British Conquests in Africa

The Rhodes Colossus (1892)

There were no limits to the British fortune hunter Cecil Rhodes’s (1853–1902) ambitions or to the steps he was willing to take to achieve his ends. Rhodes saw in the British imperialist expansion in Africa an opportunity both to amass a fabulous personal fortune and to add to Britain’s global power and prestige. A committed Social Darwinist, Rhodes had no moral qualms about the conquest and economic exploitation of native peoples. In his view, human progress was achieved through racial competition, a competition Rhodes was certain would end in British domination of the globe. In this 1892 cartoon first published in the British magazine Punch, Rhodes is depicted as the embodiment of Britain’s African empire.

From Punch, 10 December 1892, English School (19th century) / Private Collection / The Bridgeman Art Library.