The Slachter's Nek Rebellion was an uprising by Boers in 1815 on the eastern border of the Cape Colony

Cape Colony

The Cape Colony, part of modern South Africa, was established by the Dutch East India Company in 1652, with the founding of Cape Town. It was subsequently occupied by the British in 1795 when the Netherlands were occupied by revolutionary France, so that the French revolutionaries could not take...

. The rebellion, which was small and local, was handled so badly that it acquired importance as an incident in the struggle of Afrikanerdom against British domination.

Slachter's Nek is the Dutch

Dutch language

Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...

 spelling. In Afrikaans

Afrikaans

Afrikaans is a West Germanic language, spoken natively in South Africa and Namibia. It is a daughter language of Dutch, originating in its 17th century dialects, collectively referred to as Cape Dutch .Afrikaans is a daughter language of Dutch; see , , , , , .Afrikaans was historically called Cape...

the spelling is Slagtersnek. In both languages, the name translates to Butcher's Neck (Nek is used in several Afrikaans place names).

External links

• This Day in History

Further reading

• HCV LEIBBRANDT (ed.), The rebellion of 1815. Generally known as Slachtersnek. Cape Town, 1902
• GE CORY, The rise of South Africa, v.1. London, 1921
• CJ UYS, 'Slagtersnek: verdraaide beelde van 'n grusame gebeurtenis', Die Landstem, 28 November1964
• JA HEESE, 'Die Bezuidenhouts van SIagtersnek', Familia, 1965/6, no. 4.