Uitlander

Uitlander

Uitlander, Afrikaans for 'outlander', was the name given to foreign migrant workers during the initial exploitation of the Witwatersrand gold fields in the Transvaal.

Boer War

These vast gold fields were discovered in 1886, within ten years the uitlander population of the Transvaal was thought to be double that of the native Transvaalers, 60,000 uitlanders to 30,000 burghers. [Exact figures are uncertain, the first census of the Transvaal was taken only in April 1904. The Transvaal government made policy on the assumption that there were 60,000 uitlanders to 30,000 burghers (these figures refer to adult males only). This was a conservative estimate, others claimed the ratio to be 4:1 or even 10:1. Despite these figures, subsequent scholarship has suggested that there was in fact parity between the burgher and uitlander populations, although given the nature of mining there may have been more uitlander males. See JS Marias, The Fall of Kruger's Republic, p2)] These workers were primarily concentrated around the Johannesburg area.

The Transvaal Government, under President Paul Kruger, were concerned as to the effect this large influx could have on the independence of the Transvaal. The uitlanders were almost entirely British. Enfranchising them, at a time when the British government were keen to extend their power in South Africa, would almost certainly lead to power in the Transvaal passing into British hands, eventually turning it into a British colony. As a result, the Transvaal government passed legislation in 1890(?) refusing voting rights or citizenship to any uitlander who had not been resident for fourteen years and who was over 40 years of age. This successfully disbarred the uitlanders from any meaningful political role.

This, together with high taxation, and corrupt and innefficient public administration, gave rise to considerable discontent. Their treatment served as the pretext for the Jameson Raid in 1895; Cecil Rhodes planned an invasion of the Transvaal to coincide with an uprising of the uitlanders in Johannesburg. Dr Jameson's force invaded but the expected uprising never took place; the invading force were quickly overpowered and arrested.

From 1897 onwards the High Commissioner for South Africa, Sir Alfred Milner, and the Colonial Secretary, Joseph Chamberlain, used the denial of rights to the uitlanders as their main point of attack against the Transvaal. They encouraged uitlander agitation and pressed uitlander claims, with veiled threat of war, upon Kruger's government.

In the end, British insistence and Kruger's intransigence led to the outbreak of the Boer War in 1899.

Upon its defeat in 1902, the Transvaal became a British colony. All residents of the Transvaal thereafter became British subjects and so the term uitlander fell into disuse.

Notes

ee also

Witwatersrand Gold Rush

Bibliography

* Marais, JS - "The Fall of Kruger's Republic", (1961, Clarendon Press)

External links

* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/513944.stm Imperialism in the dock - the Boer War]
* [http://www.sahistory.org.za/pages/governence-projects/anglo-boer-wars/anglo-boer-war2i.htm The Uitlander Franchise]


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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Uitlander — Uit land er, n. [D. Cf. {Outlander}.] A foreigner; an outlander. [South Africa] [Webster 1913 Suppl.] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • uitlander — [ëit′län΄dər; ] E [ oit′lan΄dər, āt′lan΄dər, īt′lan΄dər] n. [Afrik < Du uit, out (for IE base see OUT) + land, land] in South Africa, a foreigner; specif., in the Transvaal, one who is not a Boer …   English World dictionary

  • Uitlander — Le cimetière des uitlanders à Pilgrim s Rest, au Mpumalanga Le terme Uitlander, un mot afrikaans signifiant « étranger », fut utilisé pour désigner les travailleurs émigrants étrangers au cours de l exploitation des mines d or du… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • uitlander — /uyt lan deuhr, oyt /; Du. /ueit lahn deuhrdd/, n. (often cap.) a foreigner, esp. a British settler in the Boer republics prior to the formation of the Union of South Africa. [1890 95; < Afrik < obs. D, equiv. to uit OUT + land LAND + er ER1] * * …   Universalium

  • Uitlander — noun Etymology: Afrikaans, from Middle Dutch utelander foreigner, from utelant foreign territory, from ute out + lant land Date: 1892 foreigner; especially a British resident in the former republics of the Transvaal and Orange Free State …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • Uitlander — Hollandsk for udlænding. Boernes navn på indvandrede fremmede i Sydafrika …   Danske encyklopædi

  • Uitlander — n. foreigner (in South Africa) …   English contemporary dictionary

  • uitlander — uit·land·er …   English syllables

  • uitlander — uit•land•er [[t]ˈaɪtˌlæn dər, ˌlɑn , ˈɔɪt [/t]] n. why peo (often cap.) a foreigner, esp. a British settler in the former Boer republics • Etymology: 1890–95; < Afrik < D …   From formal English to slang

  • uitlander —   n. foreigner ; British resident in former Boer state …   Dictionary of difficult words

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