The Orange Free State had been set up specifically for the Boers to avoid British administration in the Cape Colony. The Great Trek was when some three thousand Boers packed up their possessions in to their wagons and they had sought a new homeland for themselves. They had been disappointed by the British legal system granting rights to the Black Africans and outlawing of slavery. Initially they had settled in Natal only to find the long reach of the British was extended to their too. They then reloaded their wagons in 1843 and headed North.
Unfortunately, the land that they entered into was far from vacant. Powerful Xhosa and Zulu tribes were less than happy to find so many Europeans trespassing on their lands. It did not help that these Boers had such little regard for the Black Africans and stole their cattle and even enslaved young African children. Clashes were frequent, the largest of them being the Battle of Blood River. Superior firepower and equipment gave the Boers a decisive advantage over the Africans, but it did not mean that the isolated Boer farmers were going to be safe. Many of the African tribes had treaty agreements with the British and appealed to the British for aid against their unwelcome invaders.
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