The Dutch Rediscover the Dutch-Africans (1847-1900)

Brother Nation or Lost Colony?
Erscheinungsjahr 2022
ISBN: 978-90-04-52122-3
Verlag: Brill

Buch, Englisch, Band 39, 314 Seiten, Format (B × H): 155 mm x 235 mm, Gewicht: 676 g

Reihe: European Expansion and Indigenous Response

Were the Dutch-Africans in southern Africa a brother nation to the Dutch or did they simply represent a lost colony? Connecting primary sources in Dutch and Afrikaans, this work tells the story of the Dutch stamverwantschap (kinship) movement between 1847 and 1900. The white Dutch-Africans were imagined to be the bridgehead to a broader Dutch identity – a ‘second Netherlands’ in the south. This study explores how the 19th century Dutch identified with and idealised a pastoral community operating within a racially segregated society on the edge of European civilisation. When the stamverwantschap dream collided with British military and economic power, the belief that race, language and religion could sustain a broader Dutch identity proved to be an illusion.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Burnett, Andrew

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Mentalitäts- und Sozialgeschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Geschichte einzelner Länder Afrikanische Geschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Kolonialgeschichte, Geschichte des Imperialismus

Inhaltsverzeichnis

General Series Editor’s Preface

Acknowledgements

List of Abbreviations, Notes on Currency Values and Translation

Relevant Dates

1 Brother Nation or Lost Colony – Dutchness Re-imagined

Introduction

Theoretical Context

Kinship

Nation and Identity

Imperialism

Nationalism

Cultural Nationalism

Colony

Colonial Nationalism

Language

Language, Literature and National Identity

The View from Europe

Imperialism and Colonialism in the Southern African Bridgeheads

2 Dutch Writing about the Dutch Role in Southern Africa

Southern Africa in General Dutch Historiography

Provincialism or Comparativism

Dutch Imperialism in the Late Nineteenth Century?

Re-thinking the Relationship between the Dutch and Their Former Colonies

Religion and National Identity

Kinship with the Dutch-Africans – Myth or Reality?

Conclusion

3 The Dutch Look Back: The Birth of the Kinship Movement

Introduction

The Netherlands between 1795 and 1875 – a Period of Upheaval

Looking Back to Past Glory

Dutch National Identity

The Liberal Decades

A Colony Lost – the View from Europe

Two groups of Dutch-Africans

Stamverwantschap—the Early Years—1840 to 1875

Ulrich Gerhard Lauts

Lauts Takes the Initiative

Lauts Lobbies the Dutch Parliament

Lauts’ Legacy

The Dutch Government Mid-1850s – Tentative Engagement

Jacobus Stuart

Child Migration 1855–1870

The links sustained by education

Hendrik Hamelberg – the Importance of Personal Experience

Conclusion

4 ‘There Exists a Second Netherlands’

Introduction

The Role of the Dutch Protestant Churches among the Dutch-Africans

Dutch Newspapers and Burgers

Burgers, the Man and His Vision

Burgers’ Vision Reinforced by a Treaty and by Hamelberg

The Unmaking of Burgers

A Dopper Pastor Pours Cold Water on Enthusiasm

Dutch-Africans Attacked from ‘the left’

Metropoles Compared

The imperious British Attitude Towards the Dutch Regarding Southern Africa

The Imbalance in Shipping and Communications

Stamverwantschap Faces the Assertion of British power

Conclusion

5 Dutch Reaction to the Annexation of the Transvaal

Introduction

A measured Initial Response to the Annexation

Pleasure over Burgers’ Demise

Sand River Convention – Sovereignty and Slavery

Slavery in the Transvaal Republic– the Evidence

The Dutch Respond to British Claims

Dutch Supporters Characterise the Allegations as Propaganda

Neo-Calvinist Development of the Kinship Ideology

Dutch Reactions Harden and Protest Begins

Dutch-Africans don’t Deserve Our Support – Another Liberal View

The Dutch Government Responds – the Neutrality Policy

The Dutch ‘Official Mind’ Remains Neutral

Conclusion

6 Transvaal Rebellion Succeeds: Greater Influence for Stamverwantschap

Introduction

The Vision Survives – Excitement Builds

New Symbols of Dutchness

Harting’s Seminal Publication

Liberal Appeals to Reason and Fairness

A Prominent Liberal Looks Back in Anger

Neutrality Trumps Stamverwantschap Again in Parliament

Attacking Neutrality in the Lower House

A New Figure in the Stamverwantschap Movement

Women and the Stamverwantschap Movement

The Creation of the Nederlandsche Zuid-Afrikaansche Vereeniging

Harting’s Vision

Conclusion

7 Rebuilding the Broken Link – the Jonkman Report

Introduction

Institutionalised Stamverwantschap – Initial Difficulties

The Liberals Require Direct Contact

The Jonkman Mission – A Divide Exposed

The Jonkman Visit

Nostalgia

Dutch Migration Needed

Connecting with Colonial Society

In the Oranje Vrijstaat

In Kruger’s Republic

Colonial Nationalism Identified

Jonkman’s Assessment of S. J. du Toit

Jonkman’s Published Conclusions

Lessons from the Jonkman Report

Conclusion

8 President Kruger visits: Dutch Capital Markets Fail Him

Introduction

Dutch National Press and English Anti-Boer Propaganda

Divisions in the Dutch Welcoming Party

Receptions for the Deputation

Controversy at Plancius – Kuyper’s Speech

A purpose and Identity for Calvinist Christians in Africa

A Liberal Response

A Declining Role for Kuyper

Inter-governmental Links with the Dutch-Africans Not Yet Established

Sobering Impact of Jorissen’s Dismissal

Jorissen’s Bold Plan

Investing in the Stamverwanten – a Bad Start by the Koch Brothers

Testing the Dutch Capital Markets

Background to Dutch Capital Raising

Harting Appeals for Support for the Capital Raising

Investors’ Questions – Meeting at the Odeon

Sovereign Risk?

Sovereign Risk Fears Stronger than Kinship

1884 – a Reality Check for the Stamverwantschap Movement

Beyond 1884 – NZASM Funds, Builds and Operates the ZAR Railways

Conclusion

9 Emigration to Southern Africa – Touchstone for Kinship?

Introduction

Part 1: Nineteenth-Century Dutch Emigration in a Northern European Context

Part 2: How the Dutch Failed Their Stamverwanten

Conclusion

10 Educating the Dutch-Africans: A Civilising Mission, or Cultural Imperialism?

Introduction

Stamverwantschap as a Vehicle for Cultural Betterment

Introducing Three Missionaries for Dutch Culture

Conclusion

11 Stamverwantschap Imagined through Language and Literature

Introduction

Language as the Conduit for Expansion of National Identity

‘A Message to the Dutch People’

Mixed Messages from the Stamverwanten

What Dutch Adults Were Reading

Cor Pama Collection

Adult Fiction and Poetry

Bitterness and Accusations

Stories for Children

Dutch Caricatures and Cartoons

Romance and Heroism

Poetry, Literary Criticism and the Boer as Symbol

Myth or an Artistic Reaction to Reality?

Conclusion

Conclusion

Bibliography

Index

Über Autor(innen)

Andrew Burnett, Ph.D., (2020) UWA, lives and works in Perth, Western Australia. His interests include the role of language in personal identity, and the growth of colonial nationalism in settler societies. His writing includes a study of the effect of the second Anglo-Boer War on Australian identity.