Louis van Mauritius leads a revolt of enslaved people from the Swartland towards Cape Town
On the evening of 27 October 1808 Louis, an enslaved tailor from Mauritius, began a revolt at the farm Vogelgezang near Malmesbury. More than 300 people joined the march on Cape Town before soldiers stopped it at Salt River.
Photo: HelenOnline · CC BY-SA 4.0
Louis, an enslaved tailor from Mauritius, worked in Cape Town, where sailors and soldiers brought news of the Haitian revolution and of Britain ending the slave trade. With Abraham van der Kaap, who was also enslaved, and two Irishmen, James Hooper and Michael Kelly, he planned to march on the town, take the Amsterdam Battery and demand freedom for all enslaved people.
On the evening of 27 October 1808 Louis rode up to the farm Vogelgezang, just north of Malmesbury, dressed as a ship's captain, with Hooper and Kelly posing as British officers. Over the next day the group moved through farms in the Swartland and Koeberg areas, where more than 300 enslaved people and some Khoekhoe labourers joined, by some counts about 340.
Soldiers from the Castle stopped the march at Salt River, and 326 people were detained. Louis, Hooper and other leaders were sentenced to death and hanged.
Why it matters
It was the first large, organised uprising against slavery at the Cape. The rebels demanded rights rather than simply escaping, and the revolt is remembered as an early step in the long struggle for freedom.
- Source: Slave rebellion at the Cape led by Louis of Mauritius, South African History Online · Nigel Worden, How a slave from Mauritius led a rebellion in Cape Town (GroundUp, 30 March 2016), via SAHO · Uprising at the Cape, Slavery in South Africa, Iziko Museums · Slave Resistance, South African History Online
Where it happened
Vogelgezang farm area, just north of Malmesbury
The revolt began on the evening of 27 October 1808 at Vogelgezang, the farm of Gerhardus Louw, described as just north of Malmesbury. The farm's exact position was not confirmed, so the circle covers the Malmesbury area of the Swartland.
-
Where it happened Approximate
Vogelgezang farm area, just north of Malmesbury
The revolt began on the evening of 27 October 1808 at Vogelgezang, the farm of Gerhardus Louw, described as just north of Malmesbury. The farm's exact position was not confirmed, so the circle covers the Malmesbury area of the Swartland.
-
Related place Region
Koeberg farming district
The rebels moved through wheat and wine farms in the Swartland and Koeberg districts on their way south, gathering people as they went. No route line is drawn because the sources do not give one.
-
Related place Approximate
Salt River, where the march was stopped
Troops from the Castle stopped the marchers at Salt River, just outside the town of that time. The circle marks today's Salt River area; the exact place of the arrests is not recorded in the sources used.
-
Museum Exact site
Iziko Slave Lodge (museum, photo location)
The museum shown in the photograph, which tells the history of slavery at the Cape. It is not a site of the revolt.
