Speaker 1: Welcome to steph you missed in history class from how
Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot Com. Hello and welcome to the podcast.
Speaker 1: I'm Holly Fry and I'm Tracy V. Wilson. Uh. It
Speaker 1: is time for another lots of problematic things happened under
Speaker 1: Queen Victoria's rule episode. Yeah, you can have a your
Speaker 1: favor is problematic tag for your fave Queen Victoria and
Speaker 1: all the problematic things. Yes. Um. I always try to
Speaker 1: differentiate and say that the things I love about Queen
Speaker 1: Victoria are like the private side of her and the
Speaker 1: things she shared with her family. But I really struggle
Speaker 1: with so much of her reign because Britain was doing
Speaker 1: some really awful things during that time. So this is
Speaker 1: another story of Britain's quest to colonize and conquer the world,
Speaker 1: believing themselves to be superior to the people who already
Speaker 1: lived in the places that they were moving into. Uh.
Speaker 1: In this case, it is about one particular aspect of
Speaker 1: Britain's efforts in Southern Africa, which culminated in a war
Speaker 1: with the Zulu Kingdom. Just in the interest of expectations management,
Speaker 1: we are not going to cover the entirety of this
Speaker 1: conflict because it reaches almost into the twentieth century. We
Speaker 1: are focusing on the first segment on it, which led
Speaker 1: to what most historians would consider the end of the
Speaker 1: Zulu kingdom. So first you're going to start with a
Speaker 1: little bit of context on the Zulu people. They still exists,
Speaker 1: still a major ethnic group in South Africa. So the
Speaker 1: black population of South Africa is separated into four primary
Speaker 1: ethnic divisions, the Soto, the Nguni, the shangant Sauna, and
Speaker 1: the Venda. The Nguni people which are the largest group,
Speaker 1: are then subdivided subdivided into four other groups that are
Speaker 1: the Southern Ninguni, the Swazi people, the ind of Ballet people,
Speaker 1: and the Northern and Central Uni. We've mentioned before that
Speaker 1: that that a continent of Africa has thousands and thousands
Speaker 1: of ethnic groups and languages and diverse peoples and this
Speaker 1: is a hallmark of that. So that last group, the
Speaker 1: Northern and Central and Guni are the Zulu speaking people's.
Speaker 1: So the Zulu language is a subgroup of the larger
Speaker 1: Guni language group, and the that is within the other
Speaker 1: larger group of the Bantu speaking people's which has come
Speaker 1: up on the show before. Yes, and it doesn't help
Speaker 1: that part of the problem we're not going to really
Speaker 1: discuss this specifically in this episode, is that as uh
Speaker 1: Europeans moved in and tried to shuffle things around and
Speaker 1: reorganize various things, it only further complicated those like divisions
Speaker 1: and subdivisions. Yeah, we talked some about it in our
Speaker 1: our previous two parter on I mean Pasha, how when
Speaker 1: the scramble for Africa is going on, these very arbitrary
Speaker 1: boundary lines got drawn, sort of grouping people together in
Speaker 1: a way that that was not necessarily unified people before.
Speaker 1: And this is all part of that. Correct u so Zulu,
Speaker 1: which is said to mean sky, was also, according to
Speaker 1: oral history, the name of the founder of the Zulu line,
Speaker 1: which is believed to have begun in the second half
Speaker 1: of the seventeenth century. For many generations, there wasn't really
Speaker 1: one centralized Zulu nation. There was a combination of nomadic
Speaker 1: groups and more stationary farming family groups. It was all
Speaker 1: loosely connected in an agricultural society. But by the late
Speaker 1: seventeen hundreds, these scattered groups of people had begun to
Speaker 1: consolidate a little bit. So as these smaller groups started
Speaker 1: to join forces within the larger culture, there were power struggles,
Speaker 1: there were military actions. In the early nineteenth century, through
Speaker 1: a brutal military campaign, a chief named Shaka conquered all
Speaker 1: the other Zulu chiefs and united the Zulu groups into
Speaker 1: the Zulu Nation. Under Shaka, the Zulu and the Natal Naguni,
Speaker 1: which was a neighboring group, joined forces, and this kabinet
Speaker 1: sation of people's formed what came to be known as
Speaker 1: the Zulu Kingdom or the Zulu Empire. When Shaka died
Speaker 1: in eighteen twenty eight, the empire that he had built
Speaker 1: lost a little bit of its power, but it still
Speaker 1: remained united. But as the nineteenth century pressed on, European
Speaker 1: settlers and colonists moved in greater numbers into the area.
