The Rhodes Colossus is an
iconic
editorial cartoon of the
Scramble for Africa period, depicting British colonialist
Cecil John Rhodes as a giant standing over the continent, after his announcement of plans to extend an
electrical telegraph line from
Cape Town to
Cairo. Rhodes is shown in a
visual pun as the ancient Greek statue the
Colossus of Rhodes, with his right foot in Cape Town and his left in Cairo, illustrating his broader "
Cape to Cairo" concept for
British domination of Africa.Illustration:
Edward Linley Sambourne
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