<![CDATA[This paper offers analysis of the forces shaped the emergence of slavery in the Dutch Cape Colony. Throughout African history, it appears that coercion was one of means of acquiring labour. In the Dutch Cape Colony, settlers relied on the coerced labour of slaves. According to Vijaya Teelock and Edward Alpers of the University of California, have stated of Mauritian slavery: “No study of language, culture, religion, social organization of slave and post-slave society can be scientific‘ unless it is underpinned by accurate empirical information about the origins of slaves,” the term “slave” referred to people with a specific status under the law, mainly individuals imported from India, Angola, Mozambique, Madagascar, and the Dutch East Indies. The Cape Colony at the southern tip of Africa offers valuable lessons on the emergence of the productive agricultural society in a pre-colonial setting. This paper posits that the Cape Colony of the eighteenth century was one of the most prosperous regions in the world and Cape farmers prospered, on average, because of the economies of scale and scope achieved through trans-Atlantic slave trade processes. Slaves allowed farmers to specialise in agricultural products that were in high demand from the passing ships. In exchange, farmers could import cheap manufactured products from Europe and the East. A conclusion reached in this paper is that the 18th century Dutch Cape Colony slavery gave rise to a relatively affluent settler society which continues to be affluent even to date. Keywords: Coercion; Slavery; Cape Colony; Dutch East India Company; Labour Systems; European Settlement;]]>
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