The And European Women's Rule Of The Congo Free State

In the 1880s, as 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. Carrying out a genocidal plundering of the Congo, he looted its rubber, brutalized its people, and ultimately slashed its population by ten million--all the while shrewdly cultivating his reputation as a great humanitarian. Heroic efforts to expose these crimes eventually led to the first great human rights movement of the twentieth century, in which everyone from Mark Twain to the Archbishop of Canterbury participated. King Leopold's Ghost is the haunting account of a megalomaniac of monstrous proportions, a man as cunning, charming, and cruel as any of the great

He uses different perspectives to convey the different moments throughout the book, albeit some are biased toward the European imperialism (opposing Hochschild’s thesis). The diverse reference points throughout the story make for an effective support for Hochschild’s argument because he cross-applies these sources and justifies why one may be more reliable to use. Hochschild even uses the evidence which appears to controvert his thesis to give an explanation for why the imperialism occurred in the first place. He quotes Leopold when the Belgian king was still looking to receive the Congo, reciting “We… wishing to secure for Our beloved fatherland the fruits of the work which, for many long years… have been pursuing on the African continent… declare by these presents, to bequeath and transmit… all Our sovereign rights over [the Congo Free State]” (Hochschild 95). Hochschild then writes, “There was one added twist. When the king made public his will, it was backdated, so that his bequest looked like an act of generosity instead of part of a financial bargain” (Hochschild 95). By exposing Leopold’s actions, Hochschild convincingly allows the reader to understand the moral flaws in Leopold’s imperialism. Additionally, Hochschild backs up these claims with eyewitness accounts of the Congolese peoples who had suffered. One report explains the natives hatred for one general,

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

Without the Belgians, the Congo became financially unstable and lost whatever instruction and guidance the Belgians thought to give-- whether it be any degree of education, which was then thrust onto the Africans to teach themselves, or political stability. While the political stability was not in the Congo’s favor, it was still more beneficial than the leader the Congo had after Lumumba. The loss of stability led to the Congo being considered lesser than other countries and led to other countries, the United States of America, for example, shunning the Congolese. The financial instability also led to the Congo being unable to communicate effectively with other countries-- the sister countries of Africa or the countries abroad-- because the people of the Congo (or Zaire, as it was called under Mobutu, the outsider that took the place of Lumumba) could not afford to use what little finances they had for anything apart from basic survival necessities. This was alienating in nature, but exile also proved to be enriching as well. The exile brought about the election of Lumumba which in turn proved to produce ideas that would benefit the Congo. Lumumba’s election also resulted in higher morale. When he was killed, the Congolese were still loyal and remembered what could have been under Lumumba. The Congolese passion and loyalty for Lumumba,

The late 1800’s marked the peak of imperialism throughout Europe, primarily Africa. As a new century began to evolve, many European powers aggressively decide to surmount their power in many parts of Africa. More specifically, King Leopold’s journey to conquer the Congo and exploit the lucrative rubber/ivory market accurately describes the forced efforts of tyranny. King Leopold’s Ghost by Adam Hochschild explains the propaganda remunerated by people in favor and opposition of King Leopold’s conquest. It also features the contributions of journalists and writers in relation to Leopold colonizing the Congo through means of propaganda, missionaries, use of other countries, and other various other methods to end his rule and change the common perceptions of imperialism. The main goal, however, of writers in the Congo, was to let the world know of Leopold’s actions and to end his selfish ruling.

“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

With several overtly expressed themes, one can clearly see the consequences of imperialism, racism, and capitalism which explicitly addressed in the book. In this paper, I’d like to draw attention to an underlying theme which played many pivotal roles throughout the course of the conquest of the Congo: technology. Technology was a key component in both constructing King Leopold’s empire in the Congo and in dismantling it through the efforts of the international human rights movement led by E.D Morel and Roger Casement. Different technological instruments make their appearance subtly throughout the book but three specific innovations had major impacts on the development and disintegration of the Belgian Congo: river steamers, the telegraph, and photography. Without these inventions, Leopold’s detailed orchestration of the Congo conquest would’ve been an impossible venture. These instruments brought about improvements in exploration and communication which made Leopold’s covert manipulation and Stanley’s navigation through the Congo feasible.

