Rhodes landed in South Africa in 1869 at the age of 16. Two years later, he had started to work in the diamond business ... and business was good. Within 20 years, Cecil essentially cornered the market and got rich. You've heard of the De Beers company? Yes, that's Rhodes' doing.
Along the way, Cecil went into politics and became prime minister in 1890 - the seventh in the history of Cape Country. Some of his actions were, um, controversial. He took land away from Africans and raised the amount of money needed to vote, thus disenfranchising many. Cecil also tried to establish a railroad from Cape to Cairo through mostly British territory, but that didn't work out.
Rhodes helped to create a nation north of South Africa that is no longer on the map: Rhodesia. Yes, he's the Rhodes in Rhodesia. But some bad decisions led to his departure from that office in 1896.
Rhodes was never a particularly healthy person, and he had a variety of issues before dying in 1902. But there was a little present in his will. Money went to Oxford University to fund a scholarship program. Yes, the Rhodes Scholarship.
He's pointing north in the statue, as his dream was to expand British colonialism in that direction. As you'd guess, that's not a popular idea with many now. Yet the statue remains. So does his grave in Zimbabwe.
No comments:
Post a Comment