ABSTRACT
In 1883, the alliance between the white liberals and the aspirant black middle class clearly prevented the implementation of the Native Strangers' Location Act. The success of this alliance influenced all the African residents, since under the legislation no one was forced to move from Strangers'. During the 1880s, the Cape liberal tradition, the large permanent black population, and the emergent middle class, along with the evolution of the ideology of segregation, were factors that interacted to influence the struggle between the government and the black population. Social functions viewed as disreputable by most whites and some Christian Africans also challenged the system and illustrated the lack of official control over the labor force. To support the idea of the Great Chain of Being, a number of theories were offered by white scientists concerning the origins of humans and their separation into unequal races.
