Preview

Democratic Republic of Congo

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1796 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Democratic Republic of Congo
Through the late 1800 's to present date, Imperialism has reigned through this century. Countries from Europe have gone through Africa and Asia to obtain territory and spheres of influence. Empires use their territory to gaining resources and to set up trading posts. Even America took over territory over China and the Philippines. Although the main reasons for gain the land are for economy boosts and free trade, many countries abused their powers. They cheat the natives with one sided treaties or order them around, most of the time turning them into slaves. King Leopold II was probably the first one to abuse this power. He did it to the Congolese in what is now called Democratic Republic of the Congo. King Leopold of Belgian ordered Henry Stanley to go search around Africa to find rich, resource abundant land. He found a vast region of land in the middle-west part of Africa. Lord Stanley made treaties with the natives that gave King Leopold personal title of Belgian Congo. ("Congo, Democratic Republic of the." Paragraph 2) Soon the Belgian Congo would fall into depression as the Belgians would turn the natives into labor slaves. Belgian Congo is land rich of rubber and Leopold wanted it. "Leopold accumulated a vast personal fortune from ivory and rubber through Congolese slave labor; 10 million people are estimated to have died from forced labor, starvation, and outright extermination during Leopold 's colonial rule." ~ "Congo, Democratic Republic of the." Paragraph 3. Even after Congo broke free from Belgium in 1960, they faced army mutiny and withdrawal of Katanga, a mineral abundant province. ("Country Profile: Democratic Republic of Congo." Overview, Paragraph 3.) DR Congo is one of the most mineral rich countries in the world, but it is still national turmoil over rebellions and the ongoing war with other African nations. Imperialism in this corrupted country has left it in ruins and as of right now, it 's stuck in the middle of a civil war. Although there


Cited: "Congo, Democratic Republic of the." Columbia Encyclopedia. 6th edition. 2005. "Congo, Democratic Republic of the." 2005. Pearson Education, Inc. 28, Apr. 2005 http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0198161.html "Country Profile: Democratic Republic of Congo." 16, Feb. 2005. BBC MMV. 28, Apr Dummett, Mark. "King Leopold 's legacy of DR Congo violence." 24, Feb. 2004. BBC MMV "Hochschild, Adam." King Leopold 's Ghost. Mariner Books. New York, New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1998. Stolk, Martin. "Heart of Darkness." 15 Jun. 2000. Cairo Times. 3 May 2005.
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    The American Pageant Chapter 1 Notes
    • 429 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The American Pageant Chapter 1 Notes

    In 1876, King Leopold II of Belgium began plans for international benevolent committees for the people of the Congo region. Though originally accepted as multi-national, scientific, and humanitarian propositions, they have of late become anything but. Soon after their conception, Leopold used these organizations to establish a sphere of influence and eventually Belgian sovereignty in the Congo Basin. The region is rich in ivory and rubber, and Leopold made use of those resources and others in expanding trade. Now, rubber is the colony's most profitable industry. However, the Congolese people benefit little from this.…

    • 429 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    How Did King Leopold II Contribute To The Rise Of American Imperialism
    • 1015 Words
    • 5 Pages

    How Did King Leopold II Contribute To The Rise Of American Imperialism

    “A little more than a quarter of a century ago, a great genius for evil, having achieved in rapid succession a series of diplomatic master strokes, stretched out to reach the scepter which was to give him power over life and death of over 20 million human beings.” This great genius for evil, King Leopold II, was commonly known for the atrocities he committed in the Congo Free State. Leopold’s ability to gain control over the lives of the Congolese was due to the deceit and use of persuasion over head powers for a lucrative business. Specifically, in the Congo Free State, King Leopold II’s approach to governing, in an effort to gain the most profit, lead to violent atrocities and the deaths of many natives.…

    • 1015 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The West and the World; Review Sheet
    • 1304 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The West and the World; Review Sheet

    colony of Belgium; trading stations established in 1879, and Leopold II was given control of the Congo; the Belgian rulers savagely treated the indigenous peoples in their quest for rubber and ivory; Leopold's incursion into Congo basin raised the question of the political fate of black Africa (south of the Sahara); as did Britain's conquest of Egypt…

    • 1304 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Colonialism In King Leopold's Ghost
    • 779 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Colonialism In King Leopold's Ghost

