During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries a number of European countries founded settlements on the American and African continents. The colonizing powers sent settlers from Europe and slaves from Africa and Asia to their colonies. Most of these colonies existed for several centuries, and during this period the economic, social and cultural relations between the settlers, the slaves and the indigenous peoples did not remain static. In none of these colonies were the descendants of the original groups totally integrated into a homogeneous society, but by the end of the eighteenth century the differences between the groups were much less marked in the Spanish and Portuguese colonies of Central and South America than in the British colonies of North America. The article examines recent research on integration processes in the Cape Colony from 1652 to 1795, when the colony was ruled by the Dutch East India Company. It appears that some researchers emphasize the similarities between integration processes in the Cape Colony and North America while others point out significant differences. The article argues that the development of racial barriers in South Africa from the early nineteenth century has influenced scholarly interpretations of the characteristics of Cape colonial society before 1800. It is concluded that, regarding integration processes during this period, the Cape Colony had more in common with the Portuguese colony of Brazil than the British colonies in North America. However, more comparative research is necessary to obtain a clear perspective on integration processes in the Cape Colony within the context of developments in the European settler colonies during the period from 1500 to 1800.