Editing Cape Colony (section)

===British colonisation===
The [[British Empire|British]] started to settle the eastern border of the Cape Colony, with the arrival in [[Port Elizabeth]] of the [[1820 Settlers]]. They also began to introduce the first rudimentary rights for the Cape's [[Bantu peoples|Black African]] population and, in 1834, [[abolitionism in the United Kingdom|abolished slavery]]; however, the government proved unable to rein in settler violence against the [[San people|San]], which continued largely unabated as it had during the Dutch period.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Penn |first1=Nigel |date=22 May 2013 |title=The British and the 'Bushmen': the massacre of the Cape San, 1795 to 1828 |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14623528.2013.793081 |journal=Journal of Genocide Research |volume=15 |issue=2 |pages=183–200 |doi=10.1080/14623528.2013.793081 |s2cid=72177008 |access-date=10 April 2022}}</ref> The resentment that the Boers felt against this social change, as well as the imposition of [[English language]] and [[Culture of England|culture]], caused them to trek inland en masse. This was known as the [[Great Trek]], and the migrating Boers settled inland, eventually forming the [[Boer Republics]].
[[File:Lucas1861, pg061 A SKIRCMICH IN THE OPEN.jpg|thumb|left|Skirmish during the [[Xhosa Wars]]]]
British Immigration continued in the Cape, even as many of the Boers continued to trek inland, and the ending of the [[East India Company|British East India Company]]'s monopoly on trade led to economic growth.

At the same time, the long series of [[Xhosa Wars]] fought between the Xhosa people in the east and the government of the Cape Colony as well as Boer settlers finally died down when the Xhosa took part in a [[Xhosa Wars#Cattle-killing movement (1856–58)|mass destruction of their own crops and cattle]], in the belief that this would cause their ancestors to wake from the dead. The resulting famine crippled Xhosa country and ushered in a long period of stability on the border.

Peace and prosperity, in addition to the [[Convict crisis]] of 1849, led to a desire for political independence. In 1853, the Cape Colony became a British Crown colony with representative government.{{sfn|Evans|1993|p=576}} In 1854, the Cape of Good Hope [[1854 Cape Colony parliamentary election|elected its first parliament]], on the basis of the multi-racial [[Cape Qualified Franchise]]. Cape residents qualified as voters based on a universal minimum level of property ownership, regardless of race.

[[File:Visite, pg164 Mossel Bay on the Indian Ocean.jpg|thumb|[[Mossel Bay]] on the Indian Ocean, 1818]]

[[File:Samuel Walters - merchantman Duke of Lancaster.jpg|thumb|Table Bay, Cape Town, circa 1832]]

Executive power remaining completely in the authority of the British governor did not relieve tensions in the colony between its [[Eastern Cape|eastern]] and [[Western Cape|western]] sections.{{sfn|Oakes|1992|p=}}