Speaker 1: By the eighteen seventies, British interests in South Africa directly
Speaker 1: threatened the Zulu Kingdom. For one great Britain saw Africa's
Speaker 1: local indigenous population as just inherently less developed and thus
Speaker 1: exploitable as labor. In eighteen sixty six, diamonds were discovered
Speaker 1: along the Orange River. Gold was also known as a
Speaker 1: resource in the region, and Britain wanted the land that
Speaker 1: had these resources and people who could work to deliver
Speaker 1: them into the hands of the British. Second, British was
Speaker 1: interested in a power grab that would break down the
Speaker 1: existing African states. Again, they had had all of this
Speaker 1: long ongoing battles to develop their structure uh and it
Speaker 1: wanted to break down all of the structure that have
Speaker 1: been built in that process and put it all under
Speaker 1: British rule. And this of course ties into that first
Speaker 1: reason we just mentioned, where they wanted to land and
Speaker 1: the people to work as labor, but also to the
Speaker 1: larger push for Great Britain to rule as much of
Speaker 1: the world as possible. Third, there were land disputes involving
Speaker 1: the Boer population. These were South Africans, primarily of Dutch descent,
Speaker 1: but they could also be French, Huguenot or German. After
Speaker 1: the Dutch East India Company had established a headquarters at
Speaker 1: the Cape of Good Hope in the sixteen fifties, immigration
Speaker 1: had been heavily encouraged, and as this colony had gotten bigger,
Speaker 1: relations with the indigenous people living in the area were
Speaker 1: not good. In the early nineteenth century, after British possession
Speaker 1: of the colony led to fundamental disagreement between Great Britain's
Speaker 1: policies and the Bowers. More than ten thousand members of
Speaker 1: the Boer colony moved to other areas outside of British rule,
Speaker 1: including Natal on the eastern side of South Africa, which
Speaker 1: was right up against Zulu territory. And as the Boers
Speaker 1: attempted to spread their land holdings into Zulu land, they
Speaker 1: claimed they needed more land for farming. Tensions between the
Speaker 1: two groups just escalated at a continuing pace. In eighteen
Speaker 1: seventy two, a man named set Uio became the Zulu king.
Speaker 1: He was about forty six at the time that this happened,
Speaker 1: and his father Pande, had ruled before him. Under Pande,
Speaker 1: the Zulu nation had lost some of its power as
Speaker 1: a youth, said Schwio had been involved in significant conflicts
Speaker 1: when he was just twelve or thirteen, and we don't
Speaker 1: know because his exact birth date is not known. He
Speaker 1: fought against the Boers as they moved to take over
Speaker 1: Zulu land, and then in his twenties he went to
Speaker 1: battle against the Swazi people along with his fellow Zulu
Speaker 1: warriors as the two groups fought over the valley territory
Speaker 1: of Pongola. He also led one fact and of a
Speaker 1: violence civil war against his brother, in which set Schwio
Speaker 1: was the victor. He was recognized as heir to the
Speaker 1: throne after the conflict was over. While he became king
Speaker 1: in eighteen seventy two, he had actually been doing a
Speaker 1: lot of the work of king for more than a
Speaker 1: decade yes his father had aged. He had really just
Speaker 1: taken on more and more responsibility. And while he was
Speaker 1: recognized as a sovereign of his people by the British,
Speaker 1: set Schwio was not interested in giving any of his
Speaker 1: authority up and accepting British rule, so he began amassing
Speaker 1: his forces. Eventually, set Schwio had tens of thousands of
Speaker 1: well trained men ready to fight. Estimates placed the number
Speaker 1: somewhere between forty thousand and sixty thousand, although an exact
Speaker 1: count is not known, and through this disciplined development of
Speaker 1: the Zulu nations might set Schwio came to be seen
Speaker 1: as a very real threat to British interests in the area. Transball,
Speaker 1: which was a Borer republic, was annexed by great in
Speaker 1: eighteen seventy seven, and from that point on it became
Speaker 1: clear that British efforts were going to be centered around
Speaker 1: making South Africa a federation of white colonies with the
Speaker 1: intent of disbanding the existing kingdoms of Africa and then
Speaker 1: ruling over their people. In eighteen seventy eight, the British,
Speaker 1: concerned at the immense military power of the Zulu Kingdom,
Speaker 1: started a campaign to break down the nation's power through propaganda.
