The History of Slave in the Cape

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The very first slave arrived in the Cape in 1653 and went by the name of Abraham van Batavia. Slaves were brought from Madagascar, Malaya and East Africa Slaves were taken against their own will. The slaves that were shipped in were all black, this was not due to racism but to the fact they it was illegal to enslave Christians. The slaves that worked in the Cape were given any jobs that were required to be done, this included tasks such as working in the fields, farming, domestic work, taking care of the children, gathering firewood and any butchery that was needed. Slaves lived in slave Lodges that were dirty and cramped; they lived a sad and miserable life. Skilled slaves had privileges yet they were still exploited. By the 18th century there were more slaves than there were colonists. Along with the importing of slaves female slaves that had children were also considered as slaves even if they belonged to the master. Slaves were beaten when they failed to do their allocated jobs. Due to these bad conditions and little privileges that the slaves received, many slaves showed resistance in their everyday lives. Slaves rebelled against slave holders, ran away and completed daily acts of rebellion such as slow working.the biggest slave rebellion occurred in 1808, many slaves had heard of slave rebellions that were occurring in the Caribbean and America. This idea moved a slave by the name of Louis from Mauritius as well as a group of other slaves and two Khoikhoi men, they planned to march as a group from the rural areas to cap town. They would recruit slaves along the way. They hoped to turn their guns to the castle and try to negotiate peace and freedom of the slaves yet after marching towards cape Town the news of the rebellion... ... middle of paper ... ...ng transformed into a permanent slave museum. This will be a tribute to the 9000 slaves, convicts and mentally ill that resided in the building between 1679 and 1811. The slave monument in Church Square is a monument in memorial of the slaves that were treated inhumanly during the Dutch colonisation in the cape. The memorial is made up of eleven granite blocks, two of the granite blocks are placed on a raised plinth on the corner close to the slave lodge, and the remaining nine are together in a tight grid situated close to the slave tree plaque. The common footprint is a representation of the common humanity, while their different heights represent growth. On the blocks are the names of the many slaves that were enslaved. It is important for one to remember the slaves that suffered during the colonisation of the Dutch as we can learn from the mistakes of the past.

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