had Paul Kruger, the future president.s? In addition, commercial com-
panies based inthe British colonies acquired vast holdings in the republics.
Most of the land was not used productively. Afrikaners ran their cattle or
sheep over parts of their holdings, but acquired their grain from African
producers, and the companies were absentee landlords who did scarcely
anything to develop their properties.
The Afrikaners south of the Vaal River fashioned a more stable society
than those further north. In 1854, the year of their independence, they
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