Uitlander
From Free net encyclopedia
Uitlander, Dutch for 'foreigner', was the name given to the mainly British expatriate workers in the Boer South African Republic or Transvaal.
Uitlanders immigrated to the Transvaal in large numbers in the gold rush during the 1880s. By the turn of the century, the white male uitlander population numbered as many as 60,000, outnumbering the white male Boer population, and the government passed laws to restrict their enfranchisement.
This, together with high taxation, gave rise to considerable discontent amongst the uitlanders, and was used as a pretext for military invasion by the British. In 1895, Cecil Rhodes planned an invasion of the Transvaal to coincide with an uprising of the uitlanders in Johannesburg. The Jameson Raid took place but Jameson's force was overpowered, and the expected uitlander uprising never took place. The raid contributed much to the build-up towards the Second Boer War.