Essay On 19th Century African American Imperialism

In a world not fully discovered tou can only imagine the amount of cruelty that played a part in the claiming of In a world not fully discover you can only imagine the amount of protein that played a part in claiming of new lands, people, ideas, and products. 5 major empires that helped build the Atlantic world were the british,french,spanish, portugese and the dutch. With may of these empires at their peek or trying to reach it there was alot of labor that needed to take place. Most of the labor that was given was forced upon those who were less fortunate which at the time beingbwere africans. These laborers brung unimaginable wealth to empires but were treated as objects and their entire life were in the hands of their buyers. Its not clear exactly how and why something so cruel such as taking someones like and belittling it for labor reasons could have happened for so long. With my class notes and leads from the textbook it seems thst the forces tgat best explain the emergence of african American slavery in the new world colonies of Western Europe were the influences amd production pf the head empires. According to the class lectures west africa where the slaves had been cultured from was once rich and very populated. The trans-saharan gold trade was what made west africa rich and helped in the production of Mali, Songhai, and Ghana ‘s wealth. Despite their greatness they all declined in similar ways. Ghana fell first out of all three kingdoms. Ghana was invaded by enemy

King Leopold II of Belgium enslaved African people in their own country. Africans were treated inhumanely by King Leopold II and other colonizing rulers. Europe and American countries take Africans resources away from Africa for their own profit. Africa's interactions with colonialism have negatively impacted African cultures. According to Source 1 there is a snake wrapped around one of the natives and the kings head is on the snake. This shows that the King did not care what happened to the Africans and only cared about what he could get. King Leopold II did everything in his power to get what he wanted, even if that meant harming others that got in his way. It impacted Africa’s future by stealing all of their resources and damaging the land.

Leopold’s country was not interested in acquiring a colony, and so he realized that “a colonial push of its own would require a strong humanitarian veneer. Curbing the slave trade, moral uplift, and the advancement of science were the aims he would talk about, not profits.”Even from the beginning, Leopold knew that stating his true motives, one of them being to increase his wealth, would not convince the Belgians to be on his side and assist him in the colonization of the Congo. He planned to lie to them, telling them motives that sounded more ethical and like a worthy cause to support. When describing his cover organization, the International Association of the Congo, Leopold said it “was a sort of ‘society of the Red Cross; it had been formed with the noble aim of rendering lasting and disinterested services to the cause of progress.’ When talking to the more military-minded Germans, Leopold nimbly changed the scenery and likened his men in the Congo to the knights of the Crusades. Almost everyone was fooled.” Leopold did not even keep the same motives; he customized them to whoever was listening in order to receive applause, money, and encouragement for colonizing the

One must keep in mind that during the exploitation of the Congolese people, there were many other states carving the continent of Africa. Major imperialist states that used the same tactics that Leopold used, but not to the same extent. Chapter eighteen of Hochschild, states, “what happened in the Congo is, unfortunately, no worse than what happened in neighboring colonies” (1998). France’s rubber colony had caused an estimated “fifty percent decline of native population” in the territory they had colonized (Hochschild,1998). German’s occupied Namibia was an example where there was a clear genocide. The German military had exterminated at least “sixty thousand people” (Hochschild,1998). As it is clear that Leopold was not the only party that was killing people during their colonization. It becomes clear of why these imperialist states were quick to rise up against Leopold. Leopold was the person who “took one for the team.” It seems to be that these imperialist states knew that they could shift the blame on to Leopold, instead of the ideology of imperialism and colonialism. In international politics, states usually have “dominant strategy to defect and receive the best outcome for themselves” (Frieden, Lake, Schultz,

“Our only program, I am anxious to repeat, is the work of moral and material regeneration, and we must do this among a population whose degeneration in its inherited conditions it is difficult to measure. The many horrors and atrocities which disgrace humanity give way little by little before our intervention” (King Leopold). Truly an articulation from a standout amongst the most merciless individual of the nineteenth century. Leopold was a liar of big proportions. He used brutal methods of collecting the resources that he wanted, which led to the Congo Free State genocide to be one of the most harsh and cruel genocides the world has ever seen.

Who would have thought a place like Africa, that was once ruled by kingdoms and empires would be the center of a colonization race. The Congo, one of that darkest places that no one dared to venture, with its treacherous water ways would soon uncover all of the riches it has to offer and will shed light on how far people are willing to go to deceive for their own personal gain. Imperialism in the Congo basin was only for capital expansion, and not for civilizing the natives, nevertheless, hypocrisy of imperialism has led to loss of morale in the Europeans and consequently driven them into a state

Being “a king of a small country with no public interest in colonies...a colonial push of his own would require a strong humanitarian veneer” (Hochschild, p. 42). In order for civilized western countries to allow for Leopold to conquer territory in Africa, he would have to do it in the name of philanthropy. In the 19th century, Christian ideals such as moral empire -the religious duty to bring modern civilization to undeveloped countries- were popular among the general public (Hochschild, p.213). Knowing this, Leopold decided that he would use “curbing the slave trade, moral uplift, and the advancement of science” in his pitch to colonize Africa; “not profits” (Hochschild, p. 42).

