The Colonial history of Cape Town tracks the history of the islands after it was discovered by the Portuguese and subsequently acquired by the Dutch and the British.
The colonial history of Cape Town dates back to the time when the Portuguese discovered the Cape. The Portuguese seamen landed on the Cape Peninsula after their ships ran into hostile weather. They named the island Cabo Tormentosa which when translated into English means the 'Bay of Storms'. The first person to set foot on the Table Bay was Antonio de Saldanha. He scaled the lofty mountain and named it the Table Mountain.
Cape Town under the Portuguese
The trade routes between Asia and Europe had been severed by the constant wars. This led the Portuguese search for alternative options and prompted them to order their explorers to find a way to Asia around Africa. Bartholomeus Dias began his exploration to discover such a route in 1487. His vessels approached the western coast of Africa. But they soon found themselves up against the forces of nature. The stormy sea guided his ships far away from the coast. After enduring the inhospitable conditions of the sea, Dias and his men sailed towards the east hoping to arrive at their destination. But their journey yielded no results, as there was no sight of land. They took recourse in the northern direction and finally arrived near the Gouritz River. It is held that Dias was the one who gave the peninsula its name of Cabo Tormentosa. Almost a decade later, Vasco Da Gama sailed from Portugal to India via the Cape, thus formally completing the journey and opening up the route in the process.
Cape Town under the Dutch
After the Portuguese, it was the turn of the Dutch to establish their trading posts at the Cape. The Dutch East India Company succumbed to the demands of the Dutch sailors and finally sought to initiate such an
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expedition. It sent Jan Anthony Van Riebeeck with the charge of three ships to lay the Dutch foundations on the Cape. During the seventeenth century, the Cape was transformed into an outpost of the Dutch East India Company's empire in the East.
The Cape Colony flourished under the Governorship of Simon van der Stel who came to the colony in 1679. He expanded the dimensions of the garden of Van Riebeeck and decorated it beautifully. He also constructed a slave lodge which is now transformed into the Cultural History Museum of Cape Town.
Cape Town under the British
Apart from the Portuguese and the Dutch, Britain was also tempted to acquire colonies on the Cape. A war between the two contemporary powers in Europe in 1780-83, saw the British slowly trying to gain control over the Cape. Their efforts were, however, thwarted by the French forces. The French were an ally of the Dutch and resisted every attack by the British. The British managed to establish their claims on the Cape in 1795 following an order issued by William of Orange. After suffering a defeat in the Battle of Muizenberg, the Dutch were forced to relinquish their claims on the Cape. The British, however, could not retain their possession for long and had to give up the territories to the Dutch in accordance with the conditions of the Treaty of Amiens. But the British were not willing to part with their territories and finally managed to regain the same after the Battle of Blaauwberg (1814) in which the Dutch suffered a crushing defeat.
Cape Town acquired the status of a municipality in 1840. A Constitution was drafted for the same and executed in 1853. Elections were held in the Colony, which resulted in the formation of the Parliament convened on 30th June 1854. The Cape Colony got its self-governing status after a declaration by Sir Henry Barkly in 1875. The colonial history of Cape Town provides an insight into the various phases of colonial rule on the peninsula.
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