The Dutch Rediscover the Dutch-Africans (1847–1900): Brother Nation or Lost Colony?(39 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.

Table of Contents:
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

About the Author :
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.