| In
1866 a diamond was found in the north of Cape Colony. This set off
a rush which transformed the colony from a poor farming colony into
a wealthy mining and industrial economy. This increased the population
dramatically and created a need for cheap labor. It also increased
tensions between the British and the Boers.
In
1871 the British took over the area of the diamond fields which
was close to the Orange Free State. This was an action which the
Boers never forgot. In 1877 the British took over The Transvaal,
which forced the Boers to retake the region by force.
In
1886 gold was discovered on the Witwatersrand (The Rand) near Pretoria
in Transvaal. This set off an even greater rush. The gold was a
type which was expensive to mine and required a large labor force.
The mine owners began to push for some type of pass system to control
the African workers. |
Queen
Victoria's diamond from the Transvaal |
| 
Cecil
Rhodes, depicted in a Punch cartoon reflects the attitude of British
imperialism |
One
of the mine owners was an Englishman named Cecil Rhodes who became
the Prime Minister of Cape Colony in 1890. He and other mine owners
planned to provoke an uprising in the Transvaal among the Uitlanders
(outsiders) to give the British an excuse to take over The Transvaal.
The revolt, named after its leader Leander Jameson, was a failure
but it had important consequences. Jameson's Raid forced Rhodes'
resignation and drew the Boer republics closer together. Naturally,
relations between Britain and the Boers worsened.
The
British saw The Transvaal's wealth as a threat to its dominance
in Africa, and The Boer War began in 1899. |
