How Did The Congo Free State Imperialism
Imperialism and Colonialism
Ajani Massiah
CHY 4 U
Congo Free State, Africa.
The Congo Free State was an African state that occupied most of the Congo river that was created and personally controlled in 1885 by King Leopold II of Belgium. The Congo Free State had been initially created by Leopold to bring European civilization to the Congolese population and to also develop the Congo economically. However, this would quickly change to the Congo being exploited for its natural resources such as rubber, ivory, and minerals due to these materials growing in demand in Europe. Leopold would use the Congolese population as cheap labor to extract the resources. His regime was infamous for its brutality against the Congolese people while it was under his …show more content…
He used slavery to extract rubber and ivory, despite slavery being illegal. The Congolese were threatened with lashings, beatings, and mutilations for not meeting their often-impossible resource gathering quotas. The Belgians also took hostages from the families of Congolese men as another way to force them to meet their quotas. Any resistance against the Belgians was met with brutal punishments from Leopold’s private military, which was known as the Force Publique. Force Publique troops would burn villages and kill the families of those who rebelled against Leopold. They were also renowned for cutting off the hands of the Congolese. This was not only used as a way to punish the Congolese for rebellion and not meeting their quotas, but also for soldiers to prove to their commanding officers that they were doing their jobs when it came to suppressing rebellions. It was said that the colonies population had dropped from 20 million when the
Ajani Massiah
CHY 4 U
Congo Free State, Africa.
The Congo Free State was an African state that occupied most of the Congo river that was created and personally controlled in 1885 by King Leopold II of Belgium. The Congo Free State had been initially created by Leopold to bring European civilization to the Congolese population and to also develop the Congo economically. However, this would quickly change to the Congo being exploited for its natural resources such as rubber, ivory, and minerals due to these materials growing in demand in Europe. Leopold would use the Congolese population as cheap labor to extract the resources. His regime was infamous for its brutality against the Congolese people while it was under his …show more content…
He used slavery to extract rubber and ivory, despite slavery being illegal. The Congolese were threatened with lashings, beatings, and mutilations for not meeting their often-impossible resource gathering quotas. The Belgians also took hostages from the families of Congolese men as another way to force them to meet their quotas. Any resistance against the Belgians was met with brutal punishments from Leopold’s private military, which was known as the Force Publique. Force Publique troops would burn villages and kill the families of those who rebelled against Leopold. They were also renowned for cutting off the hands of the Congolese. This was not only used as a way to punish the Congolese for rebellion and not meeting their quotas, but also for soldiers to prove to their commanding officers that they were doing their jobs when it came to suppressing rebellions. It was said that the colonies population had dropped from 20 million when the