Hunter's Hooligan, yet Hopeful Historians: The Super Eights
| robben_island_pics |
The week ahead
Super 8's take note. There is a test on Tuesday 30 August on Units 1 and 2 of your notes. Make sure you have done the work for Ms Halland and that this is in your books. I will take your books in after you have written the test and they will be marked. No excuses (Jason, Hudson, Sam, max and the others with poor recollection capacity.)
| south_african_history_year_8_unit_2.pptx |
You should all recognize this picture. there may be something about it in the test on Tuesday.
Have a look at the map below. If it is unclear, please go to
http://www.ezakwantu.com/Tribes%20-%20Southern%20African%20Tribal%20Migrations.htm for a clearer version.
Have a look at the map below. If it is unclear, please go to
http://www.ezakwantu.com/Tribes%20-%20Southern%20African%20Tribal%20Migrations.htm for a clearer version.
The Mfecane "Difaqane" - Tribal Migration between 1818 and 1935.
19th Century Upheavals
Tragedy on a vast scale struck southern Africa in the early 1800's. The event was named the Mfecane "the crushing" by the Nguni and Difaqane "the scattering of tribes" by the Sotho-Tswana. Europeans called the catastrophe the "Wars of Calamity". By 1825, two and half million starving, homeless people wandered about southern Africa looking for respite.The causes of the Mfecane were many. Starting in 1800, a long drought made southern Africa inhospitable. People moved in search of food and fought for meagre supplies, producing the Difaqane. The entire Sotho-Tswana region had fallen into a state of anarchy. One clan conquered the other, only to be defeated by another. The Mfecane gave rise to Shaka Zulu. In less than two decades, a powerful Zulu empire arose from a typical Bantu decentralized pastoral society. Shaka created a highly centralized, well organized nation-state, with a large and powerful standing army. Refugee groups escaping Chaka's anger, invaded the lands of present-day Botswana.
Sobhuza of the Swazi moved his people north from the Pongola River to present-day Swaziland and conquered the peoples living there. The marauding Hlubi and Ngwane created chaos as they tramped westward. The Basotho were pushed into the mountains where they were harassed by cannibals. Setting towns on fire, the Ndebele swept ahead of the Zulu Impi to settle in present day Zimbabwe, where they absorbed others and became the Matabele. On their way, they encountered King Thulare's Pedi empire, which was destroyed. They attacked the Mokololo to the northwest, who were Sotho-Tswana 's speakers from the south pushing north. Forced off their lands, many Nguni and Tswana peoples collided with the Voortrekkers moving from the south. The Xhosa expanded into Khoi-khoi lands. Some Khoi-khoi retreated into the Kalahari Desert. Others were killed or enslaved by the Voortrekkers. The Tlokoa marched from Natal leaving a path of destruction all the way to Botswana. They attacked the Fokeng forcing them west. The Fokeng marched north to the Zambezi River and beyond, where they raided destitute refugees. Vagrants from various Nguni and Sotho groups formed a new tribe, the Mfengu, which means 'beggar' in iziXhosa. By the time of Shaka's murder in 1828, no group of people were living on their original lands.
Adding to this historic account, it should be remembered that this written history was recorded by Afrikaans and English speaking people, on or about their first contact with the inhabitants of the interior of South Africa. What they failed to consider or record when dating, defining and anointing "the" Mfecane - Lifaqane - Difaqane or Wars of Calamity, were that droughts and tribal adventurism had been going from early times. The historic generalization of "the period", ignores any mention of Portuguese 16th century accounts of more or less the same shenanigans. No, we do not surmise that peace prevailed between the centuries it took the new arrivals to catch up with the earlier European adventures, nor do we have reason to believe tribal behaviour or natural weather patterns, were significantly different prior to the arrival of the Portuguese.
Tragedy on a vast scale struck southern Africa in the early 1800's. The event was named the Mfecane "the crushing" by the Nguni and Difaqane "the scattering of tribes" by the Sotho-Tswana. Europeans called the catastrophe the "Wars of Calamity". By 1825, two and half million starving, homeless people wandered about southern Africa looking for respite.The causes of the Mfecane were many. Starting in 1800, a long drought made southern Africa inhospitable. People moved in search of food and fought for meagre supplies, producing the Difaqane. The entire Sotho-Tswana region had fallen into a state of anarchy. One clan conquered the other, only to be defeated by another. The Mfecane gave rise to Shaka Zulu. In less than two decades, a powerful Zulu empire arose from a typical Bantu decentralized pastoral society. Shaka created a highly centralized, well organized nation-state, with a large and powerful standing army. Refugee groups escaping Chaka's anger, invaded the lands of present-day Botswana.