Speaker 1: Such Wio, the local administrators claimed, was a tyrant with
Speaker 1: the military that he could barely control, and his people
Speaker 1: would not work in British colonies. They also claimed that
Speaker 1: the Zulu nation had threatened at all with military action.
Speaker 1: Next up, we're going to talk about a British man
Speaker 1: who seemed dead set on getting into a war with
Speaker 1: such Wio was their Bartle Frere. We're gonna stop first
Speaker 1: for a quick sponsor break. On March twenty nine, eighteen fifteen.
Speaker 1: Sir Henry Bartle Edwards Freyre was born in Wales. He
Speaker 1: was not considered a sur yet, but that'll come later.
Speaker 1: As a young man, fresh out of college, he became
Speaker 1: a civil servant in Britain's administration of India. He rose
Speaker 1: through the ranks and he was considered good at his job.
Speaker 1: During the super Boy Uprising, which we talked about in
Speaker 1: a previous episode. Freyre sent troops from his own region
Speaker 1: to aid his fellow British administrators, and he was rewarded
Speaker 1: with a knighthood for those efforts. He served in Mumbai
Speaker 1: for five years as a British governor in the eighteen sixties,
Speaker 1: and then he was appointed to the India Council. Back
Speaker 1: home in England, in eighteen seventy six, he was granted
Speaker 1: the title of baronet, and the following year he was
Speaker 1: made governor and High Commissioner of the Cape Colony. The
Speaker 1: plan to emerge the Boer Republic and British South Africa
Speaker 1: fell under his purview. The situation that Freyre walked into
Speaker 1: was already loaded with conflict. Not everyone in the area
Speaker 1: was on board with this plan to confederate all of
Speaker 1: the colonies. The Boo was of transfall. We're actually considering
Speaker 1: making a move to become an independent nation rather than
Speaker 1: joining with the British colonies, and the colonists uh that
Speaker 1: were part of Britain already did not wholly buy into
Speaker 1: this plan either. To make matters worse, Freyre's boss resigned
Speaker 1: at the beginning of eighteen seventy eight, leaving Frere to
Speaker 1: deal with the growing tension in the region. It was
Speaker 1: under Frere's direction the Zulu came to be characterized as hostile.
Speaker 1: The Zulu Kingdom was autonomous, and Frere believed that if
Speaker 1: they went unchallenged, they would get in the way of
Speaker 1: his mission to achieve his confederation directive. At the end
Speaker 1: of eighteen seventy eight, and ultimatum was issued by Frere,
Speaker 1: Saichuyo had to disband his entire army in the space
Speaker 1: of a month. The Zulu Kingdom was also expected to
Speaker 1: pay reparations to insults that the British claimed that the
Speaker 1: Zulu had made against them. In truth, Freyre's ultimatum was
Speaker 1: made with no expectation that it would be met. It
Speaker 1: wasn't even realistic to expect the Zulu nation to be
Speaker 1: able to comply with it. It was really just a
Speaker 1: checklist exercise so that fare could say, in effect, we
Speaker 1: offered them terms and they were not met before engaging
Speaker 1: in a military conflict. And this was really all aimed
Speaker 1: at justifying this action to leadership back in Great Britain,
Speaker 1: who had in fact not wanted to get into a
Speaker 1: war in South Africa. Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli had specifically
Speaker 1: wanted to avoid it, and Colonial Secretary Sir Michael hicks
Speaker 1: Beach had actually written to Freyer to make it very
Speaker 1: clear that the British government was already dealing with Russia
Speaker 1: at the time, They had their own problems going on
Speaker 1: and they could not take on another conflict. At the
Speaker 1: beginning of January eighteen seventy nine, this ultimatum expired and
Speaker 1: British troops invaded the Zulu Kingdom under the command of
Speaker 1: Lord Chelmsford. So yeah, even though Great Britain didn't want it, uh,
Speaker 1: Frere did and he moved forward with it. This is
Speaker 1: one of those things that it's worth pointing out. This
Speaker 1: was not uncommon in uh the British move to colonize everywhere.