Prior to the colonization of Africa, the continent was commonly referred to as “dark”. Contrary to that claim Africa was a place with complex societies, cultural diversity, vast languages, and abundant with resources and knowledge. Eurocentric historians and anthropologists commonly overlook this gold mine of historical events and anthropological data. With respect to history there is a lack in written documentation and written entities due to the fact that African societies commonly used the oral method in order to pass along their history. Whereas for anthropologists there is no shortage of aspects to be studied in Africa.

From about 1885 to 1908, King Leopold II of Belgium controlled the entire Congo territory by himself (what is now considered the Democratic Republic of the Congo). He ironically dubbed his privately owned oasis the Congo Free State. Its sole purpose was to create a profit for Leopold and his European investors. In doing so, he raped the African landscape and its peoples. Using a combination of slavery and forced labor, Leopold extracted his wealth mainly from the harvesting of rubber and ivory. However, this beastly behavior was hidden under the cloak of Leopold’s words that his actions are, “the work of moral and material

European imperialism was forced on the Congo Independent State by King Leopold II. “In aspiring to become a modern-day pharaoh, King Leopold began his African venture in September 1876” (Nzongola-Ntalaja 38). King Leopold II was believed to be a philanthropist who was eager to bring western civilization, commerce, and Christianity to the African natives. “Christian missionary work helped, in the logic of colonialism, to undermine African cultural autonomy, and helped to promote colonial domination” (Nzongola-Ntalaja 39). Truly, King Leopold II of Belgium aspired for

When King Leopold II of Belgium took the throne, he began looking for somewhere that the people of Belgium could colonize, not necessarily to live there, but to offer its economic support to the kingdom. However, the political nature of Europe meant that Belgium would need to look overseas for stability. Thus, Leopold sought a colony for Belgium in Africa, namely the Congo. Throughout the time that Leopold managed this colony, he used a variety of methods to try and convince this people that the imperializing of the Congo was a good thing and helpful to Belgium as well as needful for the people of the Congo. However, the realities of what truly happened in the Congo still leaked out for all to see.

King Leopold set his focus on the Congo because he wanted to rule a colony of his own, something bigger than just little old Belgium, and the Congo provided that. It had waterways that connected the land, as well as people that he could use as slaves. A book that he had read titled Java, or How to Manage a Colony had sparked Leopold’s interest for a colony of his own (Hochschild, p. 37). According to the quote, “In the mid-1870s, sub-Saharan Africa was a logical place for an aspiring colonialist to look…about 80% of the entire land area of Africa was still under indigenous rulers. It was ripe for conquest- or, as Leopold was now learning to say, for protection” (Hochschild, p. 42), this land was an opportunity for Leopold to finally build a colony; especially after Stanley had found the Congo River during an expedition. Leopold’s purpose was “shaped by a desire not only for money but for power” (Hochschild, p. 39). The Congo’s resources were rubber and ivory, ivory was made into false teeth, or piano pieces, among other things and this produced a lot of profits once sold. However, the profits for rubber were much higher than that of ivory. The land itself provides the power that Leopold wanted. Leopold was successful in the sense that he did become the ruler of the Congo, he did gain profits out it, he did have slaves that built railways, as well as an army made majority of its own people, the natives. Leopold failed in the sense that he thought the truth would never come to

Before they even experienced the effects that Africa had on them, Europeans were savage in how they showed no care for a single soul, not even those on their side. The European “colonists” who were supposed to be going into the Congo and enhancing life for the Africans were actually not doing what they were said to be doing, instead they

Between the years 1884-1912, European powers were in competition to acquire African colonies. This was the emergence of the new age of imperialism and what historians refer to as the scramble for Africa. By the end of the 19th century, all of Africa with the exception of Liberia and Ethiopia was divided amongst European powers. During that time, the Belgium government had no interest in imperializing Africa except for their King, Leopold II. Due to lack of support from the Belgium government, King Leopold independently gained private possession of the Congo. While King Leopold embodied the ideas of imperialism, he did not effectively demonstrate the civilized mission, but instead exploited workers in desperation to acquire imperial power. The atrocities committed under his rule went unacknowledged for decades until the publication of reports exposed the atrocities in the Congo. The widespread exposure King Leopold was a catalyst in his removal.

The nature of colonial rule in the Congo was that of brute force, greed, and a lust for power. The scramble for Africa was one that was headed by the Europeans with small as well as larger countries owning colonies in Africa. The Europeans saw great opportunities for colonization and with the idea of colonization came power as well as wealth. For King Leopold II of Belgium, running an Empire was everything he had wanted since he was young. Adam Hochschild, the author of “King Leopold’s Ghost,” writes that it may have been Leopold’s lack of parenting that made his lust for power and wealth so drastic.1 With failed attempts to buy the Philippines and other land masses from other European countries, Leopold saw his only hope for his dream of an Empire in Africa. Leopold “had learned from his many attempts to buy a colony that none was for sale; he would have to conquer it.”2 He wanted a colony because he too wanted to gain profit from the natural resources the land would provide as he saw in France’s success with Northern Africa and England’s success with South Africa. Explorers talked of Africa as if it had no inhabitants and was just “waiting to be filled by the cities and railway lines constructed through the magic of European industry.”3 With Henry Stanley’s expedition and research of “empty” Africa, Leopold saw an opportunity to create an Empire. He acted as a philanthropist in public with only a few of his closest people knowing about his true plans to colonize parts of