Godlonton swiftly came to the forefront as the leader of this Eastern Cape settler movement. He used his newspapers to condemn Stockenström's treaty system and advocate seizing the Xhosa lands. He also used his considerable influence in the religious institutions of the 1820 British settlers to drive his opinions, declaring that: "the British race was selected by God himself to colonise Kaffraria". In the face of massive pressure and ruinous lawsuits, Stockenström was eventually dismissed and his treaty system was dismantled by the new British Governor, Maitland. A fresh wave of frontier violence soon developed, eventually building up to the Amatola War which broke out in 1846.