Speaker 1: There were you know, very very great distances involved, and
Speaker 1: there were men that were acting with autonomy, sometimes against
Speaker 1: British orders because there really was no one to intercede
Speaker 1: and it was expected that they understood the local situation better,
Speaker 1: so they kind of had a little bit of leeway
Speaker 1: to do these sorts of things. Initially, Chelmsford's charge into
Speaker 1: Zulu land was hindered by nature. There were really heavy
Speaker 1: rains in january that made overland travel difficult, and the
Speaker 1: high grasses of the landscape also made it almost impossible
Speaker 1: to get a visual bearing on location. For some reason,
Speaker 1: in spite of these poor conditions, he continued with this advance,
Speaker 1: and continued in a somewhat reckless manner, because the British
Speaker 1: troops were not using scouts or sentries as they made
Speaker 1: their way across this grassy, muddy landscape. As to why
Speaker 1: those precautions were abandoned, it was because Chelmsford was completely
Speaker 1: dismissive of the Zulu military, and that sentiment and that
Speaker 1: sort of condescending attitude really echoed down through his troops.
Speaker 1: At one point, Chelmsford wrote quote, if I am called
Speaker 1: upon to conduct operations against them, I shall strive to
Speaker 1: be in a position to show them how hopelessly inferior
Speaker 1: they are to us in fighting power, although numerically stronger. First,
Speaker 1: Chelmsford led the center column of a three part invasion
Speaker 1: across the Missignanti River, which was something that British knew
Speaker 1: is the Buffalo River. They established a depot and the
Speaker 1: British forces pushed from there into the east. The right
Speaker 1: column of the British forces headed towards Ulundi, seat of
Speaker 1: the royal family, and the left column headed to the
Speaker 1: Tugala River to block Zulu forces from crossing it. On
Speaker 1: the Zulu side of the conflict, the initial plan was
Speaker 1: to try to avoid a military engagement. Its been the
Speaker 1: case when the British started their disinformation campaign against such
Speaker 1: Yo when the Zulus in the first place, and they
Speaker 1: claimed that the Zulu nation had threatened Natal Susio's response
Speaker 1: was to call his military to retreat deeper into their
Speaker 1: own land. It was a clear indication that he did
Speaker 1: not want to provoke the British. Yeah, as he was
Speaker 1: realizing that people were saying he was being threatening, he
Speaker 1: was like, come away from the borders, come away from
Speaker 1: the borders. We don't want them to think we're trying
Speaker 1: to threaten anybody. Uh. He was really trying to save
Speaker 1: his people by avoiding getting into any sort of aggressive situation.
Speaker 1: And even though the ultimatum from Britain had been insulting
Speaker 1: and impossible to fulfill, sat Schwio was still hoping that
Speaker 1: they could find a resolution that did not involve combat.
Speaker 1: He had ordered his men to take defensive positions only
Speaker 1: and not to make an offensive move to attack, but
Speaker 1: as the British advanced, it became more and more clear
Speaker 1: that a conflict was just unavoidable. Chelmsford moved into Isunthwuana
Speaker 1: on January to set up camp. There was a small
Speaker 1: group of Zulu men who resisted this incursion, and Chalmsford
Speaker 1: thought that this was just the primary military force of
Speaker 1: all of the Zulu, so he was completely incorrect in
Speaker 1: that assumption. Chelmsford next took about half of his men
Speaker 1: to an engagement fifteen kilometers away, and this left Colonel
Speaker 1: Henry Pouline in charge temporarily. The following day, Colonel A. W.