Sobhuza of the Swazi moved his people north from the Pongola River to present-day Swaziland and conquered the peoples living there. The marauding Hlubi and Ngwane created chaos as they tramped westward. The Basotho were pushed into the mountains where they were harassed by cannibals. Setting towns on fire, the Ndebele swept ahead of the Zulu Impi to settle in present day Zimbabwe, where they absorbed others and became the Matabele. On their way, they encountered King Thulare's Pedi empire, which was destroyed. They attacked the Mokololo to the northwest, who were Sotho-Tswana 's speakers from the south pushing north. Forced off their lands, many Nguni and Tswana peoples collided with the Voortrekkers moving from the south. The Xhosa expanded into Khoi-khoi lands. Some Khoi-khoi retreated into the Kalahari Desert. Others were killed or enslaved by the Voortrekkers. The Tlokoa marched from Natal leaving a path of destruction all the way to Botswana. They attacked the Fokeng forcing them west. The Fokeng marched north to the Zambezi River and beyond, where they raided destitute refugees. Vagrants from various Nguni and Sotho groups formed a new tribe, the Mfengu, which means 'beggar' in iziXhosa. By the time of Shaka's murder in 1828, no group of people were living on their original lands.
Adding to this historic account, it should be remembered that this written history was recorded by Afrikaans and English speaking people, on or about their first contact with the inhabitants of the interior of South Africa. What they failed to consider or record when dating, defining and anointing "the" Mfecane - Lifaqane - Difaqane or Wars of Calamity, were that droughts and tribal adventurism had been going from early times. The historic generalization of "the period", ignores any mention of Portuguese 16th century accounts of more or less the same shenanigans. No, we do not surmise that peace prevailed between the centuries it took the new arrivals to catch up with the earlier European adventures, nor do we have reason to believe tribal behaviour or natural weather patterns, were significantly different prior to the arrival of the Portuguese.
Visit to Muizenberg battle (?) site.
Hi Super 8's. here are a few pointers and reminders about yesterdays trip. In 1795 the Cape (Not yet a colony) was administered by the Dutch east India Company. (VOC) After French armies under the control of Napoleon had invaded and conquered Holland, the British decided to invade the Cape to ensure that their ships could stop here and refresh on the way to and from the Far East. Trade with the Far East was very profitable and provided Europe with scarce spices and exotic items like silks.
The British sent a squadron of 7 Royal Navy ships which arrived at Simon's Bay (Simonstown) in June 1795. At noon on 7 August 1795, four of the British ships, the America, Stately, Echo and Rattlesnake set sail, drawing slowly along the coast towards Muizenberg, with the launches in attendance. They fired on two guard posts, forcing their abandonment; arriving at the main Dutch camp shortly afterwards, they began a highly effective barrage. Losses were light for the British - America lost a gun, with two men dead and four wounded, and the Stately took one injury - whilst the Dutch were forced to abandon the camp before the infantry, who had been following the ships, could even arrive. The bombardment lasted about 30 minutes, from 2.00pm. Approximately 800 balls were fired by the British ships.
The Dutch defenders retreated around the side of the mountain towards where Lakeside is today and spent the night on the dunes. The area of Retreat gets its name from this.
The engagement continued for six weeks, eventually stalemating at Wynberg Ridge. Neither side was strong enough to defeat the other. Both sides were lightly armed, some distance from supplies and lacking in artillery or cavalry. Following skirmishes on the 1st and 2nd September, a final general attempt to recapture the camp was prepared by the Dutch for the 3rd, but at this point the main British fleet arrived in Simon's Bay. A British advance on Cape Town, with the new reinforcements, began on the 14th; on the 16th, the colony capitulated.
Few men died during the campaign on either side. The British dead are well documented, the Dutch less so. Of the 34 British dead only 8 died of wounds received in action; the balance were deaths due to disease.
During the visit to the site we saw the original Dutch fortification as well as the fortification later built by the British on the same site. we also saw the flat stone used by British soldiers as a table where it believed that Lady Anne Barnard shared a braai with some of the soldiers sationed there. We also saw the spot where the Pandouren (Local Khoi who had been freed from slavery) defended against the British ships using muskets. This was on the same spot as a "midden" which had been used as a sleeping point for many hundreds of years by passing local tribesmen.
