During the 1800's Cecil Rhodes of England seized an opportunity to exploit a weak, disorganized, and sparsely populated, Southern Africa. He established ruthless control by setting up a government beneficial to himself, and enjoying enormous profits through diamond mining. To people today this act may seem like robbery. Taking diamonds from local inhabitants and dominating the native people's homeland seems morally wrong. Yet this idea was not at all held by imperial Europe. Many European countries felt bringing jobs and a "civilized government" gave them the right to take natural resources from the land, and make huge profits. Although it may seem as if Cecil Rhodes "destroyed Africa" he did not destroy it in any sense. He brought a system of Government, he brought jobs to Africans through his mining business, and he was a very smart man finding a way to control the South African Government. But, what is unfortunate is that Rhodes was so indifferent to the people who originally existed in southern Africa.
The Rhodes Colossus: Caricature of Cecil John Rhod...
Cecil Rhodes attempted to expand British territory...
Cecil John Rhodes, the 6th Prime Minister of the C...Because of the great possibilities of large profit, he felt no regret in exploiting human labor for his personal needs. Although Cecil Rhodes may have had a negative impact on southern Africa in many people's eyes, he created success for himself, and greatly altered southern Africa for the better, and the worse.
Cecil Rhodes came to Africa from England by chance, partly because of health demands and also because his brother needed help in his own African enterprise. Rhodes was born in 1853, the third of six sons in Bishop's Stortford, England. At the age of 16 Cecil Rhodes was very ill. He was taken to a doctor while still in England, and it was discovered that he had weak lungs and had been afflicted with tuberculosis and a disease called Atrial Septal Defect.