farmers in this district, unlike their fellows dwelling farther north, were willing to accept British rule, and this fact induced Mr Justice Menzies, one of the judges of Cape Colony then on circuit at Colesberg, to cross the Orange and proclaim (October 1842) the country British territory, a proclamation disallowed by the governor, Sir George Napier, who, nevertheless, maintained that the emigrant farmers were still British subjects. It was after this episode that the treaties with Adam Kok and Moshesh were negotiated. The treaties gave great offence to the Boers, who refused to acknowledge the sovereignty of the native chiefs. The majority of the white farmers in Kok’s territory sent a deputation to the British commissioner in Natal, Henry Cloete, asking for equal treatment with the Griquas, and expressing the desire to come on such terms, under British protection. Shortly afterwards hostilities between the farmers and the Griquas broke out. British troops were moved up to support the Griquas, and after a skirmish at Zwartkopjes (May 2, 1845) a new arrangement was made between Kok and Sir Peregrine Maitland, then governor of Cape Colony, virtually placing the administration of his territory in the hands of a British resident, a post filled in 1846 by Captain H. D. Warden. The place chosen by Captain (afterwards Major) Warden as the seat of his court was known as Bloemfontein, and it subsequently became the capital of the whole country.
The volksraad at Winburg during this period continued to
claim jurisdiction over the Boers living between the Orange
and the Vaal and was in federation with the volksraad
at Potchefstroom, which made a similar claim upon the
Boers living north of the Vaal. Annexation by
Great Britain.In 1846 Major Warden
occupied Winburg for a short time, and the relations
between the Boers and the British were in a continual state of
tension. Many of the farmers deserted Winburg for the Transvaal.
Sir Harry Smith became governor of the Cape at the end of 1847.
He recognized the failure of the attempt to govern on the lines
of the treaties with the Griquas and Basutos, and on the 3rd
of February 1848 he issued a proclamation declaring British
sovereignty over the country between the Orange and the
Vaal eastward to the Drakensberg. The justness of Sir Harry
Smith’s measures and his popularity among the Boers gained
for his policy considerable support, but the republican party,
at whose head was Andries Pretorius (q.v.), did not submit
without a struggle. They were, however, defeated by Sir Harry
Smith in an engagement at Boomplaats (August 29, 1848).
Thereupon Pretorius, with those most bitterly opposed to British
rule, retreated across the Vaal. In March 1849 Major Warden
was succeeded at Bloemfontein as civil commissioner by Mr
C. U. Stuart, but he remained British resident until July 1852.
A nominated legislative council was created, a high court established
and other steps taken for the orderly government of the
country, which was officially styled the Orange River Sovereignty.
In October 1849 Moshesh was induced to sign a new arrangement
considerably curtailing the boundaries of the Basuto reserve.
The frontier towards the Sovereignty was thereafter known as the
Warden line. A little later the reserves of other chieftains were
precisely defined. The British Resident had, however, no force
sufficient to maintain his authority, and Moshesh and all the
neighbouring clans became involved in hostilities with one
another and with the whites. In 1851 Moshesh joined the
republican party in the Sovereignty in an invitation to Pretorius
to recross the Vaal. The intervention of Pretorius resulted
in the Sand River Convention of 1832, which acknowledged
the independence of the Transvaal but left the status of the
Sovereignty untouched. The British government (the first
Russell administration), which had reluctantly agreed to the
annexation of the country, had, however, already repented its
decision and had resolved to abandon the Sovereignty. Lord
Grey (the 3rd earl), secretary of state for the colonies, in a
despatch to Sir Harry Smith dated the 21st of October 1851,
declared, “The ultimate abandonment of the Orange Sovereignty
should be a settled point in our policy.” A meeting of representatives
of all European inhabitants of the Sovereignty, elected
on manhood suffrage, held at Bloemfontein in June 1852, nevertheless
declared in favour of the retention of British rule. At
the close of that year a settlement was at length concluded
with Moshesh, which left, perhaps, that chief in a stronger position
than he had hitherto been. (See Basutoland: History.) There
had been ministerial changes in England and the ministry then
in power—that of Lord Aberdeen—adhered to the determination
to withdraw from the Sovereignty. Sir George Russell
Clerk was sent out in 1853 as special commissioner “for the
settling and adjusting of the affairs” of the Sovereignty, and in
August of that year he summoned a meeting of delegates to
determine upon a form of self-government. At that time there
were some 15,000 whites in the country, many of them recent
emigrants from Cape Colony. There were among them numbers
of farmers and tradesmen of British blood. The majority of
the whites still wished for the continuance of British rule provided
that it was effective and the country guarded against its enemies.
The representations of their delegates, who drew up a proposed
constitution retaining British control, were unavailing. Sir
George Clerk announced that, as the elected delegates were
Independence forced on the Boers.unwilling to take steps to form an independent government
he would enter into negotiations with other
persons. “And then,” writes Dr Theal, “was seen
the strange spectacle of an English commissioner
addressing men who wished to be free of British control
as the friendly and well-disposed inhabitants, while for
those who desired to remain British subjects and who claimed
that protection to which they believed themselves entitled
he had no sympathizing word.” While the elected delegates
sent two members to England to try and induce the government
to alter their decision Sir George Clerk speedily came to terms
with a committee formed by the republican party and presided
over by Mr J. H. Hoffman. Even before this committee met
a royal proclamation had been signed (January 30, 1854)
“abandoning and renouncing all dominion” in the Sovereignty.
A convention recognizing the independence of the country
was signed at Bloemfontein on the 23rd of February by Sir
George Clerk and the republican committee, and on the 11th
of March the Boer government assumed office and the republican
flag was hoisted. Five days later the representatives of the
elected delegates had an interview in London with the colonial
secretary, the duke of Newcastle, who informed them that it
was now too late to discuss the question of the retention of
British rule. The colonial secretary added that it was impossible
for England to supply troops to constantly advancing outposts,
“especially as Cape Town and the port of Table Bay were all
she really required in South Africa.” In withdrawing from the
Sovereignty the British government declared that it had “no
alliance with any native chief or tribes to the northward of the
Orange River with the exception of the Griqua chief Captain
Adam Kok.” Kok was not formidable in a military sense,
nor could he prevent individual Griquas from alienating their
lands. Eventually, in 1861, he sold his sovereign rights to the
Free State for £4000 and removed with his followers to the
district now known as Griqualand East. (F. R. C.)
On the abandonment of British rule representatives of the people were elected and met at Bloemfontein on the 28th of March 1854, and between that date and the 18th of April were engaged in framing a constitution. The country was declared a republic Republican rule.and named the Orange Free State. All persons of European blood possessing a six months’ residential qualification were to be granted full burgher rights. The sole legislative authority was vested in a single popularly elected chamber styled the volksraad. Executive authority was entrusted to a president elected by the burghers from a list submitted by the volksraad. The president was to be assisted by an executive council, was to hold office for five years and was eligible for re-election. The constitution was subsequently modified but remained of a liberal character. A residence of five years in the country was required before aliens could become naturalized. The first president was Mr Hoffman, but he was accused of being too complaisant towards Moshesh and resigned, being succeeded in 1855 by Mr J. N. Boshof, one of