Imperialism In King Leopold's Congo
Imperialism is the act of a stronger nation extending its powers over a weaker nation to dominate its economics, political and cultural lifestyle. This is a common practice among the Europe nations, seeking new resources and materials. The materials than gets transported back to companies to manufacture into products to be sold to the markets. During the 1870s, Belgium became one of the most modernised nations at the time. It was prospering due to the success in the textile and iron industries. However, King Leopold II did not want just wealth. He desired to be the most prosperous and best nation in Europe. Africa was a country that was rich in raw materials and resources such as ivory and rubber. Therefore, Leopold commanded the Europeans …show more content…
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 …show more content…
During the Berlin Conference, the European nations only approved Belgium to imperialise Congo because they were manipulated into believing Belgian had a pure aim to aid the Congo and spread the Christian religion. However, in harsh reality, King Leopold II took advantage of Congo for his own greed and wealth, invading the rights of the Congolese. Hands were chopped off and wives and children were hostage to force labour upon the Congo men. Leopold controlled Congo for approximately 45 years, but the aftermath of his reign lingered for years including death of fellow Congolese and loss of religion. He was a huge role in the deterioration of the Congo’s social, economic and political status. Without a doubt, Leopold played the major role in the atrocities committed by the Belgian in the Congo with the partial support of
King Leopold Outbreak Research Paper
1354 Words | 6 PagesInstead of giving the people of Congo freedom, he took it away and made them work extremely hard, and giving them impossible quotas to meet. If they were not meet, he would cut off their family members hands, and their own to make them work harder, and as punishments. He would take the resources that they got, and used them to make him rich, and make the land flourish in terms of buildings, and making it more urbanized, but the Congo people were struggling to live everyday. As a result, thousands of Congo people were killed for the brutal work King Leopold made them do, and the population decreased significantly. Because of his actions King Leopold should be condemned as a criminal for his exploration and abuse to the Congo land and people.
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King Leopold And Escaping Slavery In The Congo
223 Words | 1 PagesWith the passing of decades, most Europeans mistakenly believed that King Leopold spent his considerable fortune funding public works in the Congo and stopping slavery in East Africa. He was the unintimidating King of Belgium; but it was all a sham. Underneath the veneer of generosity and graciousness laid a cunning and self-engrossed scoundrel, a duplicitous fraud to rival the evil charm of Iago or Richard III. Under the guise of an international charitable foundation, he personally owned the colony of the Congo, and he ran it as a brutal business investment. His “charity” resulted in the death of ten million people, approximately 50% of the population in the Congo.
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463 Words | 2 PagesThe definition of imperialism is an action by a strong nation to take control of another country. According to CDC Malaria is a “mosquito-borne disease caused by a parasite”. Between the late 1500’s and the early 1800’s Europeans didn’t enter Africa, because of the disease malaria. This ended during the 1800’s European countries such as France, Great Britain, Germany, Italy, Portuguese, Belgium, and spain imperialised Africa. “What was the driving force behind the imperialism in africa?”
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1889 Words | 8 PagesAs Frantz Facon once stated that “imperialism leaves behind germs of rot which we must clinically detect and remove from our land by from our minds as well”, one can assert without much exertion that such European powers, in the course of Imperialism, indeed, brought about an array of irreversible impairments such as ethnic tensions, slavery, increased local warfare, and many others. Rwanda, for instance, is a country that is rife with the presence of such an irretrievable deficiency. Rwanda, indeed, has shown a startling economic growth and become an emergent leader country in Central Africa. The World Bank has recently eulogized Rwanda’s recent remarkable development success, which it
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478 Words | 2 PagesFounded in document D African colonies and their exports. Economic factors were more of a driving force behind imperialism since the imperialists were in search of natural resources for improving technology and their national pride. The Europeans went to Africa because of their many resources and their quantities of gold, fur, and yarn all superior resources for the Europeans. Africa had dealt with European
King Leopold's Statement Report
750 Words | 3 PagesAccording to The Casement Report, a report that documented all the violent actions that King Leopold took on the people of Africa, an example of a brutal action that the Belgium people took was “ A widow came and declared that she had been forced to sell her daughter, a little girl about ten.... I found on returning that the statements made with regard to the girl were true.... The girls had again changed hands and was promised in sale to a town whose people are open cannibals.” These cruel actions taken upon the people of Africa was inhumane, and definitely not humanitarian. King Leopold publicized these incidents to the rest of the world so that he can gain their fear, and everyone would listen to him through terror.
How Did Imperialism Affect The Congolese Culture
913 Words | 4 PagesWhen 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.
European Imperialism In Africa Dbq
700 Words | 3 PagesThe Europeans realized that if they could take control of Africa, they would have access to resources without having to pay the expensive price and they would gain land at the same time. Africa was the richest continent in terms of resources back then. Document D shows African colonies that were then controlled by Europeans and their exports. All of the colonies that are shown have various valuable exports. It also shows that Great Britain had the most valuable colonies, because those colonies had resources that had multiple uses.
Compare And Contrast American Imperialism
463 Words | 2 PagesImperialism means that one country controls all political, economic, or cultural life in another country or region. Europe successfully did this in the Americas and established colonies in South Asia, Africa, and China. Although this would seem like a substantial amount of power, Europe did not gain much influence until later on. Once Europe recognized their own growing control, they embarked on what is now called the “New Imperialism”. Many components played into this seemingly rapid success, but one significant reason was that of the
Summary Of Basil Davidson's The Legacy
784 Words | 4 PagesDavidson 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
Why Did Europeans Want To Colonize Africa In The 19th Century
913 Words | 4 PagesThe only thing Europeans loved more than political power was increasing their trade. In the 1800’s European nations had a desire to get a lead to widespread imperialism in Africa. With the end of slavery in 1833, European interest in Africa shifted to seizing colonies. King Leopold of Belgium acquired a private country in Africa that was 95 times bigger than Belgium and his purpose was to make money by taking out ivory and rubber.
Imperialism In East Africa Analysis
153 Words | 1 PagesDuring the period of imperialism in Africa all of the countries were competing for the title of being the richest and the strongest. In fact, the whole scramble for Africa was an opportunity for countries to enhance their overall economy. For example, King Leopold II of Belgium was determined to get the area of land so he can become more wealthy. France’s politicians thought that an overseas company would strengthen the country when it came to wealth, prestige, and power, so as a result they invested in land more toward the west and north-west. Britain wanted to protect their trading routes which required them to purchase land in East Africa, and they they soon discovered the rewards of the land so the were determined to obtain as much as possible.
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