"More comfort, better prosperity, and greater advantage" : free burghers, alcohol retail and the VOC authorities at the Cape of Good Hope, 1652-1680
Keywords:
Koloniale politiek, Colonial identity, Cape of Good Hope, Free burghers, Hawestede, Business history, Drankkleinhandel, Port cities, Alcohol retail, Nederlands-Oos-Indiese Kompanjie (VOC), Indiese Oseaan, Vryburgers, Ondernemerskap, Koloniale identiteit, Colonial politics, Dutch East India Company (VOC), Entrepreneurship, Kaap de Goede Hoop, Sakegeskiedenis, Indian OceanAbstract
After 1680, alcohol retail at the Cape of Good Hope was controlled through a lease (pacht) system whereby free burghers could buy, on a competitive basis, the right to sell a specific type of alcohol in a certain region for one year. In this way, the VOC remained assured of a major direct source of revenue. However, this lease system was not in place with the establishment of a VOC outpost in 1652, but had a troubled and complex development in the decades before 1680. This article traces this development and shows how it was linked to changing ideas about the role of free burghers in the nascent colony, their economic conditions, and their relationship with the VOC authorities. It is argued that the system of alcohol retail as it was established in 1680, constituted a victory for free burgher interests, and that this development demonstrates how local political and economic interests were linked to the changing fortunes of the VOC in a wider context.
Ná 1680 is die drankkleinhandel aan die Kaap de Goede Hoop beheer deur 'n pagstelsel waarvolgens vryburgers kon meeding vir die reg om 'n sekere soort drank in 'n gegewe area te verkoop. Op hierdie wyse het die VOC seker gebly van 'n waardevolle direkte bron van inkomste. Hierdie pagstelsel het egter nie vanaf die stigting van 'n VOC-pos in 1652 bestaan nie, maar het 'n moeilike en komplekse ontwikkeling vóór 1680 beleef. Hierdie artikel gaan dié ontwikkeling na, en toon aan hoe dit verbonde was aan veranderende idees omtrent die rol van vryburgers in die jong kolonie, hul ekonomiese omstandighede, en hul verhouding met die VOC-gesag. Daar word betoog dat die sisteem van drankkleinhandel wat in 1680 tot stand gekom het, 'n oorwinning vir vryburger-belange verteenwoordig, en dat hierdie ontwikkeling demonstreer hoe nou plaaslike politieke en ekonomiese belange gekoppel was aan die veranderende lot van die VOC in 'n wyer konteks.
