In the early 19th century slave resentment continued to grow, especially as a boom in wine production increased labor demands. A revolutionary uprising took place in 1808, shortly after the abolition of the slave trade and the takeover of the colony by the British. Toward the end of the 18th century some slaves claimed individual rights, reflecting the influence of wider revolutionary movements in the Atlantic world. Some runaways joined indigenous groups in the Cape interior, while others formed more isolated maroon communities. Although there were few major revolts, individual resistance was widespread and desertion common. Throughout the 18th century slaves outnumbered settlers. The majority were sold to settlers and worked as domestic servants in Cape Town or as laborers on the grain, wine, and pastoral farms of the Cape interior. Some were owned by the VOC and labored on the Company farms, outposts, and docks. Slaves were transported to the Cape from a wide range of areas in the Indian Ocean world, including South and Southeast Asia, Madagascar, and Mozambique. Slavery was a mainstay of the labor force of the Cape Colony between its foundation by the Dutch East India Company (VOC) in 1652 and abolition in 1834, by which date the Cape was under British rule.
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