Violence and exploitation mar colonial history as empirical powers justified their use, for the most part, as an inherent aspect of colonization. Foreign powers used force as a means to maintain and expand control over their realm. While all colonial empires did exercise violence against native populations, the case of the Congo Free State saw mass violence and inhumane atrocities committed on a scale likened to the Nazi Holocaust. Similarly to the Holocaust, many historians focussed on the top-down approach. There are eerie similarities though between the natures of the atrocities committed by both states. Violence on the scale purported to have been committed in the Congo Free State under King Leopold II can hardly be attributed to any single …show more content…
Since before its inception, Leopold’s inner circle instilled the notion that all power in the Congo Free State would be granted to whites with no concessions to the natives (KLG 67). When the governing system of the Congo Free State was being established after years of exploration all that existed for the state to draw on were sparsely populated and spread out military trading posts. A white official governed each post and its own standing military force of mercenaries or enslaved indigenous peoples. From the trading posts local officials would carry out their orders issued by Leopold, which included aggressive action against local resistance and expansion of state control. The governance structure in the Congo Free State allowed individuals to use mass violence and terror on the state’s behalf and without concern for any …show more content…
Local officials already had the sanction, both of Leopold and the courts, to use violence without regard. Officials became tyrants since trading posts and camps were spread over such a large area. Each official became an autocratic governor whose word was considered law. None of the state officials feared any form of punishment from their superiors and as a result carried out inhumane acts on the local and native population. This is evidenced by the fact that even after restraints were placed on the level of violence allowed officials continued to perpetrate brutal acts of violence (TH). The acts ranged from rape to murder of all forms. One of the worst offenders was Leon Rom who used the impaled of heads of his victims as garden ornamentation
...abor to get what he wanted, ivory and rubber. Leopold was able to colonize and pillage Congo for its resources during the Scramble for Africa through forced labor. The quote that sums up my essay and the book is best described at the end of chapter 15. Massacring huge numbers of natives will eventually frighten the survivors into gathering rubber. This shows the intentions of forced labor by the Force Publique and the reason for the population drop in Congo during Leopold’s rule.
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.
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.
...ion of imperialism has evolved. In both Heart of Darkness by Conrad, and The Poisonwood Bible by Kingsolver, Africa is invaded and altered to conform to the desires of more “civilized” people. While this oppression in the Congo never seems to cease, the natives are consistently able to overcome the obstacles, and the tyrants, and thus prove to be civilized in their own regard and as capable of development as the white nations. As Orleanna says herself: “Call it oppression, complicity, stupefaction, call it what you’d like…Africa swallowed the conqueror’s music and sang a new song of her own” (Kingsolver 385). Kingsolver illustrates that though individuals may always seek to control and alter the region, the inhabitants and victims of the tyranny and oppression live on and continue past it, making the state of the area almost as perpetual as the desire to control it.
In 1865, King Leopold II succeeded his father to the thrown of Belgium and thus began one of the most brutal and insensitive periods of imperialism ever to exist. From manipulative treaties to straight forward intimidation, Leopold dominated his empire like no other. He was cruel, deceptive, and downright evil, yet it took the world over twenty years to recognize this. The record of King Leopold’s atrocity is an interesting account of how a jealous man could inflict some of the most disgusting forms of oppression upon his fellow members of the human race.
During the late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century, King Leopold II of Belgium invaded the Congo and used it to procure more wealth for himself and his nation. In doing so, as many as ten million Congolese were decimated, and they faced unspeakable horrors. Hochschild argues in King Leopold’s Ghost that all actions taken by King Leopold II were done out of nothing more than sheer greed and selfishness, and he used any means necessary to get what he wanted, and manipulated others into following suit by exploiting their own greed and racism. The only way the brutality was combated, Hochschild further goes on to describe, was through the actions of the few with a higher moral character.
