Editing Paul Kruger (section)

===Burgher===

Boer tradition of the time dictated that men were entitled to choose two {{convert|6000|acre|km2|adj=on}} farms—one for crops and one for grazing—upon becoming enfranchised [[Burgher (Boer republics)|burghers]] at the age of 16. Kruger set up his home at the farm Boekenhoutfontein, near Rustenburg in the Magaliesberg area.{{sfn|Meredith|2007|pp = 74–75}} Kruger later became the owner of a piece of farmland named Waterkloof, on 30 September 1842.<ref>Deed of Original Grant 825/1842 registered 14 October 1842, Deeds Office Pretoria</ref> This concluded, he wasted little time in pursuing the hand of Maria du Plessis, the daughter of a fellow Voortrekker south of the Vaal; she was only 14 years old when they married in [[Potchefstroom]] in 1842.{{sfn|Meintjes|1974|p = 17}} The same year Kruger was elected a deputy [[field cornet]]—"a singular honour at seventeen", Meintjes comments.{{sfn|Meintjes|1974|p = 21}} This role combined the civilian duties of a local magistrate with a military rank equivalent to that of a junior [[Officer (armed forces)|commissioned officer]].<ref name="fieldcornet" />

Kruger was already an accomplished frontiersman, horseman, and [[Guerrilla warfare|guerrilla]] fighter.{{sfn|Meredith|2007|pp = 74–75}} In addition to his native Dutch, he could speak basic English and several African languages, some fluently.{{sfn|Meintjes|1974|pp = 6, 31–32}} He had shot a lion for the first time when he was a boy—in old age he recalled being 14, but Meintjes suggests he may have been as young as 11.{{sfn|Meintjes|1974|p = 15}} During his many hunting excursions, Kruger was nearly killed on several occasions.{{sfn|Meredith|2007|pp = 74–75}} In 1845, while he was hunting rhinoceros along the [[Steelpoort River]], his four-bore [[elephant gun]] exploded in his hands and blew off most of his left thumb.{{sfn|Kruger|1902|pp = 31–32}} Kruger wrapped the wound in a handkerchief and retreated to camp, where he treated it with [[turpentine]]. He refused calls to have the hand amputated by a doctor, and instead cut off the remains of the injured thumb himself with a pocketknife. When [[Gangrene|gangrenous]] marks appeared on his arm up to his shoulder, he placed the hand in the stomach of a freshly killed goat, a traditional Boer remedy.{{sfn|Meintjes|1974|p = 19}} He considered this a success—"when it came to the turn of the second goat, my hand was already easier and the danger much less."{{sfn|Kruger|1902|pp = 33–34}} The wound took more than six months to heal, but he did not wait that long to start hunting again.{{sfn|Meintjes|1974|p = 19}}

[[File:Andries Pretorius portrait.jpg|thumb|left|upright|[[Andries Pretorius]], a great influence on the young Kruger|alt=A man in a dark suit with a white hat. His left arm seems to be in a sling. In his right hand he grasps the barrel of a rifle.]]
Britain annexed the Voortrekkers' short-lived [[Natalia Republic]] in 1843 as the [[Colony of Natal]]. Pretorius briefly led Boer resistance to this, but before long most of the Boers in Natal had trekked back north-west to the area around the Orange and Vaal rivers. In 1845 Kruger was a member of Potgieter's expedition to [[Maputo Bay|Delagoa Bay]] in [[Portuguese Mozambique|Mozambique]] to negotiate a frontier with Portugal; the [[Lebombo Mountains]] was settled upon as the border between Boer and Portuguese lands.{{sfn|Meintjes|1974|pp = 21–23}} Maria and their first child died of fever in January 1846.<ref>{{harvnb|Kruger|1902|pp=13–14}}; {{harvnb|Meredith|2007|pp=74–75}}.</ref> In 1847 Kruger married her cousin, Gezina du Plessis, from the Colesberg area. Their first child, Casper Jan Hendrik, was born on 22 December that year.{{sfn|Meintjes|1974|p = 22}}

Concerned by the exodus of so many whites from the Cape and Natal, and taking the view that the Boers remained [[British subject]]s, the British Governor [[Sir Harry Smith, 1st Baronet|Sir Harry Smith]] in 1848 annexed the area between the Orange and Vaal rivers as the "[[Orange River Sovereignty]]". Pretorius led a [[Boer commando]] raid against this, and they were defeated by Smith at the [[Battle of Boomplaats]]. Like the Krugers, Pretorius lived in the Magaliesberg mountains and often hosted the young Kruger, who greatly admired the elder man's resolve, sophistication, and piety. A warm relationship developed.{{sfn|Meintjes|1974|pp = 24–26}} "Kruger's political awareness can be dated from 1850", Meintjes writes, "and it was in no small measure given to him by Pretorius."{{sfn|Meintjes|1974|p = 26}} Like Pretorius, Kruger wanted to centralise the emigrants under a single authority and win British recognition for their territory as an independent state. This last point was not due to hostility to Britain—neither Pretorius nor Kruger was particularly anti-British—but because they perceived the emigrants' unity as under threat if the Cape administration continued to regard them as British subjects.{{sfn|Meintjes|1974|p = 26}}

[[Henry Douglas Warden]], the British [[Resident (title)|Resident]] in the Orange River area, advised Smith in 1851 that he thought a compromise should be attempted with Pretorius. Smith sent representatives to meet him at the [[Sand River (Free State)|Sand River]]. Kruger, aged 26, accompanied Pretorius and on 17 January 1852 was present at the conclusion of the [[Sand River Convention]],{{sfn|Meintjes|1974|pp = 26–27}} under which Britain recognised "the Emigrant Farmers" in the Transvaal as independent: they called themselves the ''[[South African Republic|Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek]]'' ("South African Republic"). In exchange for the Boers' pledge not to introduce slavery in the Transvaal, the British agreed not to make an alliance with any "coloured nations" there.{{sfn|Meredith|2007|pp = 6–7}} Kruger's uncle Gert was also present; his father Casper would have been as well but he was ill and unable to attend.{{sfn|Meintjes|1974|pp = 26–27}}