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Imperialism and the congo
An outline of colonization of congo
Imperialism and the congo
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More handpicked essays just for you.
Imperialism and the congo
An outline of colonization of congo
Imperialism and the congo
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Recommended: Imperialism and the congo
During King Leopold II’s life, spanning from 1835-1909, his greatest financial achievement was that of the Congo Free State and it’s rubber. This time period arrived directly following the Industrial Revolution, so many people were still looking for resources. The people of Europe also didn’t give much credit to African people and believed they were not very civilized. To do so well Leopold took major advantage of the Congo’s people's fears. The Book King Leopold’s Ghost written by Adam Hochschild is about the treachery Leopold laid down on the native people for the precious rubber.
Hochschild's argument successfully claims that European imperialism in Africa (specifically that of King Leopold) led to devastating effects on the natives and their land. The nineteen-chapter, two part book starts off with a brief introduction. This introduction sets up the first part of the book, where the Hochschild describes the early life of Leopold and his main explorer: Henry Morton Stanley. From the first European-completed expedition of the Congo River and its basin to the Berlin Conference, Hochschild explains the story behind Leopold’s reception of the Congo - specifically how he gained power of the Congo with only the permission of
The kingdom of Kongo (later changed to Congo) was a large kingdom in Africa that was stable until Europeans came and conquered the territory. The western world used Social Darwinism to make their imperialistic practices appear normal and accepted in society. White people believed Africans were savages and beneath them because they held rituals and lived under a different moral code than themselves. The Belgian king, Leopold II, used the Congo to seize resources from Africa. He mistreated the Africans and caused many to be killed or worked to death.
In order to compel Africans to collect ivory (from 1885 until approximately 1892) and later wild rubber, the Belgians resorted to using fear and terror. In the early 1890s, and continuing on until King Leopold left the Congo, European rubber agents were rewarded with sums of money and potential promotions based on how much rubber they collected. The more rubber collected by a particular agent/company, the more money they would get. This new system ensured maximum production and profits, yet also encouraged widespread abuses and horrific violence against
What seemed to make Africa empty in their eyes is that it was inhabited by non-Christian indigenous people who had a “primitive” society. Tribal societies were not considered a real civilization with a recognized government. Many tribal people did not have permanent settlements and were perceived as passing through or camping out on the land, since they did not have an idea of land ownership. Hochschild points out that when Leopold ordered Sir Henry Morton Stanley,
King Leopold II Leopold II was the second king of Belgium. He was born on 9th April 1835, at Brussels. He was the eldest surviving son of King Leopold I and Louise od Orleans. He succeeded his father to the Belgian throne in 1865 and reigned for 44 years until his death.
According to Document H, Letter to Leopold II, people tried to trick many Africans into giving them land. In document H it says,” Mr. Henry Stanley and several Zanzibar soldiers used carefully rehearsed… sleight of hand tricks when making treaties with the native chiefs of the Independent State of the Congo… whole villages have been signed away to Your Majesty.” This shows how the colonizers were trying to gain land, maybe to gain wealth that came from the trade there, for their country. Document E, Letter to Sir George Grey, states,” … Sir George Napier, marked down my limits on a treaty he made with me.
During the age of Imperialism, many European countries such as Belgium, Britain, and France, to name a few, pushed their way into countries such as Uganda, Congo, and Rwanda, and used the natives as
Leopold II Leopold II committed indirectly, murders to get Belgium wealthier. Between 1885 and 1909 a lot of Congolese died because of what the officers did to them. There was never enough ivory, never enough rubber to please his highness. So people were exploited till death, in the purpose of acquiring valuable and luxurious goods for the Belgian Kingdom. Leopold II wanted Congo to be a lucrative country.
In King Leopold’s letter to Henry Stanley, a journalist and Central African explorer, he tells him that it is “indispensable” to buy land from the Africans and have it under his “suzerainty”. This shows Leopold’s desperation to take control of as much land as he can. Furthermore, it is Leopold who will end up profiting from this lan purchase if it ends up happening, and it was also his idea for it to happen. In addition, Leopold is responsible for the mistreatment of the Africans, for as he says in his interview with Publishers’ Press in 1906, “It would be absurd for us to mistreat the blacks because no state prospers unless the population is happy and increasing … cruelty, even crimes have been committed … convictions before Congo tribunals for these offenses”. By publicizing this, King Leopold is hoping to gain the respect of Africans so he can expand his Congo and get more slaves for collecting rubber.
They had no role in legislation, but traditional rulers were used as agents to collect taxes and recruit labour; uncooperative rulers were deposed” (Belgian Congo). Unlike Leopold II, Belgian imperialistic powers focused on civilizing the Africans. “Belgium proclaimed its colonial mission to be that of spreading civilization… Belgium 's attention was focused overwhelmingly on the vast, resource-rich Central African territory of Congo, 75 times larger than Belgium itself. The deal was implicit: in exchange for extracting immense wealth from its colony, Belgium offered schools, roads, Christianity and, yes, civilization” (Riding). The resources that the Belgian Congo provided Belgium were crops, gold, diamonds, copper, tin, cobalt, zinc, and uranium; however, the Congolese were to work as indentured servants for 4-7 years, and roads, railroads, and public buildings were built from their forced labor (Belgian Congo).
Leopold commissions Henry M Stanley to create trades in Congo. After Stanley reports that Congo may potentially harbour vast resources, Leopold joined the Berlin Conference in 1885. He claimed that he was interested in ‘promoting Christianity in Congo and civilise the nation to profit the Congolese’. He was mistaken as a philanthropist and no one had suspected him; “He has welcomed Christian missionaries to his new colony; his troops, it is said, have fought and defeated local slave traders who preyed on the population; and for more than a decade European newspapers have praised him for investing his personal fortune in public works to benefit the Africans.” [1] In reality, Leopold’s policies were callously ruining the land and petrifying the Congolese, abusing the labours to work long hours without
Many people who were administering the Congo were pretty hard on the natives. Administrators forced people (and children) to carry out heavy workloads to collect ivory. "There were about hundreds of them, trembling and fearful before the overseer, who strolled be whirling
Beginning in the 16th century, not long after Africanus’ publication and the publication of the early maps of Africa, the transatlantic slave trade enslaved “between 10 million and 12 million” Africans (Lewis, 2018). The book King Leopold’s Ghost by Adam Hochschild tells of European exploration of Africa and the horrors it caused. Within the prologue of Hochschild’s book there are letters that the king of the Kingdom of Kongo—later known as the Congo Free State—wrote to the invading Portuguese, begging them to stop capturing the people of the Kongo (Hochschild, 1998a). Europeans justified the capturing of 12 million people because according to European text, Africans were not as civilized, not as clean, not as religious, not as ordered as Europeans. When, in reality, the uncivilized ones are the Europeans, slaughtering 10 million people, and enslaving 20
Heart of Darkness is a novella describing a British man 's journey deep into the Congo of Africa, where he encounters the cruel