Department of History

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Browsing Department of History by Subject "African perspectives towards disfranchisement"

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    Enfranchised Africans and disfranchising legislations : an analysis of the educated landowners of Queenstown as an African middle class, c.1872-1909.
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2021-03) Visser, Beaurel; Fourie, Johan; Ehlers, Anton; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of History.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The right to vote in public political elections for parliamentary representatives in the Cape Colony was determined by various legislations reflected through the Cape franchise. For 34 years, Africans had the right to vote for parliamentary representatives in the Cape Colony under the Constitution Ordinance of 1853 with no barriers of racial discrimination. Under Responsible Government (1872-1909), franchise requirement became more stringent with the aim of excluding Africans from being able to vote given that they had started to register more frequently. The battle of an emerging African middle class against economic and political forces is explored through the analysis of the implementation of stringent disfranchising legislations implemented in 1887, 1892 and 1894. Newspapers are used alongside a range of government publications to illustrate how the effects of disfranchisement legislations in the Cape Colony were complex and more nuanced than has been explored in existing historiography. The study illustrates some of the effects disfranchisement legislations had on the enfranchised African middle class and uses the Queenstown electoral division as a lens through which it brings this into focus. The primary tools that were used to achieve disenfranchisement were land and education which are themes used throughout the study to demonstrate persistent voter registration of the African middle class despite the implementation of disfranchisement legislations. The study moves away from the emphasis of African political participation as a primary contributor to maintaining certain politicians in parliament but rather illuminates the agency of Africans who desired to participate in Cape politics through the franchise. What this study aims to contribute to historiography is a perspective on the views and experiences of Africans towards disfranchisement as expressed in a selection of newspapers. These African perspectives are complemented by a statistical analysis of the voters' rolls which more precisely determines the size of affected African voters and adds to an understanding of the extent to which Africans participated beyond 1887 with a focus on the Queenstown electoral division.