Slavery at the Cape🦉
Slavery at the Cape🦉 The slave society that developed at the Cape was remarkably diverse. Unlike many slave societies that drew enslaved people from a single region, the Cape received slaves from Africa, the Indian subcontinent and the Dutch East Indies. As a result, the colony became a multilingual and multicultural society in which people from many different backgrounds lived and worked together under slavery. Cape slaves were owned by three main groups. The first were Company slaves, who belonged to the Dutch East India Company. They were employed in public works, agriculture, construction and other Company activities. Freedom was rarely granted to these slaves. According to historical research, only a small number were manumitted during the VOC period, with most of those who gained their freedom having been born at the Cape. The second group consisted of slaves owned privately by senior VOC officials. These slaves generally performed domestic, agricultural and skilled labour. The ...