Day of the covenant of the afrikaners book

The afrikaners of southern africa orville boyd jenkins. Afrikaners are a southern african ethnic group descended from predominantly dutch settlers first arriving in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. From 1652 to 1795 the dutch east india company controlled this area, but the united kingdom. Many songs express a dream of retiring on a little farm somewhere. Day of covenant to day of reconciliation entering a new kingdom cycle we gathered in one accord and united as children and ambassadors of the living god, jesus christ on bloubergstrand, cape town. Day of covenant to day of reconciliation united in christ. In presentday south africa, 16 december remains a celebrated public holiday, initially called dinganes day. Hochschild half the way home, 1986 first visited south africa as a teenager, when he accompanied his wealthy industrialist father on a business trip there. Micheners masterly chronicle of south africa is an epic tale of adventurers, scoundrels, and ministers, the be. What americans must learn from south africas tragedy.

Under apartheid, children in south africa were taught an afrikaner version of the past, with barely a mention of the black population. Afrikaners colloquially refer to it as dingaansdag dinganes day, a reference to the zulu ruler of the defeated attackers. Afrikaners only played a prominent role in agriculture as such, and many lived on nearby farms, the first of which was proclaimed as early as 1687. Michener writes largely from the point of view of the afrikaners, descendants of dutch settlers and french huguenot immigrants who traveled to south africa to. Micheners masterly chronicle of south africa is an epic tale of. Oct 10, 2004 saul davids favourite books on south african history. Rivalries and passions spill across the land of the covenant, a story of courage and heroism, love and loyalty, and cruelty and betrayal, as generations fight to forge a new world. I experienced the broederbond as a malevolent force and i rejoiced in its exposure to the light of day when hennie serfontein published articles on the. December 16, the reflection of a changing south african heritage. Marking the decisive battle of blood river, the day of the covenant has been recognised by many, not only as a victory for the voortrekkers, but as a triumph for western civilization and christianity in. In his book huet vehemently criticises and attacks the tendency to identify. A historian and journalist who was one of the earliest and staunchest afrikaner opponents of apartheid, hermann giliomee weaves together life stories and historical interpretation to create a narrative history of the afrikaners from their beginnings with the colonization of the cape of good hope by the dutch east india. Dingaansdag, 16 december was made an annual national holiday in 1910, before being renamed day of the vow in 1982.

Biography of a people by herman giliomee is a scholarly history of the afrikaners and, earlier, dutch from the colonization of the cape in 1652 to modern times. Michener was one of the worlds most popular writers, the author of more than forty books of fiction and nonfiction, including the pulitzer prizewinning tales of the south pacific, the bestselling novels the source, hawaii, alaska, chesapeake, centennial, texas, caribbean, and caravans, and the memoir the world is my home. Not necessarily in this life but you will be destroyed on the day of judgment breaking this covenant may bring death in this life to offender but then the life of the other party to the. To afrikaners, the 16th december became known as geloftedag the day of the vow and to black south africans it was known as dinganes day after the zulu king who had ordered the attack on the boer laager, the enclosure of oxwagons arranged in a fortlike rectangle. Seven years after the republics first free election, many. Weaving together life stories and historical interpretation, he creates a narrative history of the afrikaners from their beginnings with the colonisation of the cape of good hope by the dutch east india company to the dismantling of. Afrikaans, south africas third most widely spoken home language, is the mother tongue of afrikaners and most cape coloureds.

The boers numbered 464 against the 10,000strong zulu warriors. The covenant all study of south africa leads any outsider with sensibility to be appalled by the horrific institution of apartheid, which in afrikaans, means apartness. At that time, the afrikaners attempted to assimilate the boers into a new politically based cultural label as afrikaners. The covenant is another michener tale that, like history, goes on and on and on. In percentage terms more afrikaners and specifically afrikaner women close to the almighty. The local role of a wellington afrikaner broederbond branch. Micheners take on south africa and its history is an honest attempt to give some perspective on one of the more complex histories that this history teacher has encountered.

