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“A spirit of cabal and insubordination” : tax resistance and revolt at the end of the Dutch East India Company’s rule of the Cape Colony, 1787 – 1803
Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2025.
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University
2025
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| _version_ | 1867613834563289088 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Burger, Carl Christiaan |
| author2 | Fourie, Johan |
| author_browse | Burger, Carl Christiaan Fourie, Johan |
| author_facet | Fourie, Johan Burger, Carl Christiaan |
| author_sort | Burger, Carl Christiaan |
| collection | Thesis |
| dc_rights_str_mv | Stellenbosch University |
| description | Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2025. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/134554 |
| institution | Stellenbosch University (South Africa) |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:42:26.594Z |
| license_str | Other — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from SUNScholar — Stellenbosch University Repository |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| publishDateRange | 2025 |
| publishDateSort | 2025 |
| publisher | Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University |
| publisherStr | Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | SUNScholar — Stellenbosch University Repository |
| spelling | oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/134554 “A spirit of cabal and insubordination” : tax resistance and revolt at the end of the Dutch East India Company’s rule of the Cape Colony, 1787 – 1803 Burger, Carl Christiaan Fourie, Johan Ekama, Kate Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of History. Cape of Good Hope (South Africa) -- Politics and government -- 18th century Taxation -- South Africa -- Cape of Good Hope -- History --18th century Government, Resistance to -- South Africa -- History -- 18th century Tax evasion -- South Africa -- Cape of Good Hope -- History -- 18th century Nederlandsche Oost-Indische Compagnie -- Colonies -- Africa -- Administration UCTD Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2025. Burger, C. C. 2025. “A spirit of cabal and insubordination”: Tax resistance and revolt at the end of the Dutch East India Company’s rule of the Cape Colony, 1787 – 1803. Unpublished masters thesis. Stellenbosch: Stellenbosch University [online]. Available: https://scholar.sun.ac.za/items/3d67a4c9-ed6d-47a5-9a5b-7890adfc8d81 ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Reflecting on the Cape Colony’s turbulent 18th century end, former VOC commissioner-general, Sebastiaan Cornelis Nederburgh, noted in a 1801 report that during the last decade of Company rule, “a spirit of cabal and insubordination” had arisen amongst the Colony’s settlers. Nederburgh, who visited the Cape Colony two years before the first British occupation of 1795, contended that this mentality affected almost all of the Colony’s settlers, with most resisting “all types of authority without exception.”1 Due to numerous political and economic factors, most of the Cape Colony’s settlers had come to resent the Colony’s VOC government by the start of 1795. Nowhere in the Cape Colony was this rebellious mentality more prevalent than in the frontier district of Graaff-Reinet. In 1795, Graaff-Reinet’s settlers sent two petitions to the Cape Colony’s VOC government, the Samenstemming and the Klagtschrift, in which they expressed their dissatisfaction with the district’s landdrost and the Company’s lack of military support in their ongoing conflict with indigenous amaXhosa and Khoikhoin groups. In their petitions, Graaff-Reinet’s settlers stated that they were not willing to pay any sort of tax to a government they felt had not supported them. A few months after their petitions were sent, Graaff-Reinet’s settlers rebelled against the Cape Colony’s VOC government. Akin to Europe’s 18th century revolutionaries, Graaff-Reinet’s rebellious settlers also established their own National Convention. Delving into this turbulent period of the Cape Colony’s history, this study answers questions pertaining to the practice of tax resistance in Graaff-Reinet’s rebellion of 1795. This study uses quantitative and qualitative methods and manual matching in an analysis of the petitions and Graaff-Reinet’s opgaafrolle. Analysing the rebellious settlers’ tax returns from 1787 until 1803, this study discusses the extent to which they practised tax resistance, whether it played a prominent part in their rebellion, and whether it was a successful form of protest against the Cape Colony’s