In this lecture, we think about the origins of apartheid, focusing in particular on: (i) origins of apartheid in attitudes born out of European colonialism and imperialism, forming into institutional racism; (ii) Prince Henry the Navigator and Bartolomeu Dias as key figures in early exploration of southern Africa; (iii) the migration of Europeans and Africans to and around southern Africa, including highlighting that native African people lived in what was to become South Africa long before the Afrikaners arrived; (iv) the frequenting of the Cape of Good Hope by Portuguese explorers since the 15th century; (v) the desire for trade as an initial intention of Europeans arriving in South Africa; (vi) a change in the 18th century, when Europeans beyond the Afrikaners began to settle in South Africa rather than using it only as a trade point, when the wealth of precious metals present in the region was discovered; (vii) Cecil Rhodes as a key figured who wished to claim the entire continent of Africa for Britain; (viii) the backdrop of British colonialism in this period being the loss of its North American territories after signing the Treaty of Paris in 1783; (ix) the colonial states established in Africa by European powers throughout the 18th and 19th centuries; (x) the institutional racism present in European colonies in Africa; (xi) the encouragement of the migration of people from India into Africa, to form a class between Africans and Europeans, as well as to replace the displaced African labour force; (xii) the apartheid-adjacent policies implemented around inter-ethnic relationships by European colonies which predate the apartheid regime; (xiii) the classification of people in South Africa by ‘race’.


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This lecture is part of a larger course exploring the system of apartheid in the context of history and the wider world: massolit.io/courses/south-africa-apartheid-in-context-1450-1994?source=yt

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MASSOLIT works with university academics to produce short video lectures in the arts, sciences, humanities and social sciences. It is available to schools and colleges on an institutional license as well as via private subscription: massolit.io/?source=yt