The Rhodes Colossus

The Rhodes Colossus is an iconic editorial cartoon of the Scramble for Africa period, depicting British colonialist Cecil Rhodes as a giant standing over the continent.

The cartoon was drawn by Edward Linley Sambourne, and first appeared in "Punch" magazine in 1892. It was widely reprinted in its time, [ [http://www.indiana.edu/~jah/teaching/2002_03/article.shtml Empires, Exceptions, and Anglo-Saxons: Race and Rule between the British and United States Empires, 1880–1910] ] and has since become a standard illustration in history texts.

Context

The cartoon was published in the 10 December 1892 edition of "Punch", appearing beside a recent excerpt from "The Times" about a Rhodes plan to extend an electrical telegraph line from Cape Town to Cairo.

It was accompanied by a piece of satirical verse on the character and ambitions of Rhodes. [ [http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/20759 "Punch", Volume 103, December 10, 1892] ]

Quote|THE World's Seven Wonders are surely outshone! On Marvel World's billows 'twill toss us—'twill toss us,To watch him, Director and Statesman in one, This Seven-League-Booted Colossus—Colossus!Combining in one supernatural blend Plain Commerce and Imagination—gination;O'er Africa striding from dark end to end, To forward black emancipation—cipation.

Brobdingnagian Bagman, big Dreamer of Dreams. A Titan of tact and shrewd trader—shrewd trader!A diplomat full of "finesse" and sharp schemes, With a touch of the pious Crusader—Crusader!A "Dealer" with despots, a "Squarer" of Kings, A jumper of mountain, lake, wilderness, wady,And manager 'cute of such troublesome things As LOBENGULA or the MAHDI—the MAHDI.

Well may ABERCORN wonder and FIFE tootle praise, His two thousand hearers raise cheering—raise cheering.Of wild would-be Scuttlers he proves the mad craze, And of Governments prone to small-beering—small-beering.Sullen Boers may prove bores to a man of less tact, A duffer funk wiles Portuguesy—tuguesy;But Dutchmen, black potentates, all sorts, in fact, To RHODES the astute come quite easy—quite easy.

The British South-African Company's shares "May" be at a discount—(Trade-martyrs!—trade-martyrs!)—But he, our Colossus, strides on, he declares, Whether with or without chums or charters—or charters.Hooray! We brave Britons are still to the front— Provided we've someone to boss us—to boss us;And Scuttlers will have their work cut out to shunt This stalwart, far-striding Colossus—Colossus!|Verse accompanying the original cartoon

Iconography and influence

Rhodes is shown in a visual pun as the ancient Greek statue the Colossus of Rhodes, following the traditional (and architecturally unlikely) depiction of the Colossus with wide-set legs across Rhodes harbor (above).

Rhodes measures with the telegraph line the distance from Cape Town (at his right foot) in South Africa to Cairo (at his left foot) in Egypt, illustrating his broader "Cape to Cairo" concept (see Cape-Cairo railway) for British domination of Africa.

The cartoon is recognizable today as a standard illustration in history texts of the Scramble for Africa, and of Colonialism as a whole. The original context of a proposed telegraph line is rarely mentioned in such reproductions, which take the "Cape to Cairo" concept more generally.

References

External links

* [http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/20759 Punch, 10th December 1892] , from Project Gutenberg