Moshoeshoe Essay

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Moshoeshoe During the 18th and 19th centuries, South Africa was a stage for persistent hostility and bloodshed. Amidst the chaos generated by Shaka’s military campaigns, British imperialism, and Boer encroachment there arose a leader of the Basotho people known as Moshoeshoe. Moshoeshoe is best known for his role as a militarist and diplomat who encouraged a sense of identity and unity that inspired his people to defend their kingdom against external threats to their independence. This essay will shape Moshoeshoe’s story and highlight his qualities as a leader. In Sources of the African Past, the story of Moshoeshoe is a narrative constructed by numerous sources that potentially lend themselves to bias and must be closely examined. The majority of our information comes from French missionaries, most notably members of the Paris Evangelical Missionary society (PEMS). Reverend Ellenberger is one such missionary who provides several accounts of the Basotho people throughout the documentary narrative. Ellenberger is described as someone who “rarely identified the names and social position of his informants” (pg. 44). In document 1 Ellenberger refers to the child Lepoqo (who became known as Moshoeshoe) as “it”, cataloguing him as an object rather than a human being. These characteristics of Ellenberger’s writing indicate that he may have considered the Basotho people through a veil of inferiority. The healthy bulk of our accounts regarding Moshoeshoe come from the missionary Eugene Casalis, a member of PEMS. Casalis displays a favorable disposition toward Moshoeshoe throughout his writing, recognizing his “good nature and his inexhaustible patience” in document 11. Additionally, Casalis quickly learned the Sotho language, so we can assume that within his accounts little was lost in translation as might have been the case with Ellenberger and J.C. MacGregor. While
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