How Did European Culture Affect The Congolese

In the last decades of the nineteenth century around 2-15 million of the Congolese died when Europeans began to take over the Congo Free State, evidently affecting the Congolese greatly. The Europeans made this horrific takeover because they believed that they could change Africa for the better. There were many changes in the Congo’s culture, economic and social status. This takeover initiated because of the Europeans’ want in their resources and the beginning of racism and abuse toward the Congolese, resulting in loss of freedom for the Africans. The change in Africa’s culture and social structure became significant when the rise of Christian Europe began. Many Christians in Africa believed “there [was] only history of the Europeans in Africa, the rest [was] darkness” (Trevor-Roger 1). When this was said, it was at a time when Europeans were thought to be superior to the Africans. Therefore, when claiming
This was made possible when Leopold (the second king of the Belgians) held an anti-slavery conference and “convinced the leaders of the other countries that the Congo Free State needed to be able to charge import and export duties to raise funds” (Colonialism 13). After the conference, Leopold used this humanitarian disguise to implement the first major restriction of free trade in the Congo (Colonialism 13). This ensued in him being able to raise taxes and forcing the Congolese to work for him. Two of the main items the Congolese had to collect were ivory and rubber. These resources were so popular that Leopold issued a new decree stating “any ivory or rubber collected from the state-owned land...must belong to the state” (Colonialism 16). This was made possible by the aforementioned anti-slavery conference he held in which he tricked country leaders into believing this grand humanitarian