It’s the early 19th century, the British have already provisionally annexed the province, and they do so permanently after Napoleon’s defeat.
The British define themselves as "liberal, tolerant, open-minded, and cultured."
The Boers are described as "stubborn, uncultured, racist, and excessively religious."
The rules change, especially regarding "inferior races"...
A Boer rebellion is crushed. Five are sentenced to death. On the day of the execution, when the gallows are activated, four ropes snap!
Tradition says it was "the hand of God" that broke the ropes, so the condemned should be pardoned...
But the English captain won’t hear of it... the four men are given new ropes around their necks, and this time, they don’t break!
The phrase "remember Slagtersnek" is deeply embedded in Boer tradition.
For them, it symbolizes the injustice and cruelty of the British.
That was the last straw... the shift in power, the laws governing the rights of the Black population...
It marked the beginning of the Great Trek...
Before 1815 (roughly), the furthest advance was Grahamstown, and even that was recent.
Contact with the Xhosa was still limited.
Afterward came the great leap toward Upington, Bloemfontein, Pretoria, Durban, Pietermaritzburg...
And the major clashes with the Xhosa and Zulu.
Slagtersnek (or Butchersnek):
Today, on the road between PE and Cradock
A monument by the side of this road... almost abandoned.
Note to readers:
I’m telling a story... in my own way. See it only as my attempt to share what I’ve come to understand about this country, nothing more, nothing less.
