's eternal decree, by which he determined within himself what he willed to become of each man. For all are not created in equal condition; rather, eternal life is foreordained for some, eternal damnation for others" (Institutes 3. 21. 5)" (Encarta Encyclopaedia, (2000): Predestination). This meant the Boers and other Dutch believed they had justified racism and continued to practice it.
             In 1814, towards the end of the fighting during the Napoleonic Wars, the United Kingdom purchased the Cape Colony from the Dutch for ₤6 million (Encarta Encyclopaedia, (2000): South Africa, Republic of). Thousands of British migrants arrived in South Africa and imposed British rule. English became the official language, the natives were given protection and equal status and slavery was abolished in 1833.
             The Dutch inhabitants bitterly resented the measures taken by the British and began the Great or Northern Trek. A total of "6,000 Boer men, women, and children, along with an equal number of Blacks, participated in this movement in the late 1830s" (Byrnes, (1996): South Africa). The Boers headed north and north-east, because of their economic problems, the threat from the Xhosa and their discontent with the British regulation. After a long and arduous journey, they settled across the Orange River, Vaal River and in Natal. The Voortrekkers (forerunners) fought a series of battles with the Ndebele and Zulu peoples and defeated the Ndebele at the River Limpopo in 1836 and the Zulu at the Battle of Blood River in 1838. Within 4 years, British troops had occupied Port Natal (now Durban) and annexed the hinterland as a colony.
             After the British had taken Natal, the Afrikaners headed north-west and established the Orange Free State and Transvaal republics. During this time, the British fought with the Xhosa, and nearly wiped them out. The Xhosa sacrificed their remaining cattle and grain, believing in a prophecy that if...