Summary of Martin Meredith's Diamonds, Gold, and War , livre ebook

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53 pages

English

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Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.
Sample Book Insights:
#1 The rush to the diamond fields of Griqualand turned into a frantic escapade that one Cape Town newspaper likened to a dangerous madness. The mining settlements of Griqualand soon came to be renowned as much for despair, disease, and death as for the fortunes made there.
#2 In 1870, young Cecil Rhodes was sent to Natal from England to join his brother Herbert in a cotton-farming venture in the colony. He met a British army officer, Captain Loftus Rolleston, who had recently returned from diamond diggings on the banks of the Vaal River.
#3 The first diamond was discovered by accident in 1866. It was picked up by a Boer farmer’s son, and used to play children’s games of five-stones. A neighbor, Schalk van Niekerk, saw the stone several weeks later and thought it might have some value.
#4 The diamond rush at Dutoitspan and Bultfontein in 1870 was the result of two extinct volcanoes containing unimaginable riches. The yellow ground beneath the farms, which was rich in diamonds, extended as far as sixty feet below the surface.

Sujets

19th Century

Modern

Histoire

Modern history

History

Obermodern-Zutzendorf

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Publié par	Everest Media LLC
Date de parution	03 mai 2022
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781669398912
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	1 Mo

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Insights on Martin Meredith's Diamonds Gold and War
Contents Insights from Chapter 1 Insights from Chapter 2 Insights from Chapter 3 Insights from Chapter 4 Insights from Chapter 5 Insights from Chapter 6 Insights from Chapter 7 Insights from Chapter 8 Insights from Chapter 9 Insights from Chapter 10
Insights from Chapter 1

#1

The rush to the diamond fields of Griqualand turned into a frantic escapade that one Cape Town newspaper likened to a dangerous madness. The mining settlements of Griqualand soon came to be renowned as much for despair, disease, and death as for the fortunes made there.

#2

In 1870, young Cecil Rhodes was sent to Natal from England to join his brother Herbert in a cotton-farming venture in the colony. He met a British army officer, Captain Loftus Rolleston, who had recently returned from diamond diggings on the banks of the Vaal River.

#3

The first diamond was discovered by accident in 1866. It was picked up by a Boer farmer’s son, and used to play children’s games of five-stones. A neighbor, Schalk van Niekerk, saw the stone several weeks later and thought it might have some value.

#4

The diamond rush at Dutoitspan and Bultfontein in 1870 was the result of two extinct volcanoes containing unimaginable riches. The yellow ground beneath the farms, which was rich in diamonds, extended as far as sixty feet below the surface.

#5

The diamond fields were hit by a crisis when the price of rough diamonds in London fell. The diggers were half-angry, half-dismayed. They had encouraged each other to believe that since the market had borne so much, its patience must be inexhaustible.

#6

After a series of misfortunes, Boyle decided to leave the diamond fields. He had purchased a quarter-claim in Colesberg Kopje together with a two-wheeled cart in bad condition, two mules, and a harness, and had found three partners to work the claim on shares with all finds being split evenly.

#7

The discovery of diamonds in Griqualand precipitated a tussle between Britain, the Orange Free State and the Transvaal for control of the territory. The Cape Colony accorded due recognition to the Griqua kaptyn, Andries Waterboer, as an independent chief, and agreed to pay him a salary of £100 a year for protecting the colonial frontier.

#8

The British were also interested in the diamond fields, as they feared the growing power of neighbouring states. They wanted to expand their territory, and the diamond fields would provide them with a new source of revenue and economic activity.

#9

In 1871, the British government annexed the diamond fields of Griqualand West, not by the Cape Colony but in the name of the British Crown. The eastern border of the diamond fields was realigned to ensure that they fell within its jurisdiction.

#10

Under British control, the diggers continued to ride a rollercoaster of mixed fortunes. The hazards of mining deep pits became more severe, and roadways connecting the pits to the mine edge frequently collapsed.

#11

Rhodes was a complex man, who was often silent and impulsive. He was intolerant in discussion, and had solitary habits. He made several lasting friendships at ‘New Rush’, though.

#12

Rhodes had many business ventures, but he never seemed to care much about girls. He would often go on long rides with his friend John Xavier Merriman, discussing the affairs of the diamond fields and world history.

#13

Rhodes was extremely busy with his diamond business, and he wanted to gain a professional qualification. He had a mild heart attack, but he continued with his ambition. In 1873, he left his business interests in the hands of his partner, Charles Rudd, and went to England to attend Oxford.

#14

In 1873, Kimberley was the second-largest town in southern Africa, with a population of 13,000 whites and 30,000 blacks. It was a chaotic jumble of tents and canvas-covered frame houses. The town centre was packed daily with wagons and Cape carts.

#15

Kimberley, South Africa, was a town full of gambling halls, drinking establishments, and rough hotels. The most popular drink was Cape Smoke, a powerful brandy that was often adulterated by unscrupulous canteen keepers.