Speaker 1: Dernford arrived to assume command, and when Dernford went after
Speaker 1: a small Zulu party that had been foraging nearby, he
Speaker 1: followed them right into a force of twenty thousand Zulu men,
Speaker 1: and his men were disorganized and unprotected, so these unprotected
Speaker 1: men were basically sitting ducks. There's actually some conflicting writing
Speaker 1: about how the whole battle played out. According to one version,
Speaker 1: the Zulu force had not intended to battle that day,
Speaker 1: but felt that they had to move defensively when confronted
Speaker 1: by Dernford. And then another take on the situation gives
Speaker 1: a Zuli more credit for basically machination, like the view
Speaker 1: that this Zulu trap lure Dunford into it with a
Speaker 1: small resistance party while the twenty thousand men waited to
Speaker 1: spring that app In either case, there were fewer than
Speaker 1: two thousand British troops at that location and there were
Speaker 1: these some twenty thousand Zulus, and those British troops had
Speaker 1: no protective structure and they were taken completely by surprise
Speaker 1: because they were not expecting to engage in a massive
Speaker 1: conflict at that time. And when Dernford attempted to retreat
Speaker 1: to save his camp, the Zulu forces filled in the
Speaker 1: space between the British soldiers and that camp and they
Speaker 1: cut them off before they could do so. The Zulu
Speaker 1: used a military tactic that sometimes attributed to their former
Speaker 1: leader Shaka in terms of its invention, was called the
Speaker 1: horns of the Buffalo, and was characterized by the Zulu
Speaker 1: fighting force encircling the enemy fighters with two lines of men,
Speaker 1: which were the horns, and they reached out from each
Speaker 1: side of the main fighting force, which was the chest,
Speaker 1: to work their way around their opponent. Yeah, and then
Speaker 1: they would kind of cut them off from any any
Speaker 1: means of escape and in this case also from their camp.
Speaker 1: More than eight hundred British troops and five African auxiliary
Speaker 1: troops were killed by the Zulu army in the brutal
Speaker 1: hand to hand combat that followed. To compound the laws,
Speaker 1: the Zulus had captured the camp and they had confiscated
Speaker 1: as many as one thousand weapons in this raid, further
Speaker 1: bolstering their own army's power. Very few British troops survived
Speaker 1: this encounter, as the Zulu did not take prisoners. That's
Speaker 1: why I realized that there was no way, after the
Speaker 1: Zulus success in this battle that the British would ever
Speaker 1: work with him and his people to forge a negotiation. Yeah,
Speaker 1: he kind of. It was one of those things where
Speaker 1: while his people were celebrating, he realized that this really
Speaker 1: spelled the end of any possibility that they could work
Speaker 1: something out. Uh. And as for Great Britain, when word
Speaker 1: arrived about what had happened, uh, the country stood in
Speaker 1: shock that a culture that they believed to be intellectual
Speaker 1: inferior had so soundly defeated their troops. You know, they
Speaker 1: used largely spears, some of them were armed with firearms.
Speaker 1: But they just considered to be these, you know, wild
Speaker 1: people that didn't have any technology, and in fact they
Speaker 1: were very advanced and very smart and had military tactics.
Speaker 1: Chelmsford was actually one of Queen Victoria's favorites. So although
Speaker 1: he made some terribly blundering missteps and basically like left
Speaker 1: his men behind unsecured and led to this disastrous outcome
Speaker 1: of the battle, he was protected by Benjamin Disraeli. For
Speaker 1: his part, Chelmsford claimed that his troops had been undersupplied
Speaker 1: with ammunition and also shifted the blame to Darnford. Was
Speaker 1: an epic effort on chelmsford part to cover his own tail. Yeah,
Speaker 1: we're going to talk about how that worked out in
Speaker 1: the coda, and it's a little dispiriting. We are about
Speaker 1: to delve into another battle though, and talk a little
Speaker 1: bit more about how Great Britain framed all of these
Speaker 1: events to best advantage. But first we will take a
Speaker 1: little bit of a break and hear from one of
Speaker 1: our sponsors. Emboldened by the success of the raid, it
Speaker 1: is said Juana, and aware that there was no chancing
Speaker 1: non aggressive settlement could be struck, Zulu forces planned a
Speaker 1: second attack and this time. The target was a place
Speaker 1: known to the Zulus as quadumu Uh and probably mispronouncing that,
Speaker 1: but it was known to the British, and you may
Speaker 1: have seen it if you have ever studied any history
Speaker 1: of the area as Rourke's Drift. And this was the
Speaker 1: British depot on the missian Yathi River that we mentioned
Speaker 1: them setting up earlier. One of such why I was
Speaker 1: brothers led this rate against such why I was wishes
Speaker 1: and the hope was that they would surprise the British
Speaker 1: troops as they had at is Wana. The word had
Speaker 1: been sent ahead to the depot, so the British were
Speaker 1: prepared this time. The ensuing battle lasted almost twelve hours.
