The Congo And King Leopold

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

The Industrial revolution was the time when Belgium started using companies and factories for more advanced inventions. The Congo had copper, gold, diamonds, rubber, cobalt, and that’s just a small portion of what The Congo had to “provide” Europe with the natural resources they needed. These African natural resources made other countries have the desire to create trading corporations and companies. As a result ivory and mineral wealth was stolen, to create wealth and power for Leopold, this means, he went into the congo thinking only about himself, power, money, land, and slaves. Insofar as Europe, the slave trade was the main attraction of these european nations, because they saw a cheap labor and uncivilized country begging for colonization.there was deeply rooted racism in europe towards Africa and maybe that's why slavery was so big in Africa because yes, they did have the natural resources, but they weren’t considered “equal” to the europeans. But not only did leopold take natural resources from Africa, he also treated the people of the Congo like

During the late 19th to early 20th century, King Leopold II impacted the African Continent and the larger International community more than any other European monarch. Firstly, King Leopold II sinisterly orchestrated a colonization operation that is comparative to a genocidal regime. Secondly, King Leopold II’s actions in the Congo led unified condemnation across oceans from a broad range of socioeconomic statues. Lastly, the opposition forces against King Leopold II’s colonization of Congo helped pave the way for future justice on the continent as well as internationally. Ultimately, this Europe created the competitive environment that promoted King Leopold II’s quest for colonization.

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,

Africa was once a thriving and wonderful continent filled with luxurious and wealthy kingdoms, but that had all changed when a new and appalling type of slavery was introduced. Around the 18th century, Africa became an ideal place for Europeans to trade and buy slaves from. The slave trade in Africa seemed to be manageable and somewhat peaceful before the Europeans brought in a new type of slavery. When the Europeans bought slaves from Africans, they kept them as slaves for life which were very different from how long slaves were kept in Africa. Europeans kept slaves in extremely poor conditions and treated them as if they were less than human. These actions caused a great spike in the slave trade all over the world and many

Independence could either be the uprising of a new and better maintained country or the uprising of a very deadly war. Kenya and Congo were very alike in terms of how they got to become independent, but how they handled it was the difference. Just like Congo and Kenya many other countries have their differences and similarities. For example, Congo had a much more violent approach to the situation unlike Kenya. Congo took everything very offensive, which is why the there was much tension between the colonies and the African countries. Kenya tried to fix their problem by not ignoring the important things and realizing that things can be fixed.

Geographers are known to research both the human and physical geography of foreign lands. They make connections of the information gathered between human and physical geography through their experiences. Geographers must interact with people and be aware of their own views of the world and should aspire to communicate unbiased opinions and understanding of the people’s cultures. In their writing authors ability to understand and work across cultural boundaries is the framework for an individual to attain knowledge while engaging in the culture and develop cross-cultural competence.

Throughout this novel we see Leopold’s secrecy as he convinces hundreds of people of his pure intentions to create an area of free trade and prosperity of the African people. He did this by holding conferences such as the Geographical Conference. There he explained his fictitious aspiration for the abolishment of the slave trade and for peace in Africa. This colonial

Fast forward to the years 1890-1910, when Leopold’s sole focus was on the Congo Free State, the rich cargo being exported out of the colony, and convincing the Western world that the work being done in Africa was for the health and wealth of Africans. In fact, Africans, many who lived in peaceful civilizations, were subject to forced labor and horrible atrocities. Soldiers infiltrated the Congo Free State, often stealing the Africans’ food, goods, and committing mass killings (Hochschild 229). The colonization of Africa was not a peaceful one, as Stanley stated “combat was always part of exploring” (Hochschild 49). Whereas Europeans had the latest rifles and even elephant guns, Africans were armored with primitive spears and bows and arrows. Before infrastructure had been established, porters were used to carry steamboat pieces, provisions, and sometimes ivory. These porters were often starved and worked to death, as Edmond Picard, a Belgian senator, described when he visited the Congo in 1896:

During King Leopold’s time he was scrambling for a way to create wealth, but could not dabble in the trade of Africans because of new abolition laws, then he got lucky. In the Berlin Conference held by Otto Von Bismarck, Africa was divided like a cake; pieces were given to European countries. While they had decided that they were “respecting” human rights, it was also believed that Africans needed to be governed. Through this Leopold gained the territory of the Congo, marking the beginning of colonialism, an era of unequal wealth and poverty.

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

Africans were being treated badly. Africa were slaves in their own country. The continent of Africa was separated by Belgium. Africans were very unhappy and disappointed because they did not give Belgium permission to separate their continent. Africa worked in brutal and dangerous conditions.

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 European’s took the natives land away from them by force, by burning their towns, stole property and enslaving them. By raping their women and killing the men, the Europeans managed to break the natives down enough to exploit their skills and resources to create an ivory trading market. This technique passed down from generation to generation was used before by the Europeans during the slavery era and later by the Nazis in Europe. Just like the factions expressed above the Europeans home saw the collection of ivory as respectable English business. Conrad made it so that Marlow was oblivious but, the reader would see right into the corruption of the ivory trade. In the story one could tell that the Europeans had evil intentions before they got to the Congo, as Marlow reached the first station he saw tools that are used to help the land and cultivate laying waste on the ground outside. Conrad made a journal of his trip to the Belgian Congo. In that journal he writes of how there were Christian missions set up throughout, yet he states that since the natives had no free will it did not matter whether or not it was in the book.