The boers repeated the covenant every evening until the day of the blood river battle on december 16. And, in an updated epilogue, it notes the changes that have occurred in the past few months. Nowhere else could an american reader unfamiliar with south africa get so full an understanding of its problems. Without doubt, rugby is the national sport of afrikaners, followed fairly closely by cricket. Officially known as the day of the vow, the commemoration was renamed from the day of the covenant in 1982. The christian science monitor is an international news organization that delivers thoughtful, global coverage via its website, weekly magazine, online daily edition, and email newsletters.

The covenant is a historical novel by american author james a. The superafrikaners by ivor wilkins, 1980, jonathan ball edition, in english the superafrikaners 1980 edition open library. Probably there would not be a day of the covenant in our time. Afrikaners, the descendants of white settlers, celebrated the day of the vow, a covenant said to be made between their ancestors and god in. December 16 remained a rallying point for the development of afrikaner nationalism, culture and identity.

Micheners masterly chronicle of south africa is an epic tale of adventurers, scoundrels, and ministers, the best and worst of two continents, who carve an empire out of a vast wilderness. Formed in johannesburg in 1918 by a group of young afrikaners disillusioned by their role as dispossessed people in their own country, the first. The role of december 16 in the context of white afrikaans nationalism. The day of the vow traces its origin as an annual religious holiday to the battle of blood river on 16 december 1838. To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, the times does. Two of the earlier names given to the day stem from this prayer. Apr 15, 2020 as the name suggests, the purpose of this site is to post materials that contain plain bible teaching. The boers had made a covenant with god before the battle that if they were victorious they would build a shrine and treat the day as the. The besieged voortrekkers took a public vow or covenant together before the battle, led by sarel cilliers.

Traditionally virtually all afrikaners were farmers boere. In a very real sense all of that began with the covenant proposed by sarel cilliers, and enthusiastically adopted by the wencommando. Afrikaner holiday, and south africas racial chasm, persist the. I read many of his books between the age of 10 and 20. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets.

Out of print for over three decades, this edition with an introduction by max du preez is available for a new generation. It is an important holiday for afrikaners, originating from the battle of blood river on 16 december 1838 initially called dinganes day afrikaans. Paperback book the fast free shipping covenant by michener. The first volume was vintage michener, but the second one dragged. The heroism and tragedy of the zulu war of 1879, is published by viking. On december 9, 1838, the deeply religious boers, led by pretorius, made a covenant with god that if he would give them victory they would commemorate the event annually with a day of thanksgiving. Stream and download audiobooks to your computer, tablet or mobile phone. Hermann giliomee, your history on the afrikaners are flawed, the term afrikaner referred to europeans in south africa, instead it was referred to the orlamintelligent afrikaners of namibia, which were actually people of mixed race descend and they had strong khoisan rootsbloodlines, hence they even looked like the ancient khoisan and it. Teaching history in south africa education the guardian. They celebrate new years eve and goodwill day, which is on the 26th of december.

Apr 16, 2015 what americans must learn from south africas tragedy written. Saul davids favourite books on south african history books. From the first afrikaners to the powerful zulu nation, and the missionaries who lived with bothall of them will influence and take part in the wars and politics that will change a nation forever. Saul davids favourite books on south african history.

The day of the covenant and the battle of blood river. Bantu native black tribes, coloured the result of generations of racial mixture between persons of european descent and the indigenous occupants. Open library is an open, editable library catalog, building towards a web page for every book ever published. Festivals are part of the afrikaners existence and fill a need to express joy or humility over certain events. The book starts out strong my edition was the twovolume hardback. Bantu native black tribes, coloured the result of generations of racial mixture between persons of european descent and the indigenous occupants of south africa along with slaves brought in from angola, indonesia, india, madagascar. From the javaborn van doorn family tree springs two g. In the same act, the secular holiday of family day was created to replace easter monday and the day of goodwill, on december 26, replaced boxing day. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading the covenant. Today is a national holiday in south africa, known as the day of reconciliation. Like most of micheners books, however, the covenant gives us some insight into the people and places that make up south africa. While i doubt the book is of general international interest, its certainly an important contribution to south african historiography and as such will appeal to those who wish to understand the country. The book refutes the modern day lies aimed at afrikaners, starting from the. It was officially designated a holiday in 1994, when the first postapartheid, black majority government took power following decades of whiteminority rule and the official, racist policies of the apartheid government.

