Editing Cape Colony (section)

===British conquest===
{{main|Invasion of the Cape Colony (1795)}}
In 1795, [[French First Republic|France]] occupied the [[Dutch Republic|Seven Provinces]] of the [[Dutch Republic]], the mother country of the [[Dutch East India Company|Dutch United East India Company]]. This prompted [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Great Britain]] to occupy the [[Dutch Cape Colony|Cape Colony]] in 1795 as a way to better control the seas in order to stop any potential [[French First Republic|French]] attempt to reach [[India]]. The British sent a fleet of nine warships which anchored at [[Simon's Town]] and, following the defeat of the VOC militia at the [[Invasion of the Cape Colony|Battle of Muizenberg]], took control of the territory. The United East India Company transferred its territories and claims to the [[Batavian Republic]] (the Revolutionary period Dutch state) in 1798, and went bankrupt in 1799. Improving relations between [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Britain]] and [[First French Empire|Napoleonic France]], and its vassal state the [[Batavian Republic]], led the British to hand the Cape of Good Hope over to the Batavian Republic in 1803, under the terms of the [[Treaty of Amiens]].

{{CapeColony}}

In 1806, the [[Cape of Good Hope|Cape]], now nominally controlled by the [[Batavian Republic]], was occupied again by the [[British Empire|British]] after their victory in the [[Battle of Blaauwberg]]. The temporary peace between the UK and [[First French Empire|Napoleonic France]] had crumbled into open hostilities, whilst Napoleon had been strengthening his influence on the [[Batavian Republic]] (which [[Napoleon]] would subsequently abolish and directly administer later the same year). The [[British Empire|British]], who set up a colony on 8 January 1806,{{Citation needed|date=July 2011}} hoped to keep [[Napoleon]] out of the Cape, and to control the Far East trade routes.

The Cape Colony at the time of [[British Empire|British]] occupation was three months' sailing distance from [[London]]. The [[White people|White]] colonial population was small, no more than 25,000 in all, scattered across a territory of 100,000 square miles. Most lived in Cape Town and the surrounding farming districts of the [[Boland, Western Cape|Boland]], an area favoured with rich soils, a [[Mediterranean climate|Mediterranean Climate]] and reliable rainfall. [[Cape Town]] had a population of 16,000 people.{{sfn|Meredith|2007|p=1}} 
In 1814 the Dutch government formally ceded sovereignty over the [[Cape of Good Hope|Cape]] to the [[British Empire|British]], under the terms of the [[Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814|Convention of London]].