Orange River Sovereignty [SEP] inception
Orange River Sovereignty
The Orange River Sovereignty (1848–1854) was a short-lived political entity between the Orange and Vaal rivers in Southern Africa, a region known informally as Transorangia. In 1854, it became the Orange Free State, and is now the Free State province of South Africa.
History.
On 8 December 1845 Captain William Sutton was appointed “British Resident among the tribes living beyond the Frontier to the North-East” (relative to Cape Colony).
Sutton was succeeded as Resident on 16
the independence of the Orange River Sovereignty and the country officially became independent as the Orange Free State on 23 February 1854, with the signing of the Orange River Convention. The new republic incorporated the Orange River Sovereignty and continued the traditions of the Winburg-Potchefstroom Republic.
The Orange Free State developed into a politically and economically successful republic and for the most part enjoyed good relationships with its neighbours. It was annexed as the Orange River Colony in 1900. It ceased to exist as an independent Boer republic on 31 May 1902