King Leopold's Injustice In The Congo

King Affonso I, the venerated king of Congo, is one of the most influential and groundbreaking characters in the history of Africa. Once he converted to Christianity and became king, Affonso realized the abhorrence of slavery withing his state, for it was completely destroying his country through depopulation. Consequently, he sent a letter to King John of Portugal in 1526, outlining his hopes to eradicate Portugese influence upon his country. Ultimately, King Affonso I of Congo proves to be one of the most innovative modern-day thinkers of his time, for during his captivating life, he was the forerunner in the abolition of slavery, all of which was outlined in his letter to King John of Portugal.

Morel was one of the bigger people that helped end King Leopold's reign over the Congo. He was employed by Elder Dumpster to supervise the arrival and departure of ships coming to or from the Congo. Just like Sheppard and Williams he saw the atrocities that Leopold was doing to the territory. He did dabble with freelance writing which he then used to write about what he saw. Elder Dempster did try keep him quiet, but Morel decided to devote his life to exposing Leopold’s plans.

The destruction of culture and people is not limited to coastal Africa. European powers plunged deep into the heart of the continent with destructive force, exploiting the people and resources which resided there. This aggression was most prominent in King Leopold’s Belgian Congo, the setting for Conrad’s Heart of Darkness. The Belgian Congo was different from other colonies in that it “had nothing to sell. [It] was not interested in turning Africans into consumers but only in using their forced labor” (Hawkins 291). Leopold’s Congo proves itself to be a great offender against the ideal, exemplified in “an inefficiency that was peculiar to King Leopold's Congo. The two best examples are the building of the railway and the inadequacy of

Between 1885 and 1908, Belgium’s Leopold II ruled Congo, a region in central Africa, as his personal colony, exploiting the resources and inhabitants for his own gain. Leopold allowed and encouraged Europeans and other Westerners to enter Congo and set up companies whose primary purpose was to gather rubber, which was abundant but difficult to get to in the Congo, using the Congolese as the laborers for the Europeans. Rubber gathering in Congo brutally exploited the inhabitants of the Congo, while at the same time robbed Congo of wealth, as the rubber was “sold” to the Europeans at prices far below what the rubber was actually worth. Only when others, specifically the British and the Americans, revealed the horrible conditions of the

Throughout history, Africa and the Middle East have been colonized by many different countries around the world. Imperialism and colonialism have had great impacts on the occupied country, economically, socially, and culturally.

In 1853 Leopold turned eighteen and his father took him to Vienna since they had ties with the Austro-Hungarian empire which made him eager and was betrothed him to an eligible young Hapsburg, archduchess Marie-Henriette. This was a horrible match and would later cause to be a bad influence and would not help him out in the long run.

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is the eleventh largest country in the world and has over $29 trillion in unexploited minerals and natural resources (News about Congo). Given this fact, how is it that the DRC ranks 172 in economic freedom? The simple answer is the country is afflicted with inadequate security, shoddy governance, and a long-lasting humanitarian crisis. It is imperative that the United States (U.S.) understands the framework surrounding the operational environment, strategic implications, and how they can use its instruments of national power as a strategy to affect the DRC. Social redistribution is a method that will assist in achieving U.S. strategic goals due to the ineptness and limited capacity

King Leopold gained so much world support for his Congo Free State project by leading people especially the European community to believe that he was helping to improve the Congo and its people by developing it. The Congo then became aligned with the kingdom of Belgium under him. While the world believed that King Leopold II was doing humanitarian work in the Congo the truth was he was severely mistreating the people by forcing them to extract Ivory, Rubber, and other minerals to sell on a world trade market. On May 29, 1885 King Leopold named his new colony the Congo Free State. Under Leopold’s II administration the Congo Free State became one of the greatest genocides in history that occurred.

