The Belgians of the Congo Free State in Africa obtained a vast amount of riches; however‚ much of it was taken out and brought back to Europe. Belgian ruler King Leopold made himself the dictator of the Congo and spent the riches to form what was nearly his own private colony‚ the Congo Free State. As we look at how Belgium profited from the colonization of Congo‚ I am going to refer to the books and films we used in class to help explore and define this topic more proficiently. Belgium discovered
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Imperialism - The Infliction Upon the Congolese The state of the Congo in the late 1800’s was intertwined with destruction and horror‚ compromising the integrity of humanity. The Belgian King Leopold II ruled over the new colony of central Africa from 1885 to 1908. The period of Leopold’s rule is known as a brutal time of exploitation‚ as millions of Congolese died. While most imperialist based discussions focus on the incentives of the Europeans‚ there is a lack of recognition of the Congolese and
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this horrific colonization are revealed in Adam Hochschild ’s "King Leopold ’s Ghost: A Story of Greed‚ Terror‚ and Heroism in Colonial Africa‚" which unveils the brutal nature of Belgium ’s conquest and colonization of the central African country Congo. This conquest began with Belgian King Leopold II‚ who grew up with minimal expressions of love and affection from his family. His emotional void was filled with an obsession for colonies and money. His thirst for expanding his own Belgian empire grew
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things‚ and altered the lives of the Congo and its natives for generations to come. "To begin with‚ there was weaponry" (Hochschild 89). 19th century advancements in engineering and machining with regards to warfare technology brought upon the breech-loading rifle‚ as opposed to the "primitive muzzle loaders which were the best arms that most Congolese could obtain" (Hochschild 89). The breech-loaded rifle was the forefront of Belgian diplomacy in the Congo‚ and these new rifles proved to be far
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tells the story of King Leopold and his selfish attempt to essentially make Belgium bigger starting with the Congo. This was all done under an elaborate "philanthropic" public relations curtain deceiving many countries along with the United States (the first to sign on in Leopold’s claim of the Congo). There were many characters in the book ones that aided in the enslavement of the Congo and others that help bring light to the situation but the most important ones I thought were: King Leopold‚ a
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to ruins. The Belgian imperialism enforced on Congo had devastating results; damage was brought to Congo hundreds of years ago‚ but is still relevant today because of its long lasting effects on the Congolese people. In 1874‚ King Leopold began developing a colony which took place mostly in Congo. He sent out one of his followers to trick the Congolese Chiefs into signing treaties they didn’t understand. This gave the King of Belgium power over Congo. The initial reason for this movement was to take
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entirely by a single European man: Leopold II‚ King of the Belgians. Recorded history of the Congo began with Portuguese arrival on the west-coast of Africa in the late 15th-century; further colonization was limited to the coastline as equatorial diseases and terrain proved too hospital for Europeans‚ leaving the Congo Basin unobtainable and unwanted. It was not until some 400-years later that the Congo found a hospitable suiter‚ an ambitious Belgian king whose inadequately-small kingdom instilled
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Context of Aka Pygmy Paternal Infant Care‚ Hunter-Gatherer Childhoods (edited with Michael Lamb) and Ebola‚ Culture and Politics: The Anthropology of an Emerging Disease (with Bonnie Hewlett). He has published 35 journal articles or book chapters about Congo Basin foragers. Jason M. Fancher is a recent graduate of Washington State University’s PhD program in anthropology. His doctoral dissertation is an ethnoarchaeological analysis of animal bone assemblages produced by modern Aka and Bofi foragers
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Democratic Republic of the Congo. However‚ this is only an estimate. According to Grahm-Rowe Duncan (2004)‚ not a single bonobo was spotted in one of the largest surveys of the Congo; making the bonobo an endangered species. Some factors that contribute to the endangerment of this species include habitat destruction and poachers killing the animal for its bush meat. The latter factor is attributed to the civil war that is currently going on in the Democratic Republic of the Congo‚ and its border conflicts
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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. The “strong humanitarian veneer” (Hochschild 42) that Leopold used as the false justification for the harsh methods employed to control the Congo. This veneer contained a myriad of reasons that gave Leopold
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