Speaker 1: In the end, more than five hundred Zulu warriors were killed.
Speaker 1: Rourke's Drift has actually been written about extensively as a
Speaker 1: great victory for British forces, and in terms of odds
Speaker 1: it really did defy them. This was a ace where
Speaker 1: about a hundred and forty British men were fighting against
Speaker 1: several thousand of Situyo's well trained warriors, and the British
Speaker 1: managed to fend them off. Eleven Victoria's Crosses were awarded
Speaker 1: after the Battle of Rook's Drift. This was more than
Speaker 1: have been awarded for a single engagement before or since.
Speaker 1: It was lauded as an incredible feat of heroism by
Speaker 1: the British. The fanfare hid the fact that the battle
Speaker 1: it was in Wanna and the Zulu conflict in general
Speaker 1: were incredibly costly, both in terms of human lives and
Speaker 1: in terms of funding, and after more than forty years
Speaker 1: of civil service, Freyer, who you remember, really wanted this conflict,
Speaker 1: was blamed for the failures in South Africa. He was
Speaker 1: ordered back to England in eighteen eighty when negotiation efforts
Speaker 1: to bring the Confederation plan to fruition had completely failed.
Speaker 1: But Rooks Drift continued to be inflated as a great
Speaker 1: and important victory, an effort made in large part to
Speaker 1: try to minimize what had happened earlier is in Wanna. Chelmsford,
Speaker 1: who had handled things so poorly, was recalled from Africa
Speaker 1: and he returned to England, where he continued his whole
Speaker 1: his own disinformation campaign to minimize his own errors and
Speaker 1: throw Dernford under the bus. After isn'th Juana and Rourke's Drift,
Speaker 1: Great Britain launched a robust military effort in the Zulu
Speaker 1: territories to just end this conflict once and for all.
Speaker 1: Their first engagement, which took place on March eighteen seventy
Speaker 1: nine at O'bane, was unsuccessful, but the day after that loss,
Speaker 1: on March twenty nine, another push was made by the British,
Speaker 1: and this effort, which came to be known as the
Speaker 1: Battle of Kambula, gained the British Army of victory. From
Speaker 1: that point on, British troops worked their way through the
Speaker 1: area to systematically take down the remaining Zulu army. Took
Speaker 1: several months for the Zulu War to reach its conclusion,
Speaker 1: though that finally came. On July fourth, eighteen seventy nine,
Speaker 1: troops attacked Ulundi, the side of the royal residence of
Speaker 1: such Wio. Suchuio escaped and fled, but he was captured
Speaker 1: against several weeks later and exiled at Cape Town. After
Speaker 1: a Great Britain had seized control of Zulu land, it
Speaker 1: was parceled out divided between Britain and the long term
Speaker 1: enemies of such Wio. Three years later, the former Zulu
Speaker 1: king was actually allowed to travel to Britain. He wanted
Speaker 1: to restore the Zulu monarchy, and he was willing to
Speaker 1: work within Britain's political system to do so. And in
Speaker 1: those three years, that Zulu kingdom had broken into thirteen
Speaker 1: smaller pieces, and it had basically been a constant series
Speaker 1: of battles ever since. So the British as well as
Speaker 1: such Wio, we're kind of interested in setting up some
Speaker 1: sort of order once again. So while he was granted
Speaker 1: permission to restore the monarchy, this was of course not
Speaker 1: the leadership power it had been when he returned to
Speaker 1: the royal village in New Lundi. It led to another
Speaker 1: civil war. The defeat of Suchwaio and his people in
Speaker 1: eighteen eighty three is often cited as the end of
Speaker 1: the Zulu kingdom. Yeah, it wasn't the end of his line.
