The Black Man's Burden Analysis

The Black Man’s Burden In the late-nineteen century, the term new imperialism became an element of politics implemented by many European powers to impose their supremacy around the globe. Between 1870 and 1914, as a result of the Great Depression (1873-1879), imperialistic powers such as Britain, France, Germany, and Belgium, constructed colonies and protectorates in Asia and Africa in order to exploit their resources and their labor . After the decline of the transatlantic slave trade by the late 1860s, a change occurred around 1880 when France and Britain led European nations in the “scramble of Africa,” which divided the continent from 1880 to 1914. Indeed, after king Leopold II of Belgium conquered most of the Congo River with the excuse of promoting

In this document, the author condemned the conditions of African people in the Belgian Congo, reconnecting them to the presence of European powers in the territory. This excerpt is extremely important because it makes us better understand the status of African people, subdued by European nations, and how the concept of slavery was perceived and addressed by European activists and thinkers. While he was working for a Liverpool shipping firm in Brussels, Morel noticed that the Belgian ships directed to Congo carried guns, chains, and ammunition, and they came back from the colony with rubber, ivory, and other valuable goods. From this observation, Morel assumed that King Leopold II’s colony was relying on slavery . To protest against this practice, Morel wrote “The Black’s Man Burden” as a response to Rudyard Kipling’s poem “The White Man’s Burden.” In the excerpt from his book, Morel clearly stated that “it is [the Africans] that carry the Black man’s burden.” Indeed, he argued that before white men invaded their land, Africans “have not withered away before.” With his writing, Morel aimed to report and describe