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The Enslaved people of Simons Town 1743-1843
This thesis is a study of slavery and emancipation in Simon's Town for the period 1743 to 1843.Through the compilation of a slave database derived from VOC era wills and British colonial era slave registers, quantitative details pertaining to slave demography, religion, mortality, occupation, gender...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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Department of Historical Studies
2014
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| _version_ | 1867613460938883072 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Young, Joline |
| author2 | Worden, Nigel |
| author_browse | Worden, Nigel Young, Joline |
| author_facet | Worden, Nigel Young, Joline |
| author_sort | Young, Joline |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | This thesis is a study of slavery and emancipation in Simon's Town for the period 1743 to 1843.Through the compilation of a slave database derived from VOC era wills and British colonial era slave registers, quantitative details pertaining to slave demography, religion, mortality, occupation, gender and levels of creolisation were recorded to monitor how the experience of slavery in Simon's Town changed over time. These details are attached in the form of a Slave Database CD. The use of magisterial and slave office correspondence afforded a qualitative enquiry of the society that existed in Simon's Town during this period and offered insights into how this was experienced by slaves. Two oral history interviews were also conducted. Significantly the data shows that slaveholders exerted their power through a combination of violence and differential treatment, intended to cause fear and division amongst slaves. Conversely, the data suggests that slaves derived agency through religion, ethnic group strength and random acts of 'slave justice'.Furthermore, it shows that the landscape of Simon's Town district provided unique opportunities for escape both by land and sea. In addition it shows that the arrival of the British Navy created opportunities for some slaves to transcend slavery by becoming wage earning crew members on its fleets. Significantly too it shows that the arrival of many working class British seamen into Simon's Town impacted on both male and female slaves in Simon's Town in ways that would see them re-evaluate and reject the institution of slavery. Pertinent findings are suggestions of ethnic awareness and ethnic spatial separation that existed in Simon's Town. These findings imply that theories derived by historians of Cape slavery that are informed by quantitative studies based on the Cape as a whole, do not necessarily match data within specific urban areas of the Western Cape. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/6849 |
| institution | University of Cape Town (South Africa) |
| language | eng |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:36:30.672Z |
| license_str | Not specified — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| publishDate | 2014 |
| publishDateRange | 2014 |
| publishDateSort | 2014 |
| publisher | Department of Historical Studies |
| publisherStr | Department of Historical Studies |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| spelling | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/6849 The Enslaved people of Simons Town 1743-1843 Young, Joline Worden, Nigel This thesis is a study of slavery and emancipation in Simon's Town for the period 1743 to 1843.Through the compilation of a slave database derived from VOC era wills and British colonial era slave registers, quantitative details pertaining to slave demography, religion, mortality, occupation, gender and levels of creolisation were recorded to monitor how the experience of slavery in Simon's Town changed over time. These details are attached in the form of a Slave Database CD. The use of magisterial and slave office correspondence afforded a qualitative enquiry of the society that existed in Simon's Town during this period and offered insights into how this was experienced by slaves. Two oral history interviews were also conducted. Significantly the data shows that slaveholders exerted their power through a combination of violence and differential treatment, intended to cause fear and division amongst slaves. Conversely, the data suggests that slaves derived agency through religion, ethnic group strength and random acts of 'slave justice'.Furthermore, it shows that the landscape of Simon's Town district provided unique opportunities for escape both by land and sea. In addition it shows that the arrival of the British Navy created opportunities for some slaves to transcend slavery by becoming wage earning crew members on its fleets. Significantly too it shows that the arrival of many working class British seamen into Simon's Town impacted on both male and female slaves in Simon's Town in ways that would see them re-evaluate and reject the institution of slavery. Pertinent findings are suggestions of ethnic awareness and ethnic spatial separation that existed in Simon's Town. These findings imply that theories derived by historians of Cape slavery that are informed by quantitative studies based on the Cape as a whole, do not necessarily match data within specific urban areas of the Western Cape. 2014-09-02T09:59:12Z 2014-09-02T09:59:12Z 2013 Master Thesis Masters MA http://hdl.handle.net/11427/6849 eng application/pdf Department of Historical Studies Faculty of Humanities University of Cape Town |
| spellingShingle | Young, Joline The Enslaved people of Simons Town 1743-1843 |
| thesis_degree_str | Master's |
| title | The Enslaved people of Simons Town 1743-1843 |
| title_full | The Enslaved people of Simons Town 1743-1843 |
| title_fullStr | The Enslaved people of Simons Town 1743-1843 |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Enslaved people of Simons Town 1743-1843 |
| title_short | The Enslaved people of Simons Town 1743-1843 |
| title_sort | enslaved people of simons town 1743 1843 |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/6849 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT youngjoline theenslavedpeopleofsimonstown17431843 AT youngjoline enslavedpeopleofsimonstown17431843 |