Resumen

MCDONALD, Jared. Debating San provenance and disappearance: Frontier violence and the assimilationist impulse of humanitarian imperialism. Historia [online]. 2022, vol.67, n.1, pp.2-27. ISSN 2309-8392.  http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/2309-8392/2022/v67n1a1.

This article examines how ideals of humanitarian imperialism informed debate over the provenance and future of Cape San following the Second British Occupation of the Cape Colony. The discussion explores the plight of San along the Cape frontier and how their demise became a focal point in a trans-colonial exchange over the desirability of the incorporation of indigenes as British colonial subjects. Prominent humanitarian protagonists, such as John Philip, called for the integration of San as colonial subjects, owing to the supposed protection this would afford them. The humanitarian campaign for the extension of subjecthood over Cape San was argued on the grounds that it would fend off the devastating consequences of settler colonialism. The principle also applied to indigenous peoples in settler colonies across the expanding empire. This view was not without its detractors, who opposed humanitarian representations of settlers as rapacious and responsible for frontier conflicts. The article argues that the fate of Cape San held a more prominent place in early nineteenth-century contestations over settler identity, frontier relations, and the effectiveness of missions to 'civilise' indigenes than has been recognised.

Palabras clave : San; Cape Colony; humanitarian imperialism; London Missionary Society; John Philip; settler colonialism; frontier; assimilation.

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