De Beers

DeBeers: A Diamond Is Forever

Cecil Rhodes, the founder of De Beers, got his start by renting water pumps to miners during the diamond rush that started in 1867 at Kimberley, South Africa. He invested the profits of this operation into buying up claims of small mining operators, with his operations soon expanding into a separate mining company. De Beers Consolidated Mines was formed in 1888 by the combination of the companies of Barney Barnato and Cecil Rhodes, by which time the company was the sole owner of all diamond mining operations in the country. (Bold for a reason think about it). One of the most effective marketing strategies has been the marketing of diamonds as a symbol of love and commitment. Which is exactly what started and sky rocketed the De Beers Corporation. Frances Gerety came up with the great slogan which won over the many hearts of people all over the world. That quote comes out to be " A Diamond Is Forever". Other successful campaigns include the "eternity ring" (as a symbol of continuing affection and appreciation), the "trilogy" ring (representing the past, present and future of a relationship) and the "right hand ring" (bought and worn by women as a symbol of independence). All very great ideas from the De Beers Corporation.

Although being a very important company during the 19th and 20th century they were also the ones who may have added to some of the conflict in Sierra Leone by uniting with the RUF and taking control of all the diamonds of Africa. Many have come to many conclusions some being that everything was fine and that Debeers was clean and others coming to conclusios that Blood diamonds were being used. Some may have gone to the conclusion that Debeers was clean because everything seemed to be right and stable with the company and that they were getting their diamonds from Sierra Leone and other regions and resources from the world. Other thought that Debeers was very dirty in sayin that they blood diamonds, diamonds coming off laborers who got little pay and a lot of work and no reward. No matter how they did it or what they did DeBeers became a very important and wealthy company in a fast time.

African Imperialsm

Compare and Contrast the colonization of the Age of Exploration wit hthe imperialism of the 19th and 20th century ?

During the age of exploration the Europeans set out to find new trade routes to china. After the crusades the Muslims won the holy land. Now the ottomans controlled the trade routes through land which prevented the Europeans from going by land. When the Europeans set out to sea for new trade routes they discovered new land which is today known as North America. These lands were inhabited by people who were Indians. Christopher Columbus went back to Europe and told the Queen that this new land had natural resources such as gold which will benefit Europe. When Christopher Columbus got to America he just tool over the land instead of making a deal with the natives of the land. This can be compared to imperialism. Europeans knew that it will be easy to take over the land. They didn’t have weapons to defend themselves so they just took over the land. The difference is that it wasn’t the Europeans intention to imperialize. As you can see there initial plan was to find new trade route, but instead discovered new land and ended up imperializing it. In imperialism of the 19th century imperialism was planned from the beginning. It was initially the plan to go and imperialize Africa. What the Europeans did is still clearly an example of imperialism.



Is imperialism inevitable? Will/ should we ever strive for pure equality of power and wealth?

I think that imperialism can be inevitable. It all depends on the people being colonized and the colonizer. Geography plays a big part in imperialism. Most of the times the reason for imperialism is to obtain natural resources from other places. If a country has the goods and natural material that another country wants it will eventually lead to imperialism. It also depends if the country being imperialized has the power to fight back. This brings us to Jared diamonds theory of guns, germs, and steel. If the colonizers have better weapons and a stronger army, it will be easier to imperialize. If not, then imperialism can be inevitable.

Pure equality should never be strived for. Humans are born unequal and I think that we shouldn’t be completely equal. The entire world runs on diversity. If certain things weren’t different then the world wouldn’t function well. Imagine all humans were born smart with everything they need. Then there will be nothing to work hard for because we are already all equal. I do believe that even if we are born poor and with less opportunity than other we can still work hard. By working hard and never giving up anyone can reach all their goals and be the best they can possibly can. In the book “Anthem” by Ayn Rand demonstrates how equality in a community doesn’t work, and even if we try it will never be achieved. In the community of anthem everyone is equal. They don’t know who there parents are, the jobs are given to them as well as their names. Think how life will be if you never got meet your parents, and the job that you do for the rest of your life is given to you. This is not how humans are meant to live. We are meant to be different and all special in our own way. That’s why pure equality should never be strived for.

A2

Explain how the Berlin Conference and the imperialism of Africa that ensued effected the both the colinized Africans and the European colonizers?

Imperialism during the 19th and 20th century was where Europeans attempted to colonize and make them more civilized. European countries met at the Berlin Conference to decide who would control what region or area of Africa. After deciding what part belonged to who they tried to imperialize them, causing Africa to revolt and try to industrialize themselves, the hard way. Capitalist then began trying to take over the mining and resources found in africa, leading people to rebel and monopolosize the mining industry. After many attempts of trying to control different parts of Africa, Africa began falling apart and becoming divided.


What role do you think the imperialism of the 19th and 20th century played in sparking the civil war in Sierra Leone ?

I think that imperialism was a huge cause in the civil war in Sierra Leone. the imperialism in Sierra Leone caused people to become greedy with the diamonds or resources they possesed which lead in other people doing whatever it took to get what they wanted. Everything in Sierra Leone was corrupt and had no order at all. There was also the RUF which controlled the diamonds in Sierra Leone. They monopilized the diamond industry in Africa and made them untouchable unless the diamonds were touched by their hands first. Making everything unstable and unorganized, concluding the fact that Imperialism had a big effect on Sierra Leone.