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 are problems in Democratic Republic of the Congo presently, it doesn't not compare to the mass genocide from slavery back when it was Belgian Congo. ("Country Profile: Democratic Republic of Congo." Overview, Paragraph 8.) This essay analyzes the horrific events when King Leopold took Congo as his personal land where he exploits its people and compares is to the uncontrollable, but rebuilding present day Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Henry M. Stanley, the well known African explorer who found Dr. Livingstone, was asked from King Leopold II to evaluate the Congo land. King Leopold believed, to ensure the wealth and prosperity of Belgian, he needed to set up colonies. Believing that the Belgians would not support this, he would set the colony up privately. Stanley would sign treaties with the native chiefs and Leopold would claim himself personal sovereign of the Congo Free State. ("Congo, Democratic Republic of the." Columbia Encyclopedia, The Congo Free State, Paragraph 1.) The Berlin Conference (1884-1885) he announce his personal title, not Belgium's, of sovereign of the Congo Free State to the other European powers and America. That was the beginning of Imperialism in Europe and the US. (Wilson. Belgian Congo Handout.)

"Two Force Publique officers, ClÐ"©ment Brasseur and LÐ"©on Cerckel, once ordered a man hung from a palm tree by his feet while a fire was lit beneath him and he was cooked to death. Two missionaries found one post where prisoners were killed by having resin poured over their heads then set in fire. This list is much longer."

(Hochschild, King Leopold's Ghost Handout.)

That was one of the gruesome ways the Belgian officers punished the Congolese for not working. King Leopold's rule of Congo would prove to be one of the most inhumane regime in this decade. King Leo depended on slave labor to exploit the economic-rich land Congo had to offer. It was selfishly for his benefit. He used the profits to glorify Brussels, Belgium's capital, and for the extraction of rubber in Congo. (Wilson. Belgian Congo Handout.) It was estimated about 10 million forced laborers died from starvation, exhaustion, disease, and murder in a period of 23 years. The population plummeted from 20 million to less then 9 million. Murder was not a main cause of death in Belgian Congo it was highly reported. The officers would kill anyone who would fight back, did not work, or did not supply a sufficient amount of rubber. There was a "moment of truth" in each village as the men go through the forest while the women stay in the village as hostages. The men had to keep on finding enough rubber sap to keep their village. If they did not bring enough rubber back to the agent, he ordered the soldiers to kill every person in the village. (Dummett. "King Leopold's legacy of DR Congo violence." Positive legacy, paragraph 2-4.) "In 1896, a German newspaper, the KÐ"¶lnische Zeitung, published, on the authority of Ð''a highly esteemed Belgian,' news that 1306 severed hands had been turned to the notorious District Commissioner LÐ"©on FiÐ"©vez in a single day." ~ Hochschild, handout. The news of the torture and killing scattered through the village, the natives fled their villages. Soldiers and officers would take their animals and burn their houses and food. Some of Leopold's soldiers would often steal the villager's food. The Congolese workers starved to death because of this. They were kept and died as hostages, living a small, feeble compound, in chains and starving. They died from exhaustion, working too hard without any food to serve as energy. Disease did probably the worse for the Congolese. The European and Afro-Arab slave traders brought diseases that the natives were not immune to; and it was much easier to die from the diseases because they were malnourished. The low birth rate of Congolese women was another reason why the population declined during Leopold's sovereignty. Men worked in the forests in search for rubber while the women were kept as hostages, so fewer children were born. They refused to bear children, from the thought of their child's circumstances. The starvation and the trauma the women had to go through from the torture were obvious effects to the women's fertility. (Hochschild, King Leopold's Ghost Handout.) If the soldiers were not killing the Congolese, they were torturing as a way to "compel" them to do their work. Natives were commonly beaten with chicottes, whips made out of tough hippopotamus hide. Amputation of ears, hands, noses, and legs were due to workers dawdling around or not meeting the certain number of sap from rubber trees. Women were favored by the soldiers. "All