Heroes, Traitors, and Social Outcasts: Revisiting Theoretical and Data Incongruencies of the Cape Rebels, 1880-1902

Heroes, traitors, and social outcasts. The Cape Rebels of the South African War, 1899-1902 have been cast in several roles throughout history. Not only do they continue to capture the interests of social historians, but with the incorporation of quantitative history methods, their histories have been revisited in new and impactful ways. Using a combination of archival sources, this paper has pried into the social, economic, and political circumstances of this group to analyse why they mobilised. With honour, security and livelihoods at stake, this paper explores why these rebels chose to abandon their homes and families at the high cost of hope elsewhere and hope in a different future. Using GIS (Geographic Information Systems) combined with other quantitative analyses, this paper demonstrates the effects of drought, plague, and the rinderpest in a more accessible and visual manner. During this process, several theories of mobilisation have been tested and found wanting. A more realistic account of this group has, instead, been pieced together. More generally, the Cape Rebels are used as case study to test (and disprove) various theories of mobilisation, making this paper novel in its approach and conclusions.