Speaker 1: He had a son, But that becomes that second part
Speaker 1: of the story that I referenced at the top of
Speaker 1: the episode said Schwio died in the British Zulu Native
Speaker 1: Reserve on February eighth, eighty four, and while many of
Speaker 1: his people believed that he was actually poisoned, his cause
Speaker 1: of death was recorded as a heart attack. And as
Speaker 1: a sad coda to this whole story, Lord Chelmsford was
Speaker 1: rewarded amply, even though he was kind of a Weasley
Speaker 1: underperformer in this whole story. He was promoted to general,
Speaker 1: the Queen gave him awards, he was made Lieutenant of
Speaker 1: the Tower of London. This is one of those parts
Speaker 1: where I get so mad at Queen Victoria because she
Speaker 1: just loved him even though he was horrible. Uh. And
Speaker 1: of course this was not the end of conflict or
Speaker 1: strife in South Africa, but it is where we are
Speaker 1: rapping today's episode, just noting that the Zulu kingdom at
Speaker 1: this point was basically completely gone, even though the Zulu
Speaker 1: people continued. In two thousand, historian named David Rattray found
Speaker 1: an out um containing twenty four sketches and a hundred
Speaker 1: watercolors that were made one by one of the British
Speaker 1: soldiers at Rourke's Drift. A soldier was William Whitelack Lloyd.
Speaker 1: These sketches and paintings were all made during Lloyd's time
Speaker 1: with the First Battalion, twenty four Regiment as the group
Speaker 1: traveled in South Africa, and they show the landscape of
Speaker 1: Zulu land during this period. The whole lot was auctioned
Speaker 1: by Southby's in twelve for just under fifty thousand British pounds. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you can look at several of those. The Southist Listening
Speaker 1: still exists and all included in the show notes, and
Speaker 1: you can see some of these these sort of moments
Speaker 1: that he captured while they were traveling. There was also
Speaker 1: a documentary that came out some years back that the
Speaker 1: BBC did that really did kind of reframe the Battle
Speaker 1: of Rourke's Drift and kind of the possibility that some
Speaker 1: of the people that got awards for that engagement were
Speaker 1: not necessarily the people that maybe deserved them. And it
Speaker 1: was a big um controversy see among historians who specialize
Speaker 1: in this particular piece of history. Uh, it got a
Speaker 1: lot of hackles up, so that is also worth looking into.
Speaker 1: Is it's an interesting take on the specifics of that battle.
Speaker 1: Do you also have some listener mail for it. I do.
Speaker 1: It's important listener mail because I messed up from our
Speaker 1: listener Liz uh and she is writing about our lawn
Speaker 1: Cheney podcast. Uh, and she says, thank you for your
Speaker 1: excellent and informative podcasts. I always enjoy listening and they
Speaker 1: make household chores and traveling for work much more enjoyable.
Speaker 1: I'm a certified interpreter in American Sign language, and she
Speaker 1: says where she is, but we don't like to give
Speaker 1: away personal information. And the agency I workforce serves a
Speaker 1: large area around the city. In my affiliation with a
Speaker 1: s L and the deaf community. Uh, that's what prompted
Speaker 1: me to write you. I enjoyed your episode on Lawn Cheney.
Speaker 1: It was pleased that you noted his communication with his
Speaker 1: deaf parents as instrumental in developing his acting skills. However,
Speaker 1: I do have two things I'd like for you to
Speaker 1: know about sign language and deafness. In the episode, the
Speaker 1: phrase deaf mute was used to describe Cheney's parents. Most
Speaker 1: of the deaf people I know take offense at this term.