    The intention of colonialism, though cloaked with moral justification, was clear from the beginning: in order to assert oneself as a dominant power, a country must steal, ravish and exploit the land, people and culture belonging to another. The belief that taking of foreign land was justified because a particular country had the power to do so with little genuine resistance was so prevalent during the late Nineteenth, early Twentieth centuries that it significantly, and tragically affected those colonized land. In Adam Hochschild’s novel, King Leopold’s Ghost, he details chronicles that events that shaped King Leopold of Belgium’s rule over the Congo in Africa, but also illustrates that what went on was not aberrant. Rather, it was example of a broader problem that plagued many Europeans countries in the decades leading up to World War One that led to the death of millions.…

    • 779 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Heart Of Darkness Webquest
    • 541 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Heart Of Darkness Webquest

    They we're treated as slaves and their wives were raped and held hostage so their husbands would work and give the much profitable rubber in exchange for their wives’ freedom. Leopold thinks he was taking care of the Africans, when really what he did was rape the country. The rubber trade made Leopold one of the richest men in the world and made Belgium flourish, but the suffering of the Congolese was unseen. The EP forced the native Africans to work for seven years, while allows Leopold to torture them even more.…

    • 541 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Who Is King Leopold Imperialism
    • 1090 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Who Is King Leopold Imperialism

    Nicholas Defreitas Professor Herman WHO 1030 10/20/15 King Leopold and the Congo Takeover In the 1800’s, European countries all scrambled for African territory. The first to put his foot down in the territory however would be King Leopold ll. “I do not want to miss us getting a slice of this magnificent African cake” said Leopold to a London ambassador shortly before his invasion of Africa.…

    • 1090 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    King Leopold's Ghost
    • 984 Words
    • 4 Pages

    King Leopold's Ghost

    Leopold had always wanted a colony; he had seen the other European nations amassing great wealth and natural resources that Leopold wanted a part of. By this time though, most of the New World had been colonized and all that was left was Africa. Leopold wanted to take part in the “slicing up of Africa”, making sure that he and his country Belgium would get its piece. Leopold found the perfect person in the explorer Henry Morton Stanley to begin his expedition into the Congo, Stanley was one of the most famous explorers of the day. Stanley had recently crossed the continent of Africa and was well know to Leopold through his articles published in newspapers. Under the guise of philanthropy and ending the slave trade, Stanley started to make his way through the Congo setting up infrastructure to gather the resources found in the Congo. Originally they were there for the ivory but as industrialization came into full swing, rubber became the most profitable resource found. There were great injustices with the native people in the Congo; people were basically slaves for Leopold and his colony only being used for the free labor, which is the exact opposite of the reasons Leopold was supposedly there. Leopold also set up the brutal ‘Force Publique” who ran the ivory and subsequent rubber siege. Some estimates of the death caused by the Colonization and the removal of rubber is that half of the native population died,…

    • 984 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Belgian Congo Imperialism
    • 637 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Belgian Congo Imperialism

    In some ways Imperialism made the life of the native people better by building and maintaining new infrastructure that the natives didn’t have before. With the new infrastructure the natives were able to lead longer and happier lives with more amenities provided by things like libraries and hospitals.In India the railroad system put in place by the British is still running and useful today as are many of the roads and hospitals. These services and India’s huge population has led to India being one of the premier economies in the world today. However in the Belgian Congo these improvements were more temporary with very few being serviceable today, and even the ones that are serviceable do not offer much of a service to the natives because of the enormous limits on where they can go and what they can do. This is…

    • 637 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Barack Obama: Founding Member Of The Board Of Directors Of Public Allies In 1992
    • 12427 Words
    • 50 Pages

    Barack Obama: Founding Member Of The Board Of Directors Of Public Allies In 1992

    ^ Democratic Republic of the Congo. United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (April 2006). Retrieved on 2008-04-27. The IRC Welcomes New U.S. Law on Congo. International Rescue Committee (January 5, 2007). Retrieved on 2008-04-27.…

    • 12427 Words
    • 50 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Congo Free State Imperialism
    • 1007 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Congo Free State Imperialism

