King Congo King Analysis

Admitted in the Memoir of Ndansi Kumalo, “Well, the white men have brought us some good things. For a start, they brought us European implements - plows; we can buy European clothes, which are an advance. The government has arranged for education and through that, when our children grow up, they may rise in status.” The Europeans admittedly brought many great things to the Natives of the countries they conquered; better technology, education, and overall help were given to the natives. In the beginning, Europeans tried as much as they could to prop up the natives to a better, civilised stature. However, as their power and grasp on the region increased, as did their greed. According to Richard Harding Davis in Leopold, The Janitor from the Congo and the Coasts of Africa, “The Charges brought against Leopold II, as King of the Congo, are three: (1) That he has made slaves of the twenty million blacks he promised to protect. (2) That, in spite of his promise to keep the Congo open to trade, he has closed it to all nations. (3) That the revenues of the country and all of its trade has retained to himself.” Such imperialism allowed far away kings to exploit their populaces of Native Africans as if they were just toys to the crown. Leaders would force their powerless and technologically underdeveloped subjects into fruitless

Vern Cleary, “King Leopold and the conquest of the Congo”, modern world history, accessed february 16, 2017, https://webs.dcp.org/sites/cleary/modernworldhistorytextbook/imperialism/section_6/kingleopold.html

King Leopold II developed his dream for colonization at an early age. Before he even took the throne he was on the lookout for unconquered land that could later be in his possession. The king wanted to become rich as a result of his new land through the process of trading. Once King Leopold II set his sights on the Congo, he would not give up until the land was his. He connived, manipulated and conned his way into the land. He did not care who got hurt; he just wanted his dream to be fulfilled.

The rule of King Leopold II instilled disturbing methods of ruling. He enslaved the people of The democratic republic of Congo (Congolese) to gather him resources that would only benefit him. He was willing to do whatever it took to gain resources, even if it meant enslaving the people. “ King Leopold II nearly enslaved many of the Congolese people in order to gain wealth, and to bring power” (Citation) imperialism had a negative impact on the country, it had a long lasting impacts on the country because he depleted them of their resources which means they don't have much to export as a country now. King Leopold II used the people as slaves to gather their resources due to the danger of the work, which resulted in many casualties and injuries. He wanted to rule the country as he wanted rather than what was right for the people. He lied to the Belgian government in order to gain power of the country, by saying that his

Riches in central Africa. In what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo, there was and still is a plethora of natural resources. Rubber, gold, copper, diamonds and more. That natural wealth has definitely hurt Congo in the past rather than helped. Its resources could have made it one of the wealthiest countries in the world. But yet, this future did not hold true for the Congo. At the turn of the 20th century, King Leopold II began to take notice of the central African country. (National Black United Front). King Leopold II communicated all his ideas and intentions through a speech to European missionaries. (Africa Global Network). In it, his words held the key to all things terrible. Soon, Belgium took over the Congo and began one of the

“To Europeans, Africans were inferior beings: Lazy, uncivilized, little better than animals... In any system of terror, the functionaries must first of all see the victims as less than human, and Victorian ideals about race provided such a foundation” (Hochschild 121). The society in which King Leopold II lived shaped his view that the people of Africa were inferior, that their lives were significant, and this idea began to spread to most of Europe. This allowed the Belgian king to focus on his main purpose of colonizing the Congo: money. Despite his portrayal that his main motivation for colonizing the Congo was not profit, King Leopold was definitely motivated by money, and and because of this motivation he turned a blind eye to what was happening in

What KIng Leopold II was trying to do with the Imperialism was get to the many resources that the Congo had to offer. After the Congo gained its independence back they are still striving to make the Congo a completely free country. They are still on of the least developed countries due to their lack or quality of life, resources, imports and exports, and education. Violence has also become a problem since the Rwandan Genocide that caused many wars. Statistics say the Congo has great potential to be in a good place again, financially and economically. The imperialism, however, sent them into years of a spiral decline that they are rigorously trying to get back up

The desperation for the Congo territory catalyzed Leopold’s developing thoughts into deceitful promises. At first when Leopold read about Henry Morton Stanley’s adventurous trips, he knew that these were the lands he wanted. His excitement quickly turned into greed and he made every effort possible to get what he desired. He became the chairman of the International African Association which set up a smokescreen for his endeavors into the Congo. In the meantime, Stanley was in Africa crossing the lands, killing villages, and fighting off diseases, making a name for himself back home. King Leopold praised this man and wanted him to join his side. He came up with secret plans to have Stanley set up bases in the Congo so he could begin quietly claiming the territory and making it his. He sent Stanley on exploration missions so his intentions would be hidden. Leopold 's lies grew and grew as did his greed. After being told he could make treaties with the natives, he sent his army to go up and down the river, signing treaties, permitting him everything he wanted. He get recognition of his territory and making it legitimate, Leopold used the connections he had to manipulate others in power that he had good intentions and ideas. Henry Shelton Sanford convinced the White house of

