The violent and forced rule of the Congo is a horrific time in African history. The time period beginning with Henry Morton Stanley's first exploration to the Congo, and King Leopold's desire of this area, had been a nightmare for the people of the Congo. The civilizing mission to the Congo not only resulted in the killing of thousands of people but also the destruction of a culture. The two articles, 'Belgian Colonialism in the Congo', and the letter by George Washington Williams, are just two views from this time. Both articles depict very different opinions of what is going on in the Congo and also what should be allowed to go on there. These articles show the very different opinions of someone who has never gone and someone who has witnessed the things that happen. The importance of the King Leopold article is that it gives a clear understanding of his mindset at the time. He wanted this land and its people, in the article he rationalizes the way it is being taken and what is happening there. In Williams? article he reflects on his disappointment of Africa and the horrific things that he witnessed in the Congo. This essay will discuss the reliability of these two sources and whether or not they give an accurate depiction of the Congo and its colonization. It will also compare and contrast the articles, their authors, and will come to a conclusion of which article is more accurate.
King Leopold was the king of Belgium. It is legendary that he had no joy in his life and that he realized that the only thing that would make him happy was to gain more power. (Class notes) In his quest for power and more land he decided that he wanted the heart of Africa. Of course he did not intend to go there himself so he enlisted Henry Morton...
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... is positive about the efforts in the Congo and is confident that their presence there will civilize the people. Williams? letter is appalled by the things going on in the Congo and wants a direct action taken to stop these atrocities. Although King Leopold?s article is from the ?king? that does not mean it is the most accurate or reliable source. Williams? article is a better depiction of the truth because he was actually there. Leopold never traveled to the Congo or anywhere near it in Africa. He simply enlisted other men to do his dirty work.
Each article describes the Congo Free State differently as well. Leopold?s article describes a place that needs to be civilized, a ?barbarous community?. It talks about how the people there are violent and that sometimes force is needed. Williams? article is a direct contradiction. He describes a place of fear and turmoil.
The book mainly chronicles the efforts of King Leopold II of Belgium which is to make the Congo into a colonial empire. During the period that the European powers were carving up Africa, King Leopold II of Belgium seized for himself the vast and mostly unexplored territory surrounding the Congo River.
In King Leopold`s Ghost, the author Adam Hochschild conveys many attempts to challenge the actions of King Leopold`s control in the Congo. This was to reach an international audience at the time of the 20th century. Protestors depended on a variety of writing techniques to make their case successful. For example the use of direct letters to officials, published “open letters”, articles in newspapers, and public speeches. These protesters were George Washington Williams, William Sheppard, Edmund Dene Morel, and Roger Casement. These protesters became aware of the situation in the Congo in different ways. They also had diversity in how they protested through their writing. Although Edmund Dene Morel and Roger Casement share a comparative approach.
Adam Hochschild's "King Leopold's Ghost" is a lost historical account starting in the late 19th century continuing into the 20th century of the enslavement of an entire country. The book tells the story of King Leopold and his selfish attempt to essentially make Belgium bigger starting with the Congo. This was all done under an elaborate "philanthropic" public relations curtain deceiving many countries along with the United States (the first to sign on in Leopold's claim of the Congo). There were many characters in the book ones that aided in the enslavement of the Congo and others that help bring light to the situation but the most important ones I thought were: King Leopold, a cold calculating, selfish leader, as a child he was crazy about geography and as an adult wasn't satisfied with his small kingdom of Belgium setting his sites on the Congo to expand. Hochschild compares Leopold to a director in a play he even says how brilliant he is in orchestrating the capture of the Congo. Another important character is King Leopold's, as Hochschild puts it, "Stagehand" Henry Morton Stanley. He was a surprisingly cruel person killing many natives of the Congo in his sophomore voyage through the interior of Africa (The first was to find Livingston). Leopold used Stanley to discuss treaties with African leaders granting Leopold control over the Congo. Some of the natives he talked to weren't even in the position to sign the treaties or they didn't know what they were signing.
Hochschild concludes that the world must never forget the events of Leopold’s Congo. This event is evidence that it is the result of human greed that led to so much suffering, injustice, and corruption.
The land Leopold had obtained was about eighty times larger than that of Belgium itself. Plus, Leopold was proclaimed the “sovereign” ruler of all the Congo Free Sta...
King Leopold and his allies’ had great power over the Congo, which he soon exploited for its large supply of rubber. As said in the King Leopold’s Ghost, “For Europ...
