Cape settlers imported the biblical Ham myth to rationalize racial control by 1707

Evidence

Settlers brought with them prevailing European conceptions of race at the time. Giliomee reports a letter of 1707 from a group of European burghers residing in Stellenbosch, for example, characterizing “untrustworthy” blacks as “the blood of Ham.” This biblically charged view attributing the mark of physically signifying difference was circulating increasingly in European intellectual circles of the day, indicating the fixing of political distinction in terms of religious curse. References to the myth of Ham dot written characterizations by white administrators, clergymen, and travelers at the Cape through much of the eighteenth century. — David Theo Goldberg, The Threat of Race, 1352

Categorization

• SHARE: The 1707 Stellenbosch ‘blood of Ham’ letter as the earliest religious-curse rationalization at the Cape is a specific, documentable data point.
• XREF: connects to: An early colonial letter invoked the biblical curse of Ham to racialize blacks — David Theo Goldberg, The Threat of Race: Reflections on…, 1352; Christians used the Curse of Ham to justify enslaving Africans — Sahar F. Aziz, The Racial Muslim: When Racism Quashes…, 219; Imported European racial views rationalized white control at the Cape — David Theo Goldberg, The Threat of Race: Reflections on…, 1353 (+7 more)

Broader Connections

• An early colonial letter invoked the biblical curse of Ham to racialize blacks #exemplifies (0.90) — David Theo Goldberg, The Threat of Race, 1352
• Imported European racial views rationalized white control at the Cape #corroborates (0.85) — David Theo Goldberg, The Threat of Race, 1353
• Christians used the Curse of Ham to justify enslaving Africans #expands (0.80) — Sahar F. Aziz, The Racial Muslim, 219
• Colonial observers framed African peoples as biblical Ham’s cursed descendants #exemplifies (0.80)
• Early Cape racial hierarchy existed without a race-based governing rationality #contradicts (0.75)
• Slaveholders rationalized African enslavement through pre-existing racist ideas #corroborates (0.75) — Ibram X. Kendi, Stamped from the Beginning, 90
• The curse of Ham theory predated its slave trade use by centuries #qualifies (0.70) — Ibram X. Kendi, Stamped from the Beginning, 47
• Religion served as a status axis in the racial hierarchy among enslaved Africans #expands (0.70) — Junaid Rana, Terrifying Muslims, 193
• Al-Tunisï framed the Sudanese as scripturally accursed sons of Ham #exemplifies (0.70)