King Leopold II of Belgium colonized the African country of Congo with the help of American explorer Henry Stanley. Leopold desperately wanted the Congo to expand his small territory and to secure his place in the world. To do this, he sent Stanley to gain treaties from tribe leaders in the Congo River basin, from 1875 to 1884. Stanley succeeded in obtaining signatures through a combination of trickery and force. Ever since then, the Congo was dealt a low blow by invidious, violent takeovers. Leopold’s ruthless reign lasted from 1885 to 1908, and then the Belgian government took over for nearly five decades. The Congo gained complete independence from Belgium in 1960, but still has a long way to go in order to become strong again. Overall,

In addition to a desire to compete with other countries during the land grab, King Leopold also had a desire to make money and expand foreign trade. During this time Europeans wanted to acquire raw materials and cheap labor, both of which Africa supplied. Leopold was now faced with financial issues- he had secured much of the land through excessive spending, but in order to take advantage of the trade opportunities he had to find more funding. In order to secure funds for the continuation of his colonization, King Leopold approached the Belgian Parliament. He promised Parliament that if they gave him a loan, he would leave the Congo to the government in his will. Leopold managed to get the loan the basis of his philanthropic work. This enabled him to take advantage of the trade within the Congo. Belgium now had the monopoly on the rubber trade, but it came with a price. The human toll that the rubber industry had on the Congo devastated the population. Despite the economic benefits that the Congo had for the country of Belgium- specifically Leopold, it was short lived. Eventually, the rest of the world would slowly become aware of the atrocities of Leopold’s Congo. The economic upheaval that the events of the Congo caused within Belgium and the rest of the countries involved (as international involvement was

During the period in which it was administered by Leopoldo II (1885-1908), the territory was subject to systematic and indiscriminate exploitation of natural resources (especially ivory and rubber), in which Indian labor was used exclusively in conditions of slavery. The horrible ways how the people of African were punished for not accomplished the labor demand by the Belgian colony. The congo is one of the most bless country in the world by its natural resources and at the same time it is a cursed since the colonization. The colonization, the slavery and the corroption in its goverment had being some of its reason of the poverty in this territory.The Portuguese, Belgians, Mobutu and the current government blocked up the development of the

The Belgian Congo, as Zaire and now the Democratic Republic of the Congo, were formerly called was the creation of King Leopold of Belgium who desperately wanted a colony. By the late 19th century there was little land left for the taking except in Africa and it had become obvious that taking over independent lands was neither wise nor practical. King Leopold II, King of the Belgians, was a man of enormous appetites both for land and food—he once ate two whole pheasants at a restaurant in Paris, and it was not unusual for him to order several entrees. His colony was 75 times larger than Belgium.

King Leopold II was a cruel and greedy man who wanted to expand Belgium’s power by taking over the Congo. He would kill to better his country. He convinced the Congolese people that he wanted to colonize Africa. Little did they know, it was the start of Leopold taking over the Congo, stealing their riches, and enslaving the Congolese people. Adam Hochschild's King Leopold’s Ghost illustrates the five themes of AP World History in the following ways:

His outrageous declarations – King Leopold II’s declarations were outrageous because first of all, he just laid claim of the Congo territory, though millions of Congolese lived there, during the 1880s when Europe was dividing Africa for its resources. He formed the International African Association and was its only shareholder. This association was used to enslave people of the Congo River Basin simply to enrich Leopold II. In the 23 years that he ruled of the Congo, he was responsible for the massacre of 10 million Congolese. He’d cut off their hands and genitals, flog them to death, starve them and put them into forced labor, burn villages, kidnap and hold children for ransom. He did all of this without even stepping foot in the Congo, instead he had his private missionary force do his terrorizing and killing.

At the Berlin Conference of 1884, King Leopold of Belgium was granted the land that is now known as the Congo in promise that its intended purpose was to be used for international trade, missionaries, and education. That illusion of enlightenment was destroyed when the harsh realities of trade and greed sat in on the land and its people. No schools or churches were built in the land, the only promise kept by the King was for international trade to take place freely. Ivory had become a cash crop out of