Page "Second Boer War" Paragraph 3

The complex origins of the war resulted from more than a century of conflict between the Boers and the British Empire, but particular immediate importance attached to the question as to which white nation would control and benefit most from the very lucrative Witwatersrand gold mines.

During the Napoleonic Wars, a British military expedition landed in the Cape Colony and defeated the defending Dutch forces at the Battle of Blaauwberg ( 1806 ).

After the war, the British formally acquired the colony ( 1814 ), and encouraged immigration by British settlers who were largely at odds with the Dutch settlers.

Many Boers who were dissatisfied with aspects of the British administration, in particular with Britain's abolition of slavery on 1 December 1834, elected to migrate away from British rule in what became known as the Great Trek.