Colonialism In The Congo: The Terror Of Civilization
Colonialism in the Congo: The Terror of Civilization
The images of gaiety and wonder that typically accompany one’s thoughts of an expedition into the magnificent natural wonders of Africa lie in stark contradiction to subjugation and cruelty of a people as displayed in The Congo Report. An aspect of the government’s masquerade of a virtuous mission in the Congo is the “efforts to suppress such barbarous practices” and bring civilization to the “savages”. Private enterprise was able to hide a large amount their complicity by arguing profit as tax for the government. Free trade was another element of the façade by claiming their product reaped from their land was traded to them by the natives. Casement, unwittingly, displays how the government cloaks colonialism and slavery with the guise of civilizing the “natives”, private enterprise, and free trade. …show more content…
He claims that the previously witnessed accounts of cannibalism “are to-day impossible in any part of the country” , while it occurred under direction of the white taskmasters “Answer: Yes, he gave me six women and two men. Question: What for? Answer: In payment for rubber which I brought into · the station, telling me I could eat them, or kill them, or use them as slaves - as I liked”. This deception was used to camouflage the enslavement of the Congolese and the cruelties they suffered for the production of rubber. The women were often held hostage to keep the men working to collect
The images of gaiety and wonder that typically accompany one’s thoughts of an expedition into the magnificent natural wonders of Africa lie in stark contradiction to subjugation and cruelty of a people as displayed in The Congo Report. An aspect of the government’s masquerade of a virtuous mission in the Congo is the “efforts to suppress such barbarous practices” and bring civilization to the “savages”. Private enterprise was able to hide a large amount their complicity by arguing profit as tax for the government. Free trade was another element of the façade by claiming their product reaped from their land was traded to them by the natives. Casement, unwittingly, displays how the government cloaks colonialism and slavery with the guise of civilizing the “natives”, private enterprise, and free trade. …show more content…
He claims that the previously witnessed accounts of cannibalism “are to-day impossible in any part of the country” , while it occurred under direction of the white taskmasters “Answer: Yes, he gave me six women and two men. Question: What for? Answer: In payment for rubber which I brought into · the station, telling me I could eat them, or kill them, or use them as slaves - as I liked”. This deception was used to camouflage the enslavement of the Congolese and the cruelties they suffered for the production of rubber. The women were often held hostage to keep the men working to collect