Discuss The Effects Of South African American Imperialism

For power to exist in a society, you must also have those without power to create a social hierarchy where inequality occurs. When Imperialistic powers came and imperialized nations throughout the world, they would place harsh, degrading laws that would harm the status of the natives as these laws would often suppress their political, economic, & societal rights, creating a system of power that places the imperialists above the natives. South Africa is an example with a vast amount of evidence that supports how racist views and laws contributed to the exploitation of the Indigenous people, causing Europeans to benefit. The Dutch and British colonization of South Africa displays the consequences of imperialism by displaying the economic state
The Cape Colony was originally owned by the Dutch and was an opulent trade port as the Suez Canal had not yet been made, so merchants would have to sail around the Cape of Africa. It would not be until when Napoleon Bonaparte conquered the Netherlands would the British claim the Cape Colony in fear of it being withheld from them. It was not until 1867 did the British have ulterior motives for the colony other than a trade port as diamonds were discovered, causing a boom in the mining industry, with gold being discovered 20 years later causing another boom. With the discovery of these resources, Britain had made it harder for Indigenous Africans to own land1, making it difficult for populations to sustain themselves with farming, much less any commercial activities, including mining which also led to a decrease of competition. The 1913 Natives’ Land Act also outlawed Indigenous Africans from sharecropping, encouraging the Indigenous Africans to work in mines. This way of living has led to the plunge of the South African economy as Britain forced them to participate in the mining economy and export the gold and diamonds that they had mined.
And even those who were free from direct British rule still pleaded with the British for the sanctity of their nation as Britain took over more land. Cetshwayo kaMpande’s letter2 to Sir Hercules Robinson, the Governor of the Cape Colony, portrays how Indigenous people were forced to be at the mercy of the British, highlighting how not only he, but how his father also had to report to the British on happenings within the nation. He even describes how upon hearing of his father’s death, he immediately sent a message to the Assembly of Natal so Britain would know, rather than giving the country a proper grieving time as other countries would. This demonstrates how the Zulu people yielded to the power of the British and felt their own way of survival was to surrender all matters of life to them. Another circumstance of the Indigenous people having to yield to European mercy was during the South African War3, where the African people had to beg the British to give them arms so they could protect themselves and aid the British when the Boers arrived. Though the initial response from the British to this was negative as they did not want to arm the native population, they eventually recruited around 500 of the Bantu