The Boers are a peculiar people, shaped and formed from the following people groups, the Dutch, German, French Huguenots with some Swiz people, Nordic people and Irish people. Each on their own bring their strengths in.
The German people bring in their hardiness for the fight of Liberty and especially religious Liberty who also brought the Reformation. The Nordic people are hardened people who explore new areas with their pioneering spirits. The Swiz people again also fought for their liberty against the Hapsburg with their tactics and strategy. The Netherlands again fought a hard fight for independence and liberty against the Spanish people for their liberty and put together their ability to can build. The French Huguenots fought for their religious freedoms, went through severe persecution by the Roman Catholics and also had to flee to the American Colonies and to the Cape Colony. All these people groups together added and built into the character of the Boer people, adding to them the Religious zeal and strong relationship with God, hardened but total dependence on God through Jesus Christ.
The Boers are also strong Protestant Christians, having formed one nation under God. Descendant from these people groups who fled to the Cape Colony for religious Freedom. Having formed the Self reliance among themselves, being able to organizing themselves from grassroots level, able to think on their feet and to strategise with strong pioneering spirit.
The Boers were first the Vrijburgers and already striving for their own independent Republic from the beginning, to be free from the Netherlands, like the Bosbokrand and Swellendam Republics. Later on many more were trekking towards the East, being known as the Trek Boers. This continued until they reached the Fish River Frontier in 1773 where they had met with the first Bantu Tribe there. The most important thing to a Boer in his wagon was his Bible and his guns, ready when necessary to defend himself.
Since then there were a series of frontier wars taking place. The superficial mission society, called the London Mission Society already started to make life difficult for the frontier Boers. Most of the problems on the frontier was caused by the London Mission Society with the philanthropist with lies and false accusations due to their hostility towards the Boers. The London Mission Society never preached the gospel among the Xhosas but used the Xhosas to further their Liberal Leftist ideology, something the Leftists are still doing today, using none-Whites to attack the Conservative Christian Westerners. This became unbearable that the Boers started spontaneously from the Grassroots level to trek into the interior crossing the Orange River, known as the great Trek, taking place from 1834 unto 1852.
First it was Louis Trigard and the Van Rensburg Trek, followed by the Potgieter Trek under Hendrik Potgieter in 1834, following with Sarel Cilliers and Piet Uys. The Battle of Vechtkop took place in 1836 and later joined by Gerit Maritz and his Trek and afterwards Piet Retief who then came together at Thaba Nchu to select the representatives and leaders and from there to decide where to trek. Potgieter prefer northward since he did not trust Dingaan, but Piet Retief preferred Natal and willing to negotiate with Dingaan with fatal consequences. Will continue with it in my next blog