The second king of Belgians, King Leopold II, were admired throughout European. He was first known for his generous and noble act, sacrificing his time and fortune to benefits the Africans. Of course, Edmund Dene Morel learned the truth behind King Leopold II’s practices of slave labors and eventually brought it to the public eyes. King Leopold II was able to keep the horrific practices of slavery murder, and mutilation of millions in the Congo hidden from the rest of the world for roughly two decades through propagandas. As stated on page 1, “ … the troop, it is said, fought, and defeated local slave-traders who preyed on the population, and for more than a decade European newspaper has praised him for investing his personal fortune in public works to benefit the Africans.” Newspaper bragging about King Leopold II’s selfless service to the Africans was preventing the people from seeing the truth about his true practices.

While King Leopold had successfully convinced nearly the entire world for some time that he was a philanthropist, helping to improve the conditions of the Congo and the lives of its people, he was orchestrating an intricate slave trade system and ultimately the murder of an estimated 10-13 million people, approximately 50% of the population . Majority of the people who perished in the Congo were slaughtered, victims of disease or avoidable malnutrition, or were worked to the point of death. These figures are far from perfect. There has been quite a lot of debate about the true number of people who died under Leopold’s authority, though most agree somewhere near 8-10 million. The fact alone that the total is unclear is testament to the lengths Leopold, his soldiers and workers took to conceal the truly hellish conditions inflicted upon the Congolese

In the first part of Hochschild’s book, he describes the actions and desires that led King Leopold to seize the Congo Free State, the rules he broke and how he manipulated the nations with his righteousness of combating slavery- even though figured such as George Williams and ____ began speaking out against him. Hochschild describes King Leopold II as rude, revolting and awkward as he was growing up. His characteristics only began to drift towards persuasive and cunning when he discovered his curiosity in the colonization of new land. Conveniently, many European countries had no interest in colonization. When Leopold gained power, and searched for his lovely colony, their ambivalence resulted in him creating a colony on his own account.

During the nineteenth-century European drive for possessions in Africa... people justified colonialism in various ways, claiming that it Christianized the heathen or civilized the savage races or brought everyone the miraculous benefits of free trade.”(Hochschild 38)Many people played a major role in colonizing the Congo. Many people tried to end the mass murder in the Congo. Even though most of these people were not able to stop it completely, they were a great input to stopping and putting an end to Leopold’s brutality. King Leopold was one of the sneakiest European leaders. His ambitions to increase his country’s power lead him to hunt for a colony. Leopold was able to manipulate his people, and he tried to hide his true intentions for wanting

The role of the European woman in the colonial world was consistently complex and often varied. Their role was complex because the filled two roles, a physical role; a role which they directly carried out in the physical realm of the colonial world. This role included being a wife, daughter, missionary, nurse, and even that explore and writer in the rare instance. The second role that colonial women played in the colonial world was one not one of their choosing as Scott Cook explains, “ All [women], however were subject to the legal and customary codes of conduct of a colonial milieu largely set by the male colonizers”. These legal and customary understandings were mainly based around the colonial males understanding of the colonial woman’s sexuality and the sexuality of the colonized male. European women were seen as both the “ ‘bearers of the race, the vessels of their culture, and the ‘angels of the household”. They were also seen as objects of the colonized males lust, and as themselves being overly sexualized and at risk of succumbing to their urges. It was this second role, which served to hinder the access and impact of European women in the colonial world. Their role as a sexualized object, to be protected by their male counterparts was not one of their choosing and prevented them from gaining full access to the colonial realm.

In the book, “Congo: The Epic History of a People”, by David Van Reybrouck, (2010), stated that, “But violence by Africans against other Africans was not the whole story: it was not only at the base of the pyramid of power that blood flowed. Many Belgians also took part in this. Physical violence was

In the year 1885, King Leopold II of Belgium imperialized the Independent State of the Congo. Leopold set the area up under his own personal rule. His rule was an extremely negative and very unwanted thing that plunged the area into an era of damnation.

There are advantages and disadvantages for women in both the past and the present in my country. A Long time ago women in Congo were like instruments.  They had no value.  They were just there to give birth,  take care of the house, husband, children  and going to ground.  That they have  been doing it since they young age.   For example when a young woman still to her parent's house, she must wake up early in the morning, go to the river to fetch water and maybe take a shower just there and go back home, start cleaning the house, dishes and to cook.   After that, she need to prepare herself to go to the field and in the evening she will come back tired but she can't rest, she need to cook dinner and that was there daily living.women were like maid even in their own house.  They did everything  without the help of their husbands.