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=== War of Independence ===
Leading up to the [[Wars of Dutch Humiliation (1850-1857)]], tensions between the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the British Empire spilled over into the Cape colony with the Dutch fearing encroachment from the east by the Natal colony. In 1850 after the start of the [[Canton War]], the Dutch revoked the British right to use the Kaapstadt port and attempted to invade the Natal colony from the Cape. Local Cape colony authorities were wary of provoking the British and after the Spanish and French also declared war against the Dutch, believed that the Dutch could not win this war. They feared that a defeated Dutch Empire would be forced to relinquish the Cape Colony to the British; this along with increased taxes on the Cape citizenry and merchants to fund the war effort led to the 1852 Kaapstadt revolt where Dutch authorities were driven from the city and many local troops deserted the Dutch military and joined Republican militias. Only 3 months later the Dutch took back the city but by that time the Cape republican movement was well underway with republican militias and revolts happening all over the colony.
The Cape Republicans, in 1853 knowing that they would need allies in their fight against the Dutch Empire secretly met with officials from the British empire who agreed to support Cape independence financially in return for the Van Nimwegen agreement to be reinstated. Within months, hundreds of guns were being smuggled into the Cape colony from the British Natal and after a failed offensive against the Dutch position in Kaapstadt, the Cape Republicans were in control on nearly 60% of the colony.
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