#16

The lure of money also attracted many prostitutes, white and black. The white women stayed quietly in boarding houses at first, but later they would go to bars and saloons.

#17

By 1873, the diamond fields were exporting £1,649,450 worth of diamonds per year. However, the price of rough diamonds in London fell by one third, driven in part by recession in Europe.

#18

The disruption to mining lasted for months while the debris was cleared away. In the first five years of production at Kimberley, one load of reef was extracted to every seven loads of blue ground. Flooding added to the diggers’ woes.

#19

The diggers, who were white, had established a tradition of airing their grievances in a loud and boisterous manner. They had formed diggers’ committees to regulate their own affairs, and they were determined to restrict the activities of blacks on the diamond fields.

#20

The diamond fields were also home to a large number of black laborers, who were brought in to work the mines. The white diggers frequently abused and beat these laborers, as they were trying to save up enough money to buy guns.

#21

The Diamond Fields were also affected by the resentment of the white diggers, who were constantly being disrupted and delayed by the black diggers who had the right to sell diamonds.

#22

The British government, facing increasing disorder, eventually capitulated to most of the diggers’ demands. They established a new regime for labour contracts that linked it to a system of pass laws that would be used to control black labour in southern Africa for decades to come.

#23

Aylward pursued his republican agenda relentlessly. In March 1875, he formed a Diggers’ Protection Association, a paramilitary organization that pledged not to pay taxes. They took to drilling openly in Market Square and on the cricket ground.

#24

In 1875, the British government sent troops to South Africa to quell a rebellion in the mining camps. When they arrived, they met no resistance. The seven rebel leaders were put on trial, and three of them were charged with sedition, conspiracy, and riot. They were acquitted.

#25

After the rebellion, the British government installed a new regime in Kimberley, determined to ensure that the diamond fields brought no further trouble or expense. They appointed an administrator, Major Owen Lanyon, who made no attempt to hide his distaste for the primitive living conditions or his impatience with local dignitaries.

#26

The French Company, led by Jules Porges, was the largest mining operation on the diamond fields. It controlled one-quarter of the Kimberley mine and was by far the largest company there.

#27

Rhodes began to build up a group of claims in a part of De Beer’s mine known as Baxter’s Gully. He bought the claims at a cheaper price than De Beer’s, and they were considered to be less valuable. Yet, they were easier to dig and less prone to reef falls.

#28

Rhodes left Kimberley for Oxford in 1876. Trollope visited Kimberley in 1877 and was unimpressed by the town’s poverty, flies, heat, and food prices. He also complained about the lack of comfort in the town’s corrugated iron houses.

#29

Rhodes was extremely successful as a diamond speculator, but he was not successful at Oxford. He spent seven terms at Oxford between 1876 and 1878, and made little impression.

#30

Rhodes was a more familiar figure among a group of wealthy bon vivants. He took up hunting and polo, and joined the Bullingdon, a drinking club whose members paraded in the High Street with horsewhips and hunting cries on festive evenings. He never made any effort to pursue a legal career.
Insights from Chapter 2

#1

The British Empire was also expanding, and in 1874, a new Tory government led by Benjamin Disraeli came to power with aims of extending the realms of the British empire and reversing the years of fiscal rectitude and frugality pursued by the previous Gladstone administration.

#2

President Burgers, of the Transvaal, launched a war against the Pedi leader, Sekhukhune, in the eastern Transvaal in September 1876. The war went poorly, and on 14 September 1876, the British high commissioner in Cape Town warned of the Transvaal’s imminent collapse.

#3

The Boer War was triggered by a dispute over land, labor, and taxation with the Pedi state, the most powerful chiefdom in the Transvaal region. The Volksraad voted for war, and Burgers assembled the largest expeditionary force the Transvaal had ever mobilized.

#4

Carnarvon was a committed imperialist, and he had promised to send a battalion of troops from Britain to support the mission. He had also arranged for Shepstone to receive a knighthood while he was there.

#5

On 15 December 1876, Sir Theophilus Shepstone, accompanied by an escort of twenty-five troopers from the Natal Mounted Police, set out from the Natal capital of Pietermarstonebr to visit the Transvaal highveld.

#6

The arrival of the British was seen as a welcome defense against the possibility of an attack by Sekhukhune’s army. However, it soon became clear that Shepstone was bent on annexation.

#7

On 9 April, Shepstone announced that he was going to annex the Transvaal. The Transvaal government agreed under protest, but Burgers left the country by ox-wagon, complaining that during his term of office, he had been betrayed and corrupted on all sides.

#8

The key figure in organizing resistance was Paul Kruger. He was a legendary commando leader, and he epitomized the stubborn, resilient and resourceful character of the trekboers. He had been taught the Bible but otherwise his formal education had been limited to a course of instruction giv