It is widely debated why exactly King Leopold decided to conquer the Congo, but the general consensus seems to be that it was out of the belief that “the highlands of the Congo may be as rich in gold as the mountains of the western slope of the American Continent” (Stead). In the mid-1870s, the King hired Henry Stanley, who was familiar with many parts of Africa, to help him go about conquering. During the following years Stanley stayed in Africa, talking various tribes into signing over their lands and rights. After this was completed the King officially took over the Congo, renaming it the Congo Free State. This was especially ironic because all natives of the country were either forced to give up their way of life in exchange for virtual slavery in the ivory trade, agriculture, or the rubber traffic, or die trying to escape fate. Leopold was undeterred by the amount of suffering and death in the Congo, brought on by his rule. Belgian soldiers and officials were known for their cruelty in their methods to make, and then keep, Congo natives wo...
One can easily note the physical and sexual violence brought upon the people (black and white) of Congo after independence, but we must locate the other forms of violence in order to bring the entire story of Patrice Lumumba to light. The director’s attempt at bringing the story of Patrice Lumumba to the “silver screen” had political intentions.
At The top of society was a small group of Europeans. Rubber agents and other government officers controlled every aspect of life in The State. They even held control over when natives could visit family. (Doyle, 1909) These Europeans had a section of land that they were to supervise and oversee the production of goods. In Belgium, a very selective group of people had control over the region with King Leopold II at the top. He had the final say in all policy of The Congo Free State. Although he held this power, most of the decision making was sub-contracted to government owned companies, such as The Anglo-Belgian Indian Rubber
Over the course of human history, many believe that the “Congo Free State”, which lasted from the 1880s to the early 1900s, was one of the worst colonial states in the age of Imperialism and was one of the worst humanitarian disasters over time. Brutal methods of collecting rubber, which led to the deaths of countless Africans along with Europeans, as well as a lack of concern from the Belgian government aside from the King, combined to create the most potent example of the evils of colonialism in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century’s. The Congo colonial experience, first as the Congo Free State then later as Belgian Congo, was harmful to that region of Africa both then and now because of the lack of Belgian and International attention on the colony except for short times, the widespread economic exploitation of the rubber resources of the region, and the brutal mistreatment and near-genocide of the Congolese by those in charge of rubber collecting.
Stearns, Jason. K. Dancing in the glory of monsters: The collapse of the Congo and the Great
When Congo gained its independence from Belgium it struggled to develop and remained a weak state. There were many factors that led to Congo being unable to progress and create strong institutions within its countries borders. “Political divisions along the ethnic lines were prevalent, though this fact could be misleading. Ethnicity became the primary source of political mobilization i...
Congo's Civil War began on November 2nd, 1998 when Laurent Kabila tried to drive out Rwandan militants who helped him overthrow Mobutu Sese Seko.2 Sese Seko came into power in 1966 when he led a rebellion to overthrow the government of Patrice Lumumbra. Sese Seko led to Africanizing of the country by requiring that all citizens drop their Christan names, and by renaming all the geographical locations with more African names.3 During the 1980's Sese Seko's government received support from the United States, in response to communism's rising popularity in Africa. Because of the misuse of the funds and wealth generated by natural resources, the rich got richer and the poor fell farther into poverty. Sese Seko abused Congo's natural resources and eventually helped lead the country into a state of economic ruin. In 1997 Sese Seko was overthrown by Laurent Kabila. When Kabila took over the country it was in terrible condition but he did nothing to try and improve the state of the nation. When he tried to expel the same Rwandan rebels that helped him come to power, he started a war that eventually led to his death. Many various ethnic and rebel groups inside of Congo who relied on the Rwandans for protection joined the uprising.4 Africans inside and around Congo chose s...
Over a period from 1960-1965, the first Republic of the Congo experienced a period of serious crisis. There was a terrible war for power that displayed senseless violence and the desperation to rule. There were many internal conflicts among the people. The country eventually gained independence from Belgium. For many countries this would be a time for celebration. Unfortunately for the people of the Congo this became a time to forget. Almost immediately after independence and the general elections, the country went into civil war. Major developed cities like Katanga and Kasai wanted to be independent from the Lumumba government. Different factions started to fight the government and Katanga and Kasai tried to secede from the rest of the country out of fear of the mutinous army that was out of control looting and killing.
The people of the Congo faced physical, psychological damage due to the violation of their human rights and the rape and other sexual violence, which contributes to the spread of HIV/AIDS. The health care, education and legal systems are in shambles due to the ongoing violence of the war and are still a factor today. The UN still aid in trying to end the ongoing war that’s now in its thirteenth year it is the largest and longest lasting war to date with the uncontrollable attacks from the rebels. The rebels continue to kill and plunder the natural resources with impunity. The international and political support continues but their efforts have proven futile.