At the time, better-educated Dutch settlers in the Cape Colony regarded the Afrikaans language as a
patois used by the less-educated. Du Toit, however, regarded Afrikaans as a symbol of Afrikaner nationalism.{{cite web In the early 1870s, two Dutch schoolteachers, Arnoldus Pannevis and C.P. Hoogenhout, made a number of pleas in
De Zuid-Afrikaan newspaper that, for the benefit of the
Cape Coloured community and the lesser-educated Afrikaner community, the
Bible should be translated into Afrikaans. In 1874, Pannevis addressed his concerns to the
British and Foreign Bible Society, while Du Toit's articles in
De Zuid-Afrikaan supported Pannevis and Hoogenhout.{{cite book On 14 August 1875, Hoogenhout, Du Toit, and others established the
Genootskap van Regte Afrikaners (Society of True Afrikaners, GRA) with the objective of promoting the Afrikaans language, nation, and country. Initially, this was to be achieved by publishing a monthly journal and, as soon as possible, a dictionary and grammatical rules guideline (
spraakkuns). Du Toit was elected president of the association and within a year had compiled a set of grammatical rules. In 1876, he launched the first Afrikaans-language newspaper
Die Afrikaanse Patriot. Initially a monthly publication, it had 50 subscribers; in its second year, 400; and by 1881, 3,000 subscribers, becoming a weekly publication in 1877.{{cite book The British annexation of the
Transvaal in 1877 caused considerable anger among the Dutch community throughout Southern Africa.
Die Afrikaanse Patriot published a scathing attack, and Du Toit proposed a boycott of British goods and services. In October 1880,
Die Patriot argued that the time had come for decisive action—many Transvaal leaders state that this was the trigger for the
First Boer War, which led to the Transvaal regaining its independence in 1881. In 1879, Du Toit proposed the formation of the
Afrikaner Bond, an anti-British organisation in which all Afrikaners could feel at home.
Die Patriot urged a boycott of British products.
Jan Hofmeyr, who had founded the
Zuidafrikaansche Boeren Beschermings Vereeniging (South African Farmers' Protection Association) as a vehicle of protest against a proposed
excise duty on wine, agreed to merge the two organisations and, through skilful manoeuvring, gained control of the merged organisation.{{cite book ==Later years==