekkers'' in 1838 established the Republic of Natalia in the surrounding region, with its capital at [[Pietermaritzburg]]. On the night of 23/24 May 1842 British colonial forces attacked the ''Voortrekker'' camp at Congella. The attack failed, with British forces then retreating back to Durban, which the Boers besieged. A local trader [[Dick King]] and his servant Ndongeni, who later became folk heroes, were able to escape the blockade and ride to Grahamstown, a distance of 600&nbsp;km (372.82 miles) in 14 days to raise British reinforcements. The reinforcements arrived in Durban 20 days later; the siege was broken and the ''Voortrekkers'' retreated.<ref>George McCall Theal, ''History of the Boers in South Africa'', 3rd ed. Cape Town: Struik 1973, pp 156–165. {{ISBN|0869770365}}</ref> The Boers accepted British annexation in 1844. Many of the Natalia Boers who refused to acknowledge British rule trekked over the [[Drakensberg]] mountains to settle in the Orange Free State and Transvaal republics.<ref>''The Voortrekkers: A history of the Voortrekkers Great Trek 1835–1845'',
[http://www.voortrekker-history.co.za/trekkers_leave_great_trek.php#.VYGAKPmqqko Voortrekkers leave Natal] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150622110948/http://www.voortrekker-history.co.za/trekkers_leave_great_trek.php#.VYGAKPmqqko |date=22 June 2015 }} Accessed 17 June 2015</ref>