The Congo civil war was a outrageous political fight that began just days following Belgium's granting of congolese independence in 1960. Going for four years the associated violence caused an at least 100,000 lives including the nation's first minister from patrice lumumba, an UN secretary Dag who was killed in a plane crash as he attempted a mediate the crisis escalating with the secession of the southernmost province of katanga the conflict concluded five years later with the dictatorship of joseph really wanted mobutu.

The colonization of the Congo strongly affected the social life of the Congolese. First Leopold had people enslaved who would collect rubber. Other were forced to be soldiers. The force publique, the name given to these soldiers, killed many of their own people. “When the soldiers were sent to make us cut rubber there were so many killed we got tiered of burying” –A Congolese person reviewed by casement. This quote shows not only how the people of Congo were forced to work, but also how the force publique soldiers were forced to kill fellow natives. Enslavement like that has people think they are not socially acceptable. The people of the Congo would have viewed themselves as less then human.

By the time any human rights activist had knew about the atrocities that King Leopold II had done to the people of Congo. It was too late, for the people of the Congo territory had lost so much, and were in the process of losing more. It isn't crazy for a person to think that King Leopold II had caused human rights movements to spur against him during his occupation of the Congo. Human rights movements against King Leopold II were caused by the actions that he took while extracting resources, enabling free labor, and during the creation of “Congo Free State.” There are three major aspects when looking at the self inflicted wound that Leopold had done to himself. Which is the failure to contain the people of the

Isn’t the invention of the cotton gin beautiful, almost a miracle that it could produce more cotton without as much work there was to be executed? This was true, until slave owners in the 1800’s decided to buy even more slaves to increase their profits more than ever before, much like how the industry of blood diamonds worked. Blood diamonds have erupted to the scene as a major problem in the African nation known as Sierra Leone, causing the major issue of government corruption. Ever science Siaka Stevens inflicted the type of government that would allow for such a resource to become a weapon, diamonds became the most sought out product in all of North-western Africa. The reason why blood diamonds have stuck around and isn’t just a quick boost in the economic flow of money is because it forms an evident and vicious cycle, along with the concept of blood diamonds spreading. Things such as law enforcement, poor leaders, and poor overall structure of government has made this the weak nation it is today. The way this country has resided in diamonds to quickly fix poverty has proven its unhealthy reliance on a resource, eventually causing a civil war. As blood diamonds become more prominent and vital to the African government, the diamonds have increased the spread and level of political corruptions, much like how the cotton gin had caused a vicious cycle of the need for slavery.

African area by negotiating treaties, establishing military posts, and forcing many Muslim slave traders out of the region. After the Berlin West Africa Conference in 1884 and 1885, King Leopold II of Belgium was granted administrative powers over the region titled, the Congo Free State.

Essentially, “ivory was at this time the main source of wealth in the region, and Leopold’s preoccupation.” However, as the demand for rubber increased, Leopold shifted his focus, and cashed in on the high demand for rubber. Congolese workers were sent out into the jungle to slash down vines and layer their bodies with rubber latex. Later they would scrape it off their skin – often taking flesh and hair with it. The work was labor-intensive and injurious to health; the only economical way to collect it was via the forced mobilization of Congolese society. The Congo Free State evolved from a vanity possession into a slave plantation. Villages were set quotas of rubber, “the normal quota assigned to each village was three to four kilos of dried

Congolese and European women encouraged opposition to King Leopold II’s rule of the Congo Free State. In the Congo women endured and reported the violent actions of the colonial power. Their treatment prompted rebellions within the Congo and their powerful testimony brought european support to the Congo’s plight. In Europe Alice Harris and others took a prominent role in the campaign for Congo reform. Through her photographs and public speeches Harris herself brought much support to the movement. The scandal surrounding another European woman, Caroline the french prostitute, lost Leopold and his colony much support within Belgium and made it much harder for him to mount a defense against the CRA’s attacks, aiding the opposition to the État Indépendant du Congo. Through their actions, treatment and circumstances women inspired opposition to King Leopold’s harsh rule of the Congo Free State.