Boer

High school (ages 12+)
History & Culture

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/boer

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the founding settlers?Primarily Dutch, with significant German and French Huguenot ancestry
2. What is the key migratory event?The Great Trek (1836-1840), leading to the establishment of independent republics
3. Who were the Boer people?The Boers were settlers in South Africa who came from Europe, mainly Dutch, but also German and French Huguenot families. They were free farmers who lived on the frontier and made their own communities.
4. How did the Boers start living in South Africa?They began in the mid‑1600s when the Dutch East India Company set up a station at the Cape of Good Hope. The settlers were given land and grew their own food, becoming independent farmers.

Vrijlieden: Free burghers granted land by the Dutch East India Company in the Cape Colony.
Boer Republics: Independent states established by Boer settlers in the interior of South Africa, notably the Orange Free State and the South African Republic (Transvaal).
Concentration Camps: Camps established by the British during the Second Boer War to house Boer civilians, notorious for high mortality rates.