VOC and British government. AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: In VOC-kommissaris-generaal Sebastiaan Cornelis Nederburgh se 1801 verslag oor die Kaapkolonie se onstuimige 18de-eeuse einde, het hy opgemerk dat “’n gees van kabaal en insubordinasie” onder die kolonie se burgers geheers het. Nederburgh, wie die Kaapkolonie twee jaar voor die kolonie se eerste Britse besetting in 1795 besoek het, was van mening dat hierdie geesdrif die meeste van die kolonie se inwoners geraak het en dat hulle teen “alle outoriteit sonder onderskeid” in opstand gekom het. Weens verskeie ekonomiese faktore het n groot aantal van die Kaapkolonie se burgers in 1795 in opstand gekom teen die VOC se bestuur. Ne rens in die Kaapkolonie was hierdie geesdrif so opvallend soos in die grens distrik van Graaff-Reinet nie. In 1795 het Graaff-Reinet se burgers twee petisies aan die Kaapkolonie se VOC regering gestuur: die Samenstemming en die Klagtschrift, waarin hulle hul ontevredenheid teenoor die distrik landdros en die Kaapse regering uitgespreek het. Graaff-Reinet se burgers was veral ongelukkig oor die beperkte milite re ondersteuning wat hulle in hul konflik met inheemse amaXhosa- en Khoikhoin-groepe ontvang het. In hierdie petisies het die burgers van Graaff-Reinet duidelik gemaak dat hulle nie langer bereid was om belasting te betaal aan n regering wat hulle nie voldoende beskerm het nie. ‘n Paar maande nadat die burgers hulle petisies ingedien het, het hulle in opstand gekom teen die VOC. Net soos die revolusione re bewegings in Europa in die 18de-eeu, het die burgers van Graaff-Reinet ook hulle eie Nasionale Konvensie gestig. Hierdie studie het ten doel om belastingweerstand as n komponent van Graaff-Reinet se opstand van 1795 te ondersoek. Dit maak gebruik van beide kwantitatiewe en kwalitatiewe metodes om Graaff-Reinet se burgerpetisies en opgaafrolle te analiseer. Deur gebruik te maak van die burgers se belastingopgawes van 1787 tot 1803, ondersoek die studie tot watter mate hulle belastingweerstand beoefen het, of dit n belangrike deel van hulle opstand was, en of dit ‘n suksesvolle vorm van protes teen beide die VOC- en die Britse regering was. Masters 2025-12-12T11:16:29Z 2025-12-12T11:16:29Z 2025-12 Thesis https://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/134554 en Stellenbosch University x, 127 pages : illustrations application/pdf Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University |
| spellingShingle | Cape of Good Hope (South Africa) -- Politics and government -- 18th century Taxation -- South Africa -- Cape of Good Hope -- History --18th century Government, Resistance to -- South Africa -- History -- 18th century Tax evasion -- South Africa -- Cape of Good Hope -- History -- 18th century Nederlandsche Oost-Indische Compagnie -- Colonies -- Africa -- Administration UCTD Burger, Carl Christiaan “A spirit of cabal and insubordination” : tax resistance and revolt at the end of the Dutch East India Company’s rule of the Cape Colony, 1787 – 1803 |
| title | “A spirit of cabal and insubordination” : tax resistance and revolt at the end of the Dutch East India Company’s rule of the Cape Colony, 1787 – 1803 |
| title_full | “A spirit of cabal and insubordination” : tax resistance and revolt at the end of the Dutch East India Company’s rule of the Cape Colony, 1787 – 1803 |
| title_fullStr | “A spirit of cabal and insubordination” : tax resistance and revolt at the end of the Dutch East India Company’s rule of the Cape Colony, 1787 – 1803 |
| title_full_unstemmed | “A spirit of cabal and insubordination” : tax resistance and revolt at the end of the Dutch East India Company’s rule of the Cape Colony, 1787 – 1803 |
| title_short | “A spirit of cabal and insubordination” : tax resistance and revolt at the end of the Dutch East India Company’s rule of the Cape Colony, 1787 – 1803 |
| title_sort | a spirit of cabal and insubordination tax resistance and revolt at the end of the dutch east india company s rule of the cape colony 1787 1803 |
| topic | Cape of Good Hope (South Africa) -- Politics and government -- 18th century Taxation -- South Africa -- Cape of Good Hope -- History --18th century Government, Resistance to -- South Africa -- History -- 18th century Tax evasion -- South Africa -- Cape of Good Hope -- History -- 18th century Nederlandsche Oost-Indische Compagnie -- Colonies -- Africa -- Administration UCTD |
| url | https://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/134554 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT burgercarlchristiaan aspiritofcabalandinsubordinationtaxresistanceandrevoltattheendofthedutcheastindiacompanysruleofthecapecolony17871803 |