The Dutch Rediscover the Dutch-Africans (1847–1900)

Download or read book The Dutch Rediscover the Dutch-Africans (1847–1900) written by Andrew Burnett and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2022-07-25 with total page 328 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Were the Dutch-Africans in southern Africa a brother nation to the Dutch or did they simply represent a lost colony? Connecting primary sources in Dutch and Afrikaans, this work tells the story of the Dutch stamverwantschap (kinship) movement between 1847 and 1900. The white Dutch-Africans were imagined to be the bridgehead to a broader Dutch identity – a ‘second Netherlands’ in the south. This study explores how the 19th century Dutch identified with and idealised a pastoral community operating within a racially segregated society on the edge of European civilisation. When the stamverwantschap dream collided with British military and economic power, the belief that race, language and religion could sustain a broader Dutch identity proved to be an illusion.