Hi Super 8's. here are a few pointers and reminders about yesterdays trip. In 1795 the Cape (Not yet a colony) was administered by the Dutch east India Company. (VOC) After French armies under the control of Napoleon had invaded and conquered Holland, the British decided to invade the Cape to ensure that their ships could stop here and refresh on the way to and from the Far East. Trade with the Far East was very profitable and provided Europe with scarce spices and exotic items like silks.
The British sent a squadron of 7 Royal Navy ships which arrived at Simon's Bay (Simonstown) in June 1795. At noon on 7 August 1795, four of the British ships, the America, Stately, Echo and Rattlesnake set sail, drawing slowly along the coast towards Muizenberg, with the launches in attendance. They fired on two guard posts, forcing their abandonment; arriving at the main Dutch camp shortly afterwards, they began a highly effective barrage. Losses were light for the British - America lost a gun, with two men dead and four wounded, and the Stately took one injury - whilst the Dutch were forced to abandon the camp before the infantry, who had been following the ships, could even arrive. The bombardment lasted about 30 minutes, from 2.00pm. Approximately 800 balls were fired by the British ships.
The Dutch defenders retreated around the side of the mountain towards where Lakeside is today and spent the night on the dunes. The area of Retreat gets its name from this.
The engagement continued for six weeks, eventually stalemating at Wynberg Ridge. Neither side was strong enough to defeat the other. Both sides were lightly armed, some distance from supplies and lacking in artillery or cavalry. Following skirmishes on the 1st and 2nd September, a final general attempt to recapture the camp was prepared by the Dutch for the 3rd, but at this point the main British fleet arrived in Simon's Bay. A British advance on Cape Town, with the new reinforcements, began on the 14th; on the 16th, the colony capitulated.
Few men died during the campaign on either side. The British dead are well documented, the Dutch less so. Of the 34 British dead only 8 died of wounds received in action; the balance were deaths due to disease.
During the visit to the site we saw the original Dutch fortification as well as the fortification later built by the British on the same site. we also saw the flat stone used by British soldiers as a table where it believed that Lady Anne Barnard shared a braai with some of the soldiers sationed there. We also saw the spot where the Pandouren (Local Khoi who had been freed from slavery) defended against the British ships using muskets. This was on the same spot as a "midden" which had been used as a sleeping point for many hundreds of years by passing local tribesmen.
Test on Tuesday 1 March
Please take note that your test on Tuesday will cover the following aspects of the French revolution:
How has the revolution been remembered? The storming of the Bastille.
How well was France governed before the revolution: Louis 16 and Marie Antoinette.
Social structure and government in France before the revolution
The three estates and how they lived. Clergy, nobility and peasantry
And then as a little bonus, I will ask you to make comparisons between what happened in France and what has recently happened in North Africa! Have a look at the cartoon below which was published 3 weeks ago.
Please take the following link and have a look at what was written in the 1780's: http://www.thenagain.info/Classes/Sources/Young.html
How has the revolution been remembered? The storming of the Bastille.
How well was France governed before the revolution: Louis 16 and Marie Antoinette.
Social structure and government in France before the revolution
The three estates and how they lived. Clergy, nobility and peasantry
And then as a little bonus, I will ask you to make comparisons between what happened in France and what has recently happened in North Africa! Have a look at the cartoon below which was published 3 weeks ago.
Please take the following link and have a look at what was written in the 1780's: http://www.thenagain.info/Classes/Sources/Young.html
Title Text.
Hi Year 8's. You are the Super eights because you have the ability to be such. The Super 8 competition is part of the World Cup Cricket..
See Zapiro's recent cartoon: can you comment on what he is saying here?
| levels_history_ks3.doc |
The French economy in the 18th Century
Eighteenth century France experienced a slow economic and demographic recovery in the first decades following the death of Louis XIV, although monetary confidence was briefly eroded by the disastrous paper money "System" introduced by John Law from 1716-1720. In 1726, under Louis XV's minister Cardinal Fleury, a system of monetary stability was put in place, leading to a strict conversion rate between gold and silver, and set values for the coins in circulation in France.
