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Leopold II Congo Free State Essay

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Leopold II, Congo Free State 1885-1908. Was the second King of the Belgians, remembered for the founding and exploration of the Congo Free State as a private venture. The Scramble for Africa, was the invasion, occupation, colonization and annexation of African territory by European powers during the period of New Imperialism. Which Belgian also took place when they weren’t a country. What makes up a historical hero their actions are selfless, they care for the safe of others and put their needs above their own, and their actions are always for the greater good. A historical villain’s actions are selfish, they only help themselves and it ends up hurting others, they do whatever they want to get what they need. It’s proven that King Leopold is …show more content…

It has nothing to hind and no secrets and is not beholden to anyone except its founder.” What he says is untrue because he made secrets in the Congo, he forced indigenous people to make rubber, while he sold them to become wealthier. As time went on a man named Edmund Morale looked into the shipping manifest, and discovered that while a great deal of rubber and ivory was coming from the Congo practically nothing was going back. This came to Morale investigating King Leopold’s corrupt regime, from the Congo he would get documents leaked to him by people. Because of this Leopold took drastic measures, he would bribe journalists, to drive US Senators. He would invite people to the Congo and made sure that they got the nicest respect at their stay. This is how far Leopold would go to keep his secret, going against laws, bribery, even the deaths of many lives. Leopold never thought of the slaves as individuals or a real importance to society, only to be put to work and never to be one of them. This is what made King Leopold a historical villain, his actions were selfish all that he wanted was power and wealth, he amputation people for not working or if they got ill he shot them. Leopold destroyed anyone that tried to stop him, everything he did was only for his benefit, making slaves do his work making rubber, bribing journalists to stop Morale from building others against

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Summary of the text: Adam Hochschild’s King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa is a historical fiction published in 1998 (Hochschild, 1998). It comprises a myriad of evidence to testify the Belgian King Leopold II’s atrocities in Congo between 1885 and 1908 for the sake of capturing the attention of various readers towards the Belgian imperialist delinquencies through a detailed narration of a number of main characters’, including George Washington Williams and William Henry Sheppard, experiences in Belgian Congo (Hochschild, 1998). In this excerpt, it illustrates William’s peaceful exploration in Congo as the first American-Black missionary. During his journey, not only did he explore the Congolese culture,

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The quotes is an interpretation of the late 1800’s King Leopold enforced ivory raids through military force of trade, capture, and/or killing to expand his colony. King Leopold exploitative traits of African men, women, and children as porters calling them “volunteers” were harsh and cruel amongst the land. Volunteers were treated as slaves, who were once natives of the capital of Leopold’s Congo in Boma. Many of the mercenaries in Leopold’s army that were black were known as “liberated men” set to serve under the Force Publique.

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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

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