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The Griqualand West Annexation Act (Act 39 of 1877), was the act, passed in the Cape Colony Parliament on 27 July 1877, authorising the union of the Cape Colony with Griqualand West. ==Background== Griqualand West, one of the states created by the semi-nomadic Griqua people, was brought under British rule, as a separate colony, on 27 October 1871. It contained the newly discovered diamond fields of Kimberley and was beginning to attract large numbers of prospectors. With possession of this land being claimed by the Orange Free State, and contested by the arriving diamond diggers, the Griqua leader Nicolaas Waterboer requested that the Cape Colony incorporate Griqualand West, as this would give his people representation in the Cape Parliament and a certain degree of political empowerment. The Cape Colony, under Responsible Government from 1872, explicitly adhered to a policy of incorporating "natives" into the Cape's political and economic system. This was quite unlike the policy in the Orange Free State which was vying for control of the diamond fields and the other southern African states which generally segregated their populations and excluded non-white peoples from political participation. This factor no doubt influenced Waterboer's decision, however the Cape government initially decided against incorporating the territory, due primarily to objections from both the European settlers and from certain portions of the indigenous population. Upon the Cape's initial refusal to incorporate it in 1873, Griqualand West became a separate British Crown Colony, with Sir Richard Southey as its Administrator and Lieutenant Governor.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Griqua - South African History Online )〕 There followed bitter land disputes between the white diggers, the Griqua people and the Orange Free State. A land court was set up, under Judge Andries Stockenstrom, but this did little to resolve the disagreements. In 1875 Southey was replaced as Lieutenant Governor by Major William Owen Lanyon, who publicly professed a great dislike for the Griqua people and for Griqualand West overall, which he dubbed a "hideous and disgusting place". He oversaw a systematic dispossession of the Griqua people. The Cape finally agreed to incorporate the territory four years later in 1877, following agreement by the British government on compensation to the Orange Free State for its competing land claims. The Cape Prime Minister John Molteno still had serious doubts about annexing the heavily indebted region, but, after striking a deal with the Home Government and receiving reassurances that the local population would be consulted in the process, he passed the Griqualand West Annexation Act on 27 July 1877.〔Roberts, Brian. 1976. ''Kimberley, turbulent city''. Cape Town: David Philip, p. 155.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Griqualand West Annexation Act」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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