    The Congo Free State, later named the Democratic Republic of Congo, drastically changed in 1876 when it was first colonized by King Leopold of Belgium. The colony of the Congo Free State was ruled solely by King Leopold, who used it for his own personal advancement. He took advantage of the country's well-known sources such as rubber. King Leopold of Belgium took all profits made off of the resources for himself and left the native people with nothing. In addition, King Leopold enslaved these natives and treated them poorly. They were forced to do hard and dangerous labor and if they did not meet the King’s standards, they could be killed. While the inhabitants of the Congo Free State could not do much to retaliate against the King, other countries…

    • 1007 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Sub-Saharan African American Imperialism
    • 1768 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Sub-Saharan African American Imperialism

    Belgium saw them as an easy target with big profits and imperialized. Belgium, as a western nation, also agreed to the ideas of Social Darwinism, the belief that the white European was better than the rest of the people in the world, chiefly based on their physical features. Simply put, they were racist. Most Europeans fell into this belief, but the Belgian people took this to an extreme. They enslaved the native people of Congo in their own country and forced work upon them. Quotas and taxes were created to ensure certain amounts of raw materials were gathered and harsh punishments were put into action for those who didn’t complete or meet their requirements. According to Mark Twain, “The amount of rubber needed to meet the tax requires the men to work for up 25 days each month harvesting the wild rubber vines in the Congo forest” [3]. According to this that would leave only 5 days a month for “regular” life for the Congolese people. They did not have the time or resources to educate themselves, make money, or to develop. In 1908 the Belgian government gave the natives better treatment, by taking away the direct ownership of the nation from Leopold and they made it an official colony of the Belgian government [4]. This decision came through by putting humanitarian pressure put on King Leopold. Conditions improved, schools, hospitals, and roads were built, but the cruelty and racism was still their because of the history they had of it. Also, the punishment, crimes, and cruelty was all that the people understood because they were forced to live in it their entire lives, and it was a hard to shift back. Even in today’s world, this industrialization and these policies have left a scar on the Congos. In both the Republic of Congo and the Democratic Republic Of Congo there is still political unrest and constant violence. On December 17, there were 22…

    • 1768 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Heart Of Darkness Imperialism Analysis
    • 871 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Heart Of Darkness Imperialism Analysis

    Imperialism is the ideology that drives the Europeans in the “Heart of Darkness” towards the Congo for its ivory. In the Congo, the only things worth paying attention towards are those that provide monetary benefits, and this can be seen when Conrad states “Some, I heard, got drowned in the surf; but whether they did or not, nobody seemed particularly to care.…

    • 871 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    African American Imperialism Analysis
    • 1705 Words
    • 7 Pages

    African American Imperialism Analysis

    Throughout history, nations have tried to ‘compete’ with each other in almost every respect, trying to become the biggest world power. One way to do this is by developing colonies: this increases land supply as well as the abundance of resources, thus improving the economy. Africa was a generally underdeveloped continent with weak, decentralized political structures that could be easily conquered by western militaries, who wanted to colonize there to use the raw materials and human labor to improve their economy. While Belgians who were imperializing the Congo in the 19th century believed and justified their actions by saying they were helping the conquered peoples to advance and “catch up” to the West technologically and culturally, in reality…

    • 1705 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Essay On Imperialism
    • 648 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Essay On Imperialism

    This led to a major death rate among the Congolese peoples, and the land that was rich in natural resources soon became one of the poorest countries in the world. When King Leopold colonized, he claimed the Congo as his own personal possession. With this being said, he enslaved the indigenous peoples and used them to gather the natural resources, mainly rubber, so Leopold would gain riches from them. This is an example of flourishing lands going to waste, which was a factor Mises stated when explaining the negatives of imperialism in his quote. Not only this, but the colonization of the Congo is also an example of when Mises states that whole peoples were destroyed and exterminated. This is because when the Congolese resisted colonization or didn’t produce enough rubber to please King Leopold, the Belgian Army would kill everyone they could find. Therefore, it is evident that imperialism in the Congo destroyed parts of their population, and lessened the value of the land, which is substantiated by Ludwig von Mises statement on imperialism.…

    • 648 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Leadership Principals & Practices - Sese Seko Mobutu
    • 2898 Words
    • 12 Pages

    Leadership Principals & Practices - Sese Seko Mobutu

    French, H. W. (1997, May 17). Anatomy of an Autocracy: Mobutu’s 32-Year Reign. Retrieved April 1, 2011, from http://partners.nytimes.com/library/world/africa/051797zaire-mobutu.html…

    • 2898 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More

Related Topics