During the 17th century, slavery was a widely used commodity with the Europeans, little do people know however that African kings also had and accepted slavery in their own nations. King Nzinga Mbemba of Congo and the King of Ouidah had similarities on the issue of slavery; they tolerated the use of slaves. Congo’s king had no contingency with slavery; in fact, he had slaves in his country. When the Portuguese were purchasing goods in Congo, the king had men “investigate if the mentioned goods are captives or free men” (NZ, 622). The fact that the king differentiates the men between ‘free’ and ‘captives’ illustrates that not all people in Congo are free. Whether these captives are from the country of Congo or not, they are still caught and held all across the nation against their will. King Mbemba kept slaves because the population of Congo was vastly declining due to the slave trade. In his letter, he pleads with the king of Portug...
...ermore established imperial rule in the Congo. The Force Publique was Leopold’s governing army. They were to oversee the work of the now colonized people of the Congo. Another of Leopold’s objectives was to gain wealth from his acquired colony. With the Force Publique, he would force the Congolese to gather ivory from the land. Those who refused had their elders, women and children held hostage until they complied. Leopold’s International African Association was to be a humanitarian project that would help to end slavery, however, by forcing the people to work for him, he was enslaving those he supposedly sought to help. When the popularity of the bicycle rose in the late 19th, manufactures were in need of rubber for their tires. Leopold saw this as an opportunity to gain more wealth and quickly had the Force Publique force the people into harvesting rubber.
Violence acts without borders or race, but violence does not act on its own. Throughout the creation of New World violence played a vital role among the Europeans, Africans, and Native Americans. The colonial era brought about devastating violence such as murder, rape, kidnapping, slavery, and racism. Columbus justified the enslavement and murder of the Native people by dehumanizing them, making them less than human. The Portuguese seems to expect complete submission from the Cape Verdians upon sight. The argument in this analysis is to historically examine justifications used for violence in the New World.
A. Adu Boahen's African Perspectives on Colonialism neatly classifies African responses to European colonialism during both phases of invasion and occupation during the 19th century with precise labels according to their nature or time period. However, the reactions can also be loosely grouped into two diametric characterizations: peaceful and violent. Although creating this dichotomy seems a gross generalization and oversimplification of the colonial African experience, it more importantly allows for a different perspective- one that exposes the overwhelming success of the typically peaceful or pacifist reaction in contrast to the little gain and large losses of the violent response.
While Leopold II, the King of Belgium, desperately wanted an overseas colony, The Belgian people did not share his enthusiasm; which created the feelings of neglect and apathy Belgium had towards Congo. The Congo Free State, established “in the margins of the Berlin Conference” in 1885, allowed Leopold to “gain international recognition of his possession” which he had begun to take control of since the 1870s. However, while Leopold was securing control of the Congo, the Belgian people were not interested in controlling colonies, as they believed that colonies “would merely soak up resources that would be better used for social purposes at home.” Thus, the Belgian people decided to solve the problem of having an unwanted colony by separating the Belgian government from...
We analyzed an uncontrollable and in sense monster called colonialism. Aime Cesaire 's work provides the perspective of the colonized and " identifies the root of European and American violence within the founding acts of international colonialism." The violence and exploitation of slaves for economic means explains his point that "no one colonizes innocently" (Cesaire 1972). American History doesn 't show us these harsh realities of colonialism, dry scholarly text fails to describe the societies that were drained of their natural resources, land taken away, and every aspect of cultural lifestyles destroyed. This brutally honest history makes me define colonialism in a different way. Forceful control is a more accurate portrayal of colonizing. When I read Kristian William 's article " The Demand for Order and and Birth of Modern Policing" it was more clear to me in a modern context. I found it interesting to read when he said; ".. the greatest portion of the actual business of law enforcement did not concern protection of life and property, but the controlling of poor people." Because a system was constructed to racially disadvantage some people, their lack of opportunities and stumped life chances has kept them down in poverty, where the white supremacy can control
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.
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.
As Marlow passes through the waters of the Congo, it is easily visible the trouble of the natives. “Black shapes crouched, lay, sat between the trees, leaning against the trunks, clinging to the earth half coming out, half effaced with the dim light, in all the attitudes of pain, abandonment, and despair.” (20) Show that the holding of these colonies has started. The soldiers have come in and taken the inhabitants and are destroying them and taking from them the one thing they deserve over everything, life. The imperialists seem to not care about the Africans and are just there for their land.