Bechuanaland Annexation
By 1885 Bechuanaland (the name having being an English corruption of the 'Land of the Tswana as members of the Tswana tribe form the majority of the inhabitants) had only just been rescued from the horrors of war in the peculiarly cruel and unprincipled form commonly called 'filibustering.' The plundered natives had barely recovered from a state of terror. The land was to all intents and purposes in a condition of barbarism.
In 1882-3 constant disturbances had been occurring in Bechuanaland to the west of the Transvaal border. The whole Bechuana country, from the border of Griqualand West to the shores of Lake Ngami and the Victoria Falls of the Zambesi, may be said to have had peculiar interest for the British people since the early years of the 19th century. A long line of distinguished and, in the main, disinterested British men — missionaries, hunters and explorers — had been the means of opening up the country to advancing civilization. Burchell, Campbell, Moffatt, Edwards, Livingstone, Oswell, Andrew Smith, Hume, Cornwallis Harris, Gordon Cumming, John Mackenzie, Hepburn, these and many others had succeeded in establishing among the Bechuanas a peculiar liking and respect for men of British blood.
In the middle of the 19th century, when Livingstone was pursuing a quiet missionary career among the Bakwena subjects of Chief Sechele, the Boers of the Transvaal were openly declaring their intention of barring the progress of the British to the interior. They called all the country north of the Vaal “onze veld,” "our country.” They even went so far as to fine and imprison an English trader for entering the country without permission.
Livingstone strove quietly, but manfully, against these vainglorious and absurd ideas. “The Boers," he says, in his early book of travels, “resolved to shut up the interior, and I determined to open the country, and we shall see who have been most successful in resolution—they or I." David Livingstone, in truth, long since won the victory of civilization for Bechuanaland.
In 1849 came Livingstone’s first great discovery of Lake Ngami, shortly to be followed by the wonderful journey across Africa and the discovery of the magnificent falls — called by the great missionary after Her Majesty — on the Zambesi River.
Between the Bechuanas and Transvaal Boers there had never been much love lost. The various tribes had always defended themselves as stoutly as possible against Transvaal aggression, although long practically abandoned by the British Government. But in the early 1880s, after Majuba, the fighting powers of the southern tribes had fallen very low.
The freebooters gained in strength, lands were filched from the Bechuanas, and the pseudo-republics of Stellaland and Goshen were formed. The Imperial Government at length began to prick up its ears. By the Convention of London, an adjustment of border upon the west of the South African Republic was made, by which the territory of the chiefs Massouw and Moshette was placed within the Transvaal.
A British Protectorate was then declared over the Barolong and Batlapin country, under the chiefs Monsioa and Mankoroane. But the freebooting attacks still continued, and the Transvaal authorities did nothing to relieve the tension. Various politicians from the Cape were sent up to endeavor to arrange matters, but without result. Among others Cecil Rhodes tried his hand. And it is to be frankly admitted that Rhodes’ efforts on this occasion were completely unsuccessful. He was probably hampered, as he has been often hampered since, by the fear of giving offence to the Dutch party in the Cape Parliament.
About this time Commandant-General Joubert, notwithstanding the proclamation of a British Protectorate, persuaded Monsioa, who seems for the moment to have despaired of British help, to consent to his territory being annexed to the South African Republic. But the Rev. John Mackenzie, who had been appointed Imperial Commissioner in the disturbed territory, succeeded in attracting the attention of the British public to the imminence of the danger. The W.E.Foster, MP, warmly took up the question. It was determined to make a stand.
The Imperial Government called upon the Transvaal to disavow at once this gross violation of the Convention just signed. A strong force of 4,000 men, one half regular troops, the other half picked irregulars, was despatched to Bechuanaland under Sir Charles Warren.
As if by magic, the country was settled, the freebooters and filibusters disappeared, and peace and order were ensured. The success of this well equipped and well conducted expedition went far to re-establish a portion, at least, of the greatly damaged British prestige.
At the close of the expedition Sir Charles Warren visited the native chiefs of the countries north of the Molopo. He was especially well received by Khama, chief of the Bamangwato, a constant friend and ally of the English, and one of the most remarkable and high-minded native rulers that Africa has ever seen. Khama’s vast country extended from the Limpopo to the Zambesi Falls, and from the western Matabele border to the region of Lake Ngami. Khama’s confidence in the power and justice of the Queen of England was such that he offered to place the whole of his territory at the disposal of her Government, with the reservation of suflicient lands for the use of his tribe. This offer was refused.
As the result of the Warren expedition, Bechuanaland, south of the Molopo, was, with the adjacent Kalahari region, proclaimed a Crown Colony, under the title of British Bechuanaland; while the country north, as far as the 20th degree of south latitude, was declared to be under British protection. This last arrangement, extending British influence only half way into Khama’s country, seemed to that chief, as to most Englishmen, difficult to understand. British Bechuanaland, almost purely a pastoral country, remained a Crown Colony until 1895, when it was handed over to the Cape, and formed part of that colony.
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