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Ap World History Dbq Essay

565 Words3 Pages

If history repeats itself, and the unexpected always happens, how incapable must man be of learning from experience.” George Bernard Shaw’s reflection on history is an accurate look at the trajectory of the Congo. Congo is located in the center of Africa. The Congo has developed cotton, oil palms, coffee, cacao, and rubber. The Congo is also rich in Diamonds, Copper, zinc, and cobalt. All of these resources were mined there. The Congo was under European rule from 1885 to 1908. The people of the Congo were affected in entirely adverse ways by Belgian colonial rule, not only were the Congolese people tortured physically. Their resources were plundered, and Belgian colonial rule despite outcry set the tone for how the Congo is treated today. The Congolese suffered terrible torture under the Belgian rule. In Document C, it says that if the Congolese didn’t keep up with their work, they would get punished by death. Also, they would cut off their right hand if they didn’t keep up with their work. Document D says that Belgium played mind games tricking the Congolese people. Making it seem like the Belgium were these gods. For example, Belgium during the treaty gave the Congolese a trick. Kings Leopard agents had given an …show more content…

From the political cartoon, we can see how the Congo were treated and how they were seen. We see how a regular citizen of the Congo was tortured and kept under imprisonment. But the person who kept him imprisoned was King Leopold II. Even when George Washington Williams visited and saw the terrible things happening in the Congo, he was truly surprised. He described it as horrible, and terrifying. He was shocked by the brutal abuse and the slavery they were facing. He would write about the terrible things happening and even begged the Belgium government to release the Congo people. After the world saw how the state of Congo was, it left a depressing and shameful

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