full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Anneliese Mehnert: One of history's most dangerous myths

Unscramble the Blue Letters


From the 1650s through the late 1800s, European colonists descended on South Africa. First, Dutch and later British frecos sought to cailm the rogein for themselves, with their struggle becoming even more aggressive after discovering the area’s abundant natural resources. In their ruthless scramble, both cilanool powers violently removed numerous Indigenous communities from their ancestral lands.

Yet despite these ccntlofis, the colonizers often claimed they were settling in empty land devoid of loacl people. These reports were corroborated in letters and toegelvaurs by various administrators, sleoidrs, and missionaries. Maps were drawn reflecting these claims, and prominent bsriith haoisntris supported this narrative. Publications codifying the so-called Empty Land Theory had three central arguments. First, most of the land being setletd by Europeans had no established communities or agricultural infrastructure. Second, any African communities that were in those regions had actually entered the area at the same time as Europeans, so they didn’t have an ancestral claim to the land. And third, since these African communities had probably stolen the land from earlier, no-longer-present innoeidgus peploe, the eprnuoaes were within their rights to displace these African settlers.

Open Cloze


From the 1650s through the late 1800s, European colonists descended on South Africa. First, Dutch and later British ______ sought to _____ the ______ for themselves, with their struggle becoming even more aggressive after discovering the area’s abundant natural resources. In their ruthless scramble, both ________ powers violently removed numerous Indigenous communities from their ancestral lands.

Yet despite these _________, the colonizers often claimed they were settling in empty land devoid of _____ people. These reports were corroborated in letters and ___________ by various administrators, ________, and missionaries. Maps were drawn reflecting these claims, and prominent _______ __________ supported this narrative. Publications codifying the so-called Empty Land Theory had three central arguments. First, most of the land being _______ by Europeans had no established communities or agricultural infrastructure. Second, any African communities that were in those regions had actually entered the area at the same time as Europeans, so they didn’t have an ancestral claim to the land. And third, since these African communities had probably stolen the land from earlier, no-longer-present __________ ______, the _________ were within their rights to displace these African settlers.

Solution


  1. travelogues
  2. soldiers
  3. colonial
  4. people
  5. claim
  6. europeans
  7. region
  8. settled
  9. forces
  10. conflicts
  11. indigenous
  12. historians
  13. local
  14. british

Original Text


From the 1650s through the late 1800s, European colonists descended on South Africa. First, Dutch and later British forces sought to claim the region for themselves, with their struggle becoming even more aggressive after discovering the area’s abundant natural resources. In their ruthless scramble, both colonial powers violently removed numerous Indigenous communities from their ancestral lands.

Yet despite these conflicts, the colonizers often claimed they were settling in empty land devoid of local people. These reports were corroborated in letters and travelogues by various administrators, soldiers, and missionaries. Maps were drawn reflecting these claims, and prominent British historians supported this narrative. Publications codifying the so-called Empty Land Theory had three central arguments. First, most of the land being settled by Europeans had no established communities or agricultural infrastructure. Second, any African communities that were in those regions had actually entered the area at the same time as Europeans, so they didn’t have an ancestral claim to the land. And third, since these African communities had probably stolen the land from earlier, no-longer-present Indigenous people, the Europeans were within their rights to displace these African settlers.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
empty land 6
land theory 3
south african 3
ancestral lands 2
african communities 2
land belonged 2
native africans 2

ngrams of length 3

collocation frequency
empty land theory 3

Important Words


  1. abundant
  2. administrators
  3. africa
  4. african
  5. aggressive
  6. agricultural
  7. ancestral
  8. area
  9. arguments
  10. british
  11. central
  12. claim
  13. claimed
  14. claims
  15. codifying
  16. colonial
  17. colonists
  18. colonizers
  19. communities
  20. conflicts
  21. corroborated
  22. descended
  23. devoid
  24. discovering
  25. displace
  26. drawn
  27. dutch
  28. earlier
  29. empty
  30. entered
  31. established
  32. european
  33. europeans
  34. forces
  35. historians
  36. indigenous
  37. infrastructure
  38. land
  39. lands
  40. late
  41. letters
  42. local
  43. maps
  44. missionaries
  45. narrative
  46. natural
  47. numerous
  48. people
  49. powers
  50. prominent
  51. publications
  52. reflecting
  53. region
  54. regions
  55. removed
  56. reports
  57. resources
  58. rights
  59. ruthless
  60. scramble
  61. settled
  62. settlers
  63. settling
  64. soldiers
  65. sought
  66. south
  67. stolen
  68. struggle
  69. supported
  70. theory
  71. time
  72. travelogues
  73. violently