Cecil Rhodes

Who was Cecil Rhodes?

Cecil Rhodes was a British mining magnate, and politician in South Africa, who served as prime minister of the Cape Colony from 1890 to 1896.

When did Cecil Rhodes live?

Cecil Rhodes was born in 1853, and died in 1902. He was prime minister of the Cape Colony in South Africa from 1890 to 1896.

What were the events of Cecil Rhodes' life?

There were a number of important events in Cecil Rhodes' career.

• ❖ He became a diamond mining magnate in 1888, when he founded De Beers Consolidated Mines.
• ❖ He founded the British South Africa Company, which he used to take over Matabeleland. This extended the British Empire by gaining new land in Africa.
• ❖ In 1890 he introduced laws that restricted black Africans' land rights, which also lost them the right to vote.
• ❖ He masterminded the Jameson Raid in 1895, to try to take over the Boer Republics. As a result of this he had to resign as prime minister.
• ❖ He formed a plan to build a Cape to Cairo railway, designed to link all British colonies in the east of Africa, to help develop trade. The project was never completed.

What were Cecil Rhodes beliefs?

Cecil Rhodes was an imperialist, and believed in white supremacy.

• ❖ He believed that the British Empire existed to control and civilise the rest of the world.
• ❖ He believed that white British people were superior to other races, and were ordained to rule the world.

What was the significance of Cecil Rhodes?

These are some of the reasons why Cecil Rhodes was significant.

• ❖ He helped to increase the British Empire by taking over new land in Africa.
• ❖ He became very rich from his gold and diamond mining activities, and helped to create wealth for the empire.
• ❖ His views were popular at the time, and helped to establish a vision for the British Empire as a civilising power in the world.
• ❖ He is now a controversial figure, because of his racist policies, and his activities to grow the British Empire.
• ❖ He became a symbol of the evils of the British Empire, when the 'Rhodes must fall' movement lobbied to remove his statue from Oriel College, Oxford.