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You know the old saying, "The sun never sets on the British empire" or something to that effect. Great Britain once had colonies all around the world, so why is South Africa the only non-white country with a large white population? Egypt, India, Hong Kong, etc were all once British colonies but none of them saw the sizable migration of whites that South Africa did.
At the time, South Africa was not a non-white country. Only a very tiny part of eastern South Africa was populated by black Zulus, and the first European settlers in most of the country found it completely unpopulated by anybody, except a few Khoikhoi, completely unrelated to today's South African blacks. Blacks spread out across South Africa after the white settlers hired them to come for labor, although there was a black presence in Natal at the time. Cape, Transvaal and the Orange Free State were not taken from blacks -- in fact blacks were brought there by white settlers who needed labor. Blacks in most of South Africa had nowhere near the presence that Indians had in North America, and in most of the country, were completely absent.
Egypt, India, Hong Kong etc., all had a well-established presence of advanced literate and industrialized cultures with great cities and political institution. South Africa did not. By the way, it was not the British. The Dutch had already been colonizing South Africa for 150 years before the British had any say in the matter.
So the answer to the OP question is the same as the reason why whites moved to North America. They were free from any political restraint to do so, and saw opportunity there.
I would agree with the above post. The part of South Africa the Dutch moved to was less populated and thus there was less resistance to settlement. However, in other places like present day Nigeria and India, these were more populated areas that posessed strong states who resisted white settlement. In addition whites were still prone to mortality by diseases from these areas in the 1800s; that also slowed settlement.
The main reason whites settled North and South America so successfully was because alot of indians died from European diseases; this made it easier for whites to move in.
At the time, South Africa was not a non-white country. Only a very tiny part of eastern South Africa was populated by black Zulus, and the first European settlers in most of the country found it completely unpopulated by anybody, except a few Khoikhoi, completely unrelated to today's South African blacks. Blacks spread out across South Africa after the white settlers hired them to come for labor, although there was a black presence in Natal at the time. Cape, Transvaal and the Orange Free State were not taken from blacks -- in fact blacks were brought there by white settlers who needed labor. Blacks in most of South Africa had nowhere near the presence that Indians had in North America, and in most of the country, were completely absent.
Egypt, India, Hong Kong etc., all had a well-established presence of advanced literate and industrialized cultures with great cities and political institution. South Africa did not. By the way, it was not the British. The Dutch had already been colonizing South Africa for 150 years before the British had any say in the matter.
So the answer to the OP question is the same as the reason why whites moved to North America. They were free from any political restraint to do so, and saw opportunity there.
Interesting. The transformation of South Africa from sparsely populated to a country of 50 million today is quite dramatic then. What sort of economy did South Africa have back then that required so many black laborers?
IThe main reason whites settled North and South America so successfully was because alot of indians died from European diseases; this made it easier for whites to move in.
Interesting. The transformation of South Africa from sparsely populated to a country of 50 million today is quite dramatic then. What sort of economy did South Africa have back then that required so many black laborers?
Originally, the only interest the Europeans had in South Africa was to establish a port there where ships could reprovision when sailing around en route to Asia, since there was no Suez Canal yet. So it was necessary for some small scale agriculture, to produce food for the sailors. The land was found to be so productive, that people started settling there to live on their own. At first, there were no indigenous people in the neighborhood of Cape Town, so the first slaves were brought in by sea from Madagascar and Indonesia. Only when the Boers move inland across the couintry, did they encounter Zulus, who were not slaves, but willing wage workers, and as Sourh Africa prospered, it became a magnet for migrant black workes coming down from Mozambique and the Rhodesias.
I would agree with the above post. The part of South Africa the Dutch moved to was less populated and thus there was less resistance to settlement. However, in other places like present day Nigeria and India, these were more populated areas that posessed strong states who resisted white settlement. In addition whites were still prone to mortality by diseases from these areas in the 1800s; that also slowed settlement.
The main reason whites settled North and South America so successfully was because alot of indians died from European diseases; this made it easier for whites to move in.
The biggest reason is the climate as Nigeria and India were too hot for large amount of European settlements. Yet South Africa has a climate somewhat similar to Southern Europe.
Yet there was never a time when there was a majority of the people white in South Africa.
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