Facts about the great trek

Historical group of pastoralists in Southern Africa

Not to be confused with Voortrekkers or Boers.

The Trekboers (Afrikaans: Trekboere) were nomadic pastoralists descended from European colonists on the frontiers of the Dutch Cape Colony in Southern Africa.

The Trekboers began migrating into the interior from the areas surrounding what is now Cape Town, such as Paarl (settled from 1688), Stellenbosch (founded in 1679), and Franschhoek (settled from 1688), during the late 17th century and throughout the 18th century.

Origins

The Trekboers were seminomadic pastoralists, subsistence farmers who began trekking both northwards and eastwards into the interior to find better pastures/farmlands for their livestock to graze, as well as to escape the autocratic rule of the Dutch East India Company (or VOC), which administered the Cape.

They believed the VOC was tainted with corruption and not concerned with the interests of the free burghers, the social class of most