The Jameson Raid was an attempt to overthrow President Paul Kruger of South Africa in December 1895, and there were several reasons behind that raid. Tens of thousands of uitlanders settled in the Witwatersrand (South Africa) after gold was discovered in 1886, and the influx threatened the political independence of the newly formed republic. It was negotiated in the Treaty of London in 1884, and after three years of the First Anglo-Boer War the region relied on revenues generated from the gold mines.

The government refused to grant the franchise the franchise, and continued to increase the period required to qualify for citizenship, the Transvaal government was considered overly conservative on economic and industrial policy, many non-African miners in the area desired a greater political voice, and there was a significant level of distrust Between the Cape Colony government and the Transvaal Republic about Kruger's attempt to claim control of Bijuanaland in violation of the London Convention of 1884, after which the area was declared a British Protectorate.

Leander Star Jason, who leads the raid, had first arrived in South Africa in 1878, lured by the discovery of diamonds near the Kimberley. Jameson was a qualified physician known to his friends (including Cecil Rhodes, one of the founders of the De Beers Mining Company who became Prime Minister At Cape Colony in 1890, in 1889, Cecil Rhodes formed the British South Africa Company (BSA), which was granted a royal charter, and Jameson sent an envoy across the Limpopo River to Mashonaland (what is now the northern part of Zimbabwe) and then to Matabeleland ( now southwestern Zimbabwe and parts of Botswana), and Jameson was given the position of administrator for both regions.

In 1895 Jameson was commissioned by Rhodes (prime minister of the colony) to lead a small force (about 600 men) in the Transvaal to support the expected uitlander uprising in Johannesburg. They departed from Betsani, on the Bechuanaland (now Botswana) border on December 29, and 400 came A man from Matabeleland Police, the rest were volunteers, and they had six Maxims and three light artillery pieces.

The uprising failed and Jameson's force made first contact with a small group of Transvaal soldiers on January 1, who blocked the road to Johannesburg. He withdrew during the night and Jameson's men attempted to overwhelm the Boers, but were finally forced to surrender on January 2, 1896 at Dornork, about 20 km away. West of Johannesburg, Jameson and various leaders were handed over to the British authorities at the Cape and sent to the United Kingdom for trial in London, initially convicted of treason and sentenced to death for their part in the scheme.

But the sentences were commuted to heavy fines and a symbolic prison stay - Jameson has only served four months out of his 15-month sentence, the British South Africa Company has been asked to pay nearly £1m in compensation to the Transvaal government, and President Krueger has gained much international sympathy. By the raid, Cecil Rhodes was forced to retire as Prime Minister of the Cape Colony, and never regained his place, although he negotiated peace with various other fiefs.

Leander Star Jameson returned to South Africa in 1900, and after the death of Cecil Rhodes and in 1902 he took over the leadership of the Progressive Party. He was elected Prime Minister in Cape Colony in 1904 and led the Unionist Party after the Union of South Africa in 1910. Jameson retired from politics in 1914 and died 1917 AD.