Starting in the late 1730s and early 1740s, and continuing for the next 30 years, France's population and economy underwent an important expansion. Rising prices, particularly for agricultural products, were extremely profitable for large landholders. Artisans and tenant farmers also saw wage increases, but on the whole, they benefited less from the growing economy. Pivotal developments in agriculture, such as modern techniques of crop rotation, the use of fertilizers which were modelled on successes in Britain and Italy, began to be introduced in parts of France. It would, however, take generations for these reforms to spread throughout all of France. Farming of recent New World crops, including maize, potatoes continued to expand, and provided an important supplement to the diet.
The most dynamic industries of the period were mines, metallurgy and textiles (in particular printed fabrics, such as those made by Christophe-Philippe Oberkampf). The advancements in these areas were often due to foreigners. For example, it was John Kay's invention of the flying shuttle that revolutionized the textile industry, and it was James Watt's steam engine that changed industry as the French had known it. Capital remained difficult to raise for commercial ventures, however, and the state remained highly mercantilistic, protectionist, and interventionist in the domestic economy, often setting requirements for production quality and industrial standards, and limiting industries to certain cities.
The international commercial centers of the country were based in Lyon, Marseille, Nantes, and Bordeaux. Nantes and Bordeaux saw phenomenal growth due to an increase of trade with Spain and Portugal. Cadiz was the commercial hub for export of French printed fabrics to India), the Americas and the Antilles (coffee, sugar, tobacco, American cotton), and Africa (the slave trade, centered in Nantes.
In 1749, a new tax, modelled on the "dixième" and called the "vingtième" (or "one-twentieth"), was enacted to reduce the royal deficit. This tax continued throughout the ancien régime. It was based solely on revenues, requiring 5% of net earnings from land, property, commerce, industry and from official offices, and was meant to touch all citizens regardless of status. However, the clergy, the regions with "pays d'état" and the parlements protested; the clergy won exemption, the "pays d'état" won reduced rates, and the parlements halted new income statements, effectively making the "vingtième" a far less efficient tax than it was designed to be. The financial needs of the Seven Years' War led to a second (1756–1780), and then a third (1760–1763), "vingtième" being created. In 1754, the "vingtième" produced 11.7 million livres.
The later years of Louis XV's reign saw some economic setbacks. While the Seven Years' War, 1756–1763, led to an increase in the royal debt and the loss of nearly all of France's North American possessions, it was not until 1775 that the French economy began truly to enter a state of crisis. An extended reduction in agricultural prices over the previous twelve years, with dramatic crashes in 1777 and 1786, and further complicated by climatic events such as the disastrous winters of 1785-1789 contributed to the problem.
With the government deeply in debt, Louis XVI was forced to permit the radical reforms of Turgot and Malesherbes. However, the nobles' disaffection led to Turgot's dismissal and Malesherbes' resignation 1776. Jacques Necker replaced them. Louis supported the American Revolution in 1778, but the Treaty of Paris (1783) yielded the French little, excepting an addition to the country's enormous debt. The government was forced to increase taxes, including the "vingtième." Necker had resigned in 1781, to be replaced temporarily by Calonne and Brienne, but he was restored to power in 1788.
In these last decades of the century, French industries continued to develop. Mechanization was introduced, factories were created, and monopolies became more common. However, this growth was complicated by competition from England in the textiles and cotton industries. On the other hand, French commercial ventures continued to expand, both domestically and internationally. The American War of Independence had led to a reduction of trade (cotton and slaves), but by the 1780s American trade was stronger than before. Similarly, the Antilles represented the major source for European sugar and coffee, and it was a huge importer of slaves through Nantes. Paris became France's center of international banking and stock trades, in these last decades (like Amsterdam and London), and the Caisse d'Escompte was founded in 1776. Paper money was re-introduced, denominated in livres; these were issued until 1793.
The agricultural and climatic problems of the 1770s and 1780s led to an important increase in poverty: in some cities in the north, historians have estimated the poor as reaching upwards of 20% of the urban population. Displacement and criminality, mainly theft, also increased, and the growth of groups of mendicants and bandits became a problem. Although nobles, bourgeois, and wealthy landholders saw their revenues affected by the depression, the hardest-hit in this period were the working class and the peasants. While their tax burden to the state had generally decreased in this period, feudal and seigneurial dues had increased.
The French Revolution would put an end to France's industrial development, leaving France greatly behind Britain for the next half a century.citation needed