For over a century and a half, throughout south africa, 16 december has been observed as the day of the covenant. It is an important holiday for afrikaners, originating from the battle of blood river on 16 december 1838. Michener served on the advisory council to nasa and the. I knew this book was epic, and long, but i hadnt actually seen how long it was at that time. The novel is set in south africa, home to five distinct populations.

After 1952, the holiday was officially named day of the covenant, changed to day of the vow in 1980 mackenzie 1999. This work is a biography of the afrikaner people by historian and journalist herman giliomee, one of the earliest and staunchest afrikaner opponents of apartheid. Jan 01, 2003 this book is a biography of the afrikaner people. The local role of a wellington afrikaner broederbond.

In november 1838 andries pretorius planned an expedition against zulu warlord dingane. They later built the church of the vow near the battle site as a symbolic. Subsequently i wrote the book and created the website on. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read the covenant. This is a digitized version of an article from the timess print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996.

Dec 19, 2016 the boers had made a covenant with god before the battle that if they were victorious they would build a shrine and treat the day as the sabbath. What americans must learn from south africas tragedy written. Religion plays an important part in the lives of most afrikaners. As the name suggests, the purpose of this site is to post materials that contain plain bible teaching. Great stress was placed on a covenant made by a preacher. In present day south africa, 16 december remains a celebrated public holiday, initially called dinganes day. Marking the decisive battle of blood river, the day of the covenant has been recognised by many, not only as a victory for the voortrekkers, but as a triumph for western civilization and christianity in africa.

The day of the vow was a religious holiday commemorating the voortrekker victory over the zulus at the battle of blood river in 1838, and is still celebrated by some afrikaners. Mar 16, 2001 under apartheid, children in south africa were taught an afrikaner version of the past, with barely a mention of the black population. The besieged voortrekkers took a public vow or covenant together before the battle, led by either andries pretorius or sarel cilliers, depending on whose version is correct. The afrikanersmainly of dutch descendent, but through the generations becoming africanborn. It was officially designated a holiday in 1994, when the first postapartheid, black majority government took power following decades of whiteminority rule and the official, racist policies of. Day of covenant to day of reconciliation united in. Geloftedag was a religious public holiday in south africa. In the century and a half since that original day of the covenant, many millions of zulus have come to christ and zululand has been blessed by revival. The afrikaners are a south african ethnic group who are descended from 17th century dutch, german, and french settlers to south africa. They later built the church of the vow near the battle site as a symbolic recognition of the pact which formed the basis of the afrikaners subsequent claim that they were gods chosen people. Boere refers to the descendants of the protoafrikaansspeaking settlers of the eastern cape frontier in southern africa during the 18th and much of the 19th century. The afrikaners slowly developed their own language and culture when they came into contact with africans and asians. Dec 16, 2015 today is a national holiday in south africa, known as the day of reconciliation. Day of covenant to day of reconciliation entering a new kingdom cycle we gathered in one accord and united as children and ambassadors of the living god.

This policy pervaded south african history, but was specifically and violently, specifically enforced by law from 1948 to 1994. The superafrikaners, originally published in 1978, scandalised a nation as it exposed the secret workings of the broederbond. For afrikaners, 16 december was commemorated as the day of the vow, also known as day of the covenant or dingaans dag dingaans day. December 16 was once celebrated as the day of the covenant, commemorating the day when afrikaner pioneers beat back an attack of zulu warriors in 1838. Afrikaners celebrate christmas, good friday, and ascension day, which is the 40th day after easter. Traditionally, afrikaners observe sunday as a day of rest, very little activities take place on sundays. However, from 1937 onwards, local afrikaners initiated a political process that eventually led to their domination of all these sectors within the next two decades. If you have not yet signed up for the free plain bible teaching weekly newsletter, please enter your email address in signup form. Although somewhat overtaken by events, hochschilds new book does offer some fresh insight into the current south african situation. New year and the socalled dingaans day or day of the covenant memorial festivals were traditionally celebrated annually even before the south african war angloboer war.