Speaker 1: If a deaf person is unable or chooses not to speak,
Speaker 1: the preferred term is nonverbal. The same term is often
Speaker 1: applied to people with autism or other disabilities who do
Speaker 1: not use spoken language. I understand that the term mute
Speaker 1: makes sense to hearing people because we do not hear
Speaker 1: spoken communication from a mute person. Deaf people, however, often
Speaker 1: do not see their deafness or lack of spoken language
Speaker 1: as a disability mute implies that they are unable to communicate,
Speaker 1: when the truth is that deaf people have a rich
Speaker 1: language and culture that they are very proud of. Nonverbal
Speaker 1: demonstrates that they do not communicate via spoken language, without
Speaker 1: giving the impression that they are unable to communicate at all.
Speaker 1: She goes on for some more specifics with that, and
Speaker 1: then I want to pick up a little bit later. Uh,
Speaker 1: there was one other point in the episode that I
Speaker 1: wanted to make a note of, also regarding Chineese upbringing
Speaker 1: and deaf parents and the show. Chinee was described as
Speaker 1: learning to communicate without language through gesture, signing, and facial expression.
Speaker 1: What this sentence describes as a visual gestural language rather
Speaker 1: than an oral oral A U R A l anguage.
Speaker 1: There are more than two hundred known sign languages around
Speaker 1: the world, with some estimates approaching four hundred. Signed languages
Speaker 1: incorporate visual cues to communicate what is often expressed using
Speaker 1: inflection and tone of voice in spoken language. Body language
Speaker 1: and facial expression are integral parts of communication in visual
Speaker 1: gestural languages, and it's possible that Cheney's family used informal
Speaker 1: home signs instead of a formal signed language such as
Speaker 1: a s L. But I disagree with the description of gesture,
Speaker 1: signing and facial expression as communicating without language. And Liz
Speaker 1: is very nice. She says she didn't take offense. She
Speaker 1: just wanted to make that clear, UM. And that's totally
Speaker 1: my fault. Part of it is that, UM, I know
Speaker 1: what happens to me sometimes and I'm always trying to
Speaker 1: get better at this, is that when you're looking at
Speaker 1: old sources, they will always use old terminology and sometimes
Speaker 1: my brain does not update. And that is exactly what
Speaker 1: happened on that one, UM, because it was such a
Speaker 1: small part and I was so excited to talk about
Speaker 1: his movies. So that's my oversight. And I apologize, UM
Speaker 1: for a little bit more clarity on on me trying
Speaker 1: to explain him speaking with his mother, particularly when she
Speaker 1: was very very ill, uh, without language. They had reached
Speaker 1: a point where she had gotten so sick she couldn't
Speaker 1: move much. So even the sign language that they had
Speaker 1: used prior to that sounds like it could, it really
Speaker 1: was not in use at that point in time. So
Speaker 1: there they were kind of having to find all new
Speaker 1: ways for him to communicate with her because she was
Speaker 1: almost completely non mobile. Um, so that might give a
Speaker 1: little more clarity to my poor choice of language there.
Speaker 1: It's still a por choice of language, but I just
Speaker 1: wanted to explain the genesis of it. So thank you
Speaker 1: so much, Liz, because that's important stuff to remember. Um,
Speaker 1: and I always need their reminders Heaven knows, so I'm
Speaker 1: gonna always try to do better. Uh. I think she
Speaker 1: also suggested a Death President Now episode what uh, which
Speaker 1: we have an archive? Yeah. Uh yeah, we actually did
Speaker 1: an episode on Death President Now a while back. Uh.
Speaker 1: We may end up we could maybe push that into
Speaker 1: classics at some point in the near future so that
Speaker 1: we make sure it gets out there. Found good. Yeah cool.
Speaker 1: If you want to write to us, you can do
Speaker 1: so at History Podcast at how stuff works dot com.
Speaker 1: We are also on virtually all social media as Missed
Speaker 1: in History. You can also come to our website, which
Speaker 1: is Missed in History dot com. Uh, and then you
Speaker 1: will find every episode we have ever done, including that
Speaker 1: Deaf President's Now episode, as well as show notes on
Speaker 1: any of the episodes Tracy and I have worked on together,
Speaker 1: and we encourage you come and visit us at missed
Speaker 1: in History dot com for more on this and thousands
Speaker 1: of other topics. Visit how stuff works dot com.