Rhodes and Rhodesia: The White Conquest of Zimbabwe 1884-1902This volume deals with the conquest and colonization of Zimbabwe and the establishment of Southern Rhodesia, from the beginnings of British involvement in Bechuanaland to the death of Cecil Rhodes. Its emphasis is on the white invaders and its chief concern is white individuals, their motives, actions, and influence on events. The British South Africa Company and the irregularity of its financial and political operations are dealt with in detail. Keppel-Jones also discusses the development in the midst of the indigenous population of an alien white society and state, from their crude beginnings to their emergence in a form still recognizable today. The reader is led to conclude that by 1902 Southern Rhodesia was already set on the road that would lead to the upheavals of the second half of the twentieth-century. The author examines the racial consciousness and prejudice of the white society and addresses an important question: why did the imperial government grant a royal charter to the BSA Company? The facts show conclusively that the imperial government had little interest in Central Africa or care for its fate except when foreign competition appeared. Keppel-Jones also reveals the important role played by black troops employed by the Company in suppressing the rebellions of 1896-7. For opposite reasons, neither blacks nor whites have been willing to recognize this; on the other hand the habit of the 'men-on-the-spot' of making and carrying out decisions without regard to their superiors in London is a commonplace of imperial history. One of the main themes of the book is the tension between the unofficial imperialists, straining at the leash, and the Colonial Office, struggling to hold them back. Rhodes and Rhodesia is based on extensive use of public records, mainly in the Public Record Office, London, and the National Archives of Zimbabwe, of collections of private papers, and of contemporary published works. Arthur Keppel-Jones is professor emeritus of history at Queen's University. |
Contents
The British Advance into the Interior | 1 |
The Struggle for the Southern Approaches | 20 |
The Rudd Concession and Its Enemies | 55 |
Company Promotion and the Charter | 103 |
The Pioneers and Their Rivals | 151 |
The Company the Foreign Office and Portugal | 189 |
Jamesons War I The Incidents and the Intrigue | 225 |
Jamesons War II The Victory of the Maxim Gun | 265 |
The Black Experience 18901896 | 389 |
The Rebellion I Umvukela | 425 |
The Rebellion II Chimurenga | 473 |
The Indabas | 495 |
The Second Phase | 509 |
The Fate of the Vanquished | 521 |
White Politics | 547 |
War and Peace | 589 |
Other editions - View all
Rhodes and Rhodesia: The White Conquest of Zimbabwe 1884-1902 Arthur Keppel-Jones Limited preview - 1983 |
Rhodes and Rhodesia: The White Conquest of Zimbabwe 1884-1902 Arthur Keppel-Jones No preview available - 1983 |
Common terms and phrases
administrator African attack August Bechuanaland Beira Bengula Boers British BSA Company Bulawayo Bulawayo Chronicle Cape Town cattle Cawston Chartered Company chief claims Colenbrander Colonial Office column Company's December directors district encl farms fight force Fort Victoria gold Grey high commissioner imperial impi indaba indunas J.S. Moffat Jameson Johnson July June Kgama killed Kimberley king king's Knutsford kraal laager labour land later letter Limpopo Lippert Lobengula Loch London Mafeking Maguire March Mashona Mashonaland Matabele Matabeleland Matopos Maund Mazoe ment miles mining missionaries Mzilikazi native commissioner Ndebele November October order-in-council Papers of J.S. party patrol Pioneers Plumer police Political Papers Portugal Portuguese protectorate Queen railway rebellion rebels regiments RH MSS Afr Rhodes Rhodes's Rhodesia Herald rifles river Rudd Concession Salisbury Selous sent Shippard Shona Shoshong South Africa Southern Rhodesia Tati territory Thompson tion Transvaal treaty Umtali Victoria wagons Wilson wrote Zambezi