Reliability of Sources: Cecil Rhodes DOCUMENT A: “I contend that we are the first race in the world, and that the more of the world we inhabit the better it is for the human race. ... If there be a God, I think that what he would like me to do is paint as much of the map of Africa British Red as possible.”● This quotation comes from an essay written by Cecil Rhodes

in 1877 called “Confession of Faith”. He wrote it at age 23 to explain his motivations in southern Africa.

DOCUMENT B: “IN THIS HOUSE THE RIGHT HON. CECIL JOHN RHODES KEPT ACADEMICAL RESIDENCE IN THE YEAR 1881.

THIS MEMORIAL IS ERECTED BY ALFRED MOSELY IN RECOGNITION OF THE GREAT SERVICES RENDERED BY CECIL RHODES TO HIS COUNTRY”

● This is from a plaque outside Rhodes’ former home near Oxfordshire, England (1906). Alfred Mosely, a diamond merchant and friend of Rhodes, gained permission from the College to erect a plaque to him on the house in King Edward Street where Rhodes had lived in 1881.

Reliability of Sources: Cecil Rhodes

Reliability of Sources: The Battle of Adwa DOCUMENT C: “The battle began at dawn on March 1, 1896. The battle lasted for one full day. The result of the battle was unexpected and surprising to the world. The well-trained and well-armed Italian force was defeated by the ill-trained and not well-armed Ethiopian force. Ethiopia was victorious because of her people’s high degree of courage and the full support of the people. Moreover, Ethiopian women supplied water and arms to the fighters. They carried the wounded to camps and encouraged the fighters to fight with great courage.”

● This is from an Ethiopian textbook: Social Studies Student Textbook: Grade 8 (2006).

DOCUMENT D: “Only the African nation of Ethiopia was able to retain its independence by matching European firepower. In 1889 the emperor of Ethiopia, Menelik II, undertook a program of modernization that included a modern Army. In 1895, Italian forces invaded Ethiopia over a treaty dispute. Within a year, however, Menelik’s forces – more numerous and better armed than the Italians – defeated the Italians at the Battle of Adwa.”

● This is an excerpt from an American textbook: World History: Human Legacy (2008).

DOCUMENT E: “I have undertaken the work in the Congo in the interest of civilization and for the good of Belgium.”● A quotation on a

monument in remembrance of Leopold, constructed in Belgium after Leopold’s death in 1909.

Reliability of Sources: Leopold II

Reliability of Sources: Leopold II DOCUMENT F: “Your knowledge of the gospel will allow you to find texts ordering, and encouraging your followers to love poverty, like ‘Happier are the poor because they will inherit the heaven’. ...Evangelize [Change the religion of] the n*****s so that they stay forever in submission to the white colonialists, so they never revolt against the restraints they are undergoing. ...Make them pay tax each week at Sunday mass. Use the money supposed for the poor, to build flourishing business centres.”

● A letter from King Leopold II to Belgian Missionaries (1883).

DOCUMENT G: "I do not want to risk ... losing a fine chance to secure for ourselves a slice of this magnificent African cake."

● A comment made by King Leopold to one of his aides (helpers) in London, before the Berlin Conference began.