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

Andrew Burnett, Ph.D., (2020) UWA, lives and works in Perth, Western Australia. His interests include the role of language in personal identity, and the growth of colonial nationalism in settler societies. His writing includes a study of the effect of the second Anglo-Boer War on Australian identity.

General Series Editor’s Preface
Acknowledgements
List of Abbreviations, Notes on Currency Values and Translation
Relevant Dates

1 Brother Nation or Lost Colony – Dutchness Re-imagined
 Introduction
 Theoretical Context
 Kinship
 Nation and Identity
 Imperialism
 Nationalism
 Cultural Nationalism
 Colony
 Colonial Nationalism
 Language
 Language, Literature and National Identity
 The View from Europe
 Imperialism and Colonialism in the Southern African Bridgeheads

2 Dutch Writing about the Dutch Role in Southern Africa
 Southern Africa in General Dutch Historiography
 Provincialism or Comparativism
 Dutch Imperialism in the Late Nineteenth Century?
 Re-thinking the Relationship between the Dutch and Their Former Colonies
 Religion and National Identity
 Kinship with the Dutch-Africans – Myth or Reality?
 Conclusion

3 The Dutch Look Back: The Birth of the Kinship Movement
 Introduction
 The Netherlands between 1795 and 1875 – a Period of Upheaval
 Looking Back to Past Glory
 Dutch National Identity
 The Liberal Decades
 A Colony Lost – the View from Europe
 Two groups of Dutch-Africans
 Stamverwantschap—the Early Years—1840 to 1875
 Ulrich Gerhard Lauts
 Lauts Takes the Initiative
 Lauts Lobbies the Dutch Parliament
 Lauts’ Legacy
 The Dutch Government Mid-1850s – Tentative Engagement
 Jacobus Stuart
 Child Migration 1855–1870
 The links sustained by education
 Hendrik Hamelberg – the Importance of Personal Experience
 Conclusion

4 ‘There Exists a Second Netherlands’
 Introduction
 The Role of the Dutch Protestant Churches among the Dutch-Africans
 Dutch Newspapers and Burgers
 Burgers, the Man and His Vision
 Burgers’ Vision Reinforced by a Treaty and by Hamelberg
 The Unmaking of Burgers
 A Dopper Pastor Pours Cold Water on Enthusiasm
 Dutch-Africans Attacked from ‘the left’
 Metropoles Compared
 The imperious British Attitude Towards the Dutch Regarding Southern Africa
 The Imbalance in Shipping and Communications
 Stamverwantschap Faces the Assertion of British power
 Conclusion

5 Dutch Reaction to the Annexation of the Transvaal
 Introduction
 A measured Initial Response to the Annexation
 Pleasure over Burgers’ Demise
 Sand River Convention – Sovereignty and Slavery
 Slavery in the Transvaal Republic– the Evidence
 The Dutch Respond to British Claims
 Dutch Supporters Characterise the Allegations as Propaganda
 Neo-Calvinist Development of the Kinship Ideology
 Dutch Reactions Harden and Protest Begins
 Dutch-Africans don’t Deserve Our Support – Another Liberal View
 The Dutch Government Responds – the Neutrality Policy
 The Dutch ‘Official Mind’ Remains Neutral
 Conclusion

6 Transvaal Rebellion Succeeds: Greater Influence for Stamverwantschap
 Introduction
 The Vision Survives – Excitement Builds
 New Symbols of Dutchness
 Harting’s Seminal Publication
 Liberal Appeals to Reason and Fairness
 A Prominent Liberal Looks Back in Anger
 Neutrality Trumps Stamverwantschap Again in Parliament
 Attacking Neutrality in the Lower House
 A New Figure in the Stamverwantschap Movement
 Women and the Stamverwantschap Movement
 The Creation of the Nederlandsche Zuid-Afrikaansche Vereeniging
 Harting’s Vision
 Conclusion

7 Rebuilding the Broken Link – the Jonkman Report
 Introduction
 Institutionalised Stamverwantschap – Initial Difficulties
 The Liberals Require Direct Contact
 The Jonkman Mission – A Divide Exposed
 The Jonkman Visit
 Nostalgia
 Dutch Migration Needed
 Connecting with Colonial Society
 In the Oranje Vrijstaat
 In Kruger’s Republic
 Colonial Nationalism Identified
 Jonkman’s Assessment of S. J. du Toit
 Jonkman’s Published Conclusions
 Lessons from the Jonkman Report
 Conclusion

8 President Kruger visits: Dutch Capital Markets Fail Him
 Introduction
 Dutch National Press and English Anti-Boer Propaganda
 Divisions in the Dutch Welcoming Party
 Receptions for the Deputation
 Controversy at Plancius – Kuyper’s Speech
 A purpose and Identity for Calvinist Christians in Africa
 A Liberal Response
 A Declining Role for Kuyper
 Inter-governmental Links with the Dutch-Africans Not Yet Established
 Sobering Impact of Jorissen’s Dismissal
 Jorissen’s Bold Plan
 Investing in the Stamverwanten – a Bad Start by the Koch Brothers
 Testing the Dutch Capital Markets
 Background to Dutch Capital Raising
 Harting Appeals for Support for the Capital Raising
 Investors’ Questions – Meeting at the Odeon
 Sovereign Risk?
 Sovereign Risk Fears Stronger than Kinship
 1884 – a Reality Check for the Stamverwantschap Movement
 Beyond 1884 – NZASM Funds, Builds and Operates the ZAR Railways
 Conclusion

9 Emigration to Southern Africa – Touchstone for Kinship?
 Introduction
 Part 1: Nineteenth-Century Dutch Emigration in a Northern European Context
 Part 2: How the Dutch Failed Their Stamverwanten
 Conclusion

10 Educating the Dutch-Africans: A Civilising Mission, or Cultural Imperialism?
 Introduction
 Stamverwantschap as a Vehicle for Cultural Betterment
 Introducing Three Missionaries for Dutch Culture
 Conclusion

11 Stamverwantschap Imagined through Language and Literature
 Introduction
 Language as the Conduit for Expansion of National Identity
 ‘A Message to the Dutch People’
 Mixed Messages from the Stamverwanten
 What Dutch Adults Were Reading
 Cor Pama Collection
 Adult Fiction and Poetry
 Bitterness and Accusations
 Stories for Children
 Dutch Caricatures and Cartoons
 Romance and Heroism
 Poetry, Literary Criticism and the Boer as Symbol
 Myth or an Artistic Reaction to Reality?
 Conclusion

Conclusion
Bibliography
Index

This book will be of interest to University Libraries, specialists in Dutch colonial history or Dutch cultural history, specialist institutions, Dutch and Afrikaans language scholars, and post-graduates focussed on European expansion from pre-modern times to the late nineteenth century.