New Traces available!

A number of new Traces have recently been published and can be accessed via the links below:

• 30 May 1808, concerning the Bosjiesman Nation NEW! This Trace analyses an early letter from a British military man to the Cape’s then-Governor discussing the different Nations he had encountered and the causes and consequences of violence between them.
• 4 June 1948, Dr DF Malan addressed the voters of S Africa NEW! Do changes happening at a structural level immediately reverberate and impact at a local level? Evidence suggests a more complicated relationship exists, shown by entries in a diary of the election period in 1948 that returned the National Party to government.
• 1837, drawing a colour line NEW! The colour line in the Eastern Cape was in a literal sense re-negotiated in the 1830s. This Trace analyses an engraving of a painting of Jan Tzatzoe and others called to give evidence to a British Parliamentary committee that reported in 1837.
• Give that Boy 1 lb of Sugar, 17 November 1883 NEW! Many customers of the Emagusheni Trading Station were members of the literate Pondoland elite. This letter shows how complicated matters of status and hierarchy can be indicated in the then-prevailing conventions of letter-writing.

Last updated:  9 September 2021