King Leopold And Escaping Slavery In The Congo
I. Document B. Document B contains quotes from Freidrich Fabri’s “Does Germany Need Colonies?” and John Ruskin’s talk at Oxford University both propose that national competition provides partial fuel into African imperialism. A. In John Ruskin’s talk, he states, “This is what England must either do or perish: she must found colonies as fast and as far as possible.”
In 1994, Rwanda was gripped with murderous fervor as Hutus across the country took up machetes against their Tutsi neighbors in what became 100 days of genocide that left 800,000 dead. Does the history of Rwanda provide any evidence of the implementation of the ten steps of genocide? How did Belgian imperialism influence the relationship between Hutus and Tutsis? What ultimately made the average Hutu decide to murder their Tutsi neighbors? In this paper I will investigate how the ten steps of genocide was used in Rwanda, the effects of imperialism on Rwandan culture and gain insight into why Hutus decided to kill Tutsis through the analysis of the book Machete Season by Jean Hatzfeld.
17.1 Captivity and Enslavement, Olaudah Equiano, the interesting Narrative of the life of Olaudah Equiano written by himself 1. What are Equiano’s impressions of the white men on the ship and their treatment of the slaves? How does this treatment reflect the slave traders’ primary concerns? Equiano’s first impression of these white men is a feeling of uncertainty and sorrow for the future. As his story goes on Equiano is afraid of these white men, but also he is wishing to end it all because of the conditions and treatment of the slaves.
James Lowen's chapter 8 focuses on the U.S. involvement in the assassination of Patrice Lumumba, the first democratically elected Prime Minister of the Congo (now known as Zaire) in 1961. Lowen argues that the U.S. played a crucial role in Lumumba's assassination. The U.S. was concerned about Lumumba's close ties to the Soviet Union and feared that Lumumba's socialist-leaning policies would lead the Congo to fall under Soviet influence. The U.S. believed that Lumumba was a threat to American interests in the Congo, which included securing access to the country's valuable natural resources such as uranium, copper, and cobalt. To undermine Lumumba's government, the U.S. supported a secessionist movement in the mineral-rich province of Katanga, which was led by Belgian-backed separatist Moise Tshombe.
Unfortunately, slavery has been a tactic and a business that has been around since the early 1600s. If it were not for slavery though, I believe the world would be exceptionally different. The slaves were used to build new lands, and were a key and integral part to building new countries and furthering civilizations. In fact, almost all of the developed countries today have in fact had slavery at one point. Moreover, advancement of countries owe their success to capitalism and competition, which owes its success to the slaves captured, abused, murdered, and worked.
Compared to the Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, Lumumba’s actions and motives continued to be questioned. Given the rise of the hostile relationship with the United Nations, Lumumba also had to be eliminated. The United States, was heavily involved with the plot to kill the strong African leader. U.S. intervention in the Congo crisis and its plight in the assassination, was an unprecedented projection of American power (Mountz, 152). U.S. President Eisenhower’s supported a plot to kill the charismatic African leader.
They were both rich men and they came from very rich families. Loeb was a confident young man whereas “Leopold suffered from numerous glandular and nervous disorders” (“Leopold and Loeb” 159). They had been friends for a couple of years before things turned sexual between them. Leopold’s main fantasy was a king-and-slave one, where he was the slave and the men that he would think of would be the kings (Bernard Ryan Jr. 307-310). As Brandt Aymar and Edward Sagarin states, “It was then agreed that Loeb would have complete domination over Leopold and could call on him for exacting obedience in any important, not trivial, demands” (363).
“An in-depth analysis on effects of Imperialism on Rwanda” Nowadays, European countries such as England, France, Germany, Belgium, and many other countries possess a colossal clout throughout the world. It is an impeccable fact that such countries, indeed, have served as a rudiment pivot and step for the world to be advanced to the point where we are since the Industrial Revolution. Such countries, because of it, without a doubt, have a crucial status globally and become the superpower and commercial hub on our planet. On the back side of their gleaming growth, however, there is an invisible part left behind their luminous development: the Imperialism. The term “Imperialism” refers to a policy of extending a country’s authority and political clout by using its military forces and diplomacy.
Davidson makes reference to Idi Amin of Uganda as well as Jean-Bédel Bokassa of the Central African Republic, who both are examples of leaders who mirrored the actions of their colonial predecessors. Their rule was similar to that of European colonizers in that they thrived off of the inequality of Africans and took part in lavish celebrations while the majority of their country remained poor. While some believe this corruption is due to some innate greed possessed solely by Africans, a look into history tells you that modern day African rulers have simply just inherited and embraced the lifestyle of the European rules before them, which unfortunately included the massive hoarding of wealth. This hoarding of wealth did not come without any opposition however, which brings about the next theme of dictatorship and how rulers such as Bokassa and Amin maintained their positions of power through the crushing of dissent. The suppression of protests was done through the torture and murder of anyone who criticized, which is exactly how the European colonizers ruled out any opposition and another example of the brutal legacies of
When King Leopold established the Congo Free State, he destroyed the link between the Congolese people and their homeland (Kenneth). King Leopold made one single country between Belgium and Congo. He combined the ethnicities of both of these cultures, taking away the Congolese people’s heritage and culture. In addition to this, the Roman Catholic Church forced their religion and values on the Congolese people, taking away their beliefs, and using violence if necessary. The Belgians forced their values upon the Congolese people in order to assimilate their religion and gain more power.
King Leopold II - A cruel ruler in Congo that made profits off of mainly ivory and rubber. He eventually was forced to sell Congo to the Belgian government because people found out how harsh his rule was. Cecil Rhodes - Believed in colonialism and colonized Zimbabwe and Zambia. He greatly exploited the resources there and made a large profit off of diamond mining. He was one of the most significant and influential promoters of Britain's imperial interests.
Some even it to consider his way of controlling Congo to be a genocide. King Leopold’s actions can be easily described as deceitful. The whole time he was king he had wanted to have the reputation of “a philanthropist and humanitarian.” (Hochschild p.92) King Leopold also “won much praise for his patronage of Christian missionaries.”
The International Congo Society, also known as the International Association of the Congo, was a front organization created by Leopold to conceal his involvement in trade and gain publicity by partnering with well-known philanthropists and scientists to show his false intentions. (Hochschild 46) Because of this deceptive appearance, the area that soon became known as the Congo Free State attracted the attention of missionaries and lawyers looking for work. These people would then see the horrors of the Congo Free State with their own eyes, but would be extremely reluctant to stand up for the natives, the reason being was that they did not want to step out of line and cause a situation that wouldn’t benefit themselves. Additionally, the soldiers and officials there came upon the belief that the atrocities were ordinary. “Then, of course, the terror in the Congo was sanctioned by the authorities.
The amount of destruction that occurred in the Congo was outrageous. Eight to ten million lives were taken during the worldwide movement against slave labor that took place in the Congo. (Hochschild, 3) Between 1880 and 1920 the Congo population was slashed in half. There was around ten million victims that were affected by murder, starvation, exhaustion, exposure, disease, and the plummeting birth rate. During this time the United States and Europe were unaware of this extreme carnage.
The Injustice of Greed “Greed is the inventor of injustice as well as the current enforcer”- Julian Casablancas. In an ancient world composed of greed, selfishness and abusive power, injustice becomes consistent throughout history. An ambiguous history, composed of debatable situations, that prove mankind deserves a quintessence of it own selfish actions. Not to mention, rising supreme nations grappling for substandard people and raw materials. From the Portuguese enslavement of the people of the Congo to European nations, ‘Scrambling for Africa’, in hopes of harnessing resources for self-serving means of profit.
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