Colonialism in the Congo

HOW DID BELGIUM CONQUER THE CONGO?

KING LEOPOLD II HENRY STANLEY

Explorers

Geographers

Treaties

HOW DID LEOPOLD FUND THE CONGO FREE STATE?

Ivory Trade Rubber Trade

HOW DID THE RUBBER TRADE IMPACT THE CONGOLESE?

Population Decrease

Cruel Punishments

[Force Publique]

HOW DID PEOPLE REACT?

British Response

George Washington

Williams

Protests from Missionaries

#1“If the rubber the Congolese collect does not reach the required amount, the sentries [soldiers] attack them, kill some, and bring the severed hands to the District Commissioner. One sentry said ‘The Commissioner has promised us if we have plenty of hands, he will shorten our service.’ The hands were often smoked to preserve them till shown to the District Commissioner.”

—Edvard Sjöblom, Swedish missionary

1. What was the reward for collecting many hands?

2. Why would this be a reward?

#2“We had to go further and further into the forest to find the rubber vines, to go without food, and our women had to give up cultivating the fields and gardens. Then we starved. Wild beasts—leopards—killed some of us when we were working away in the forest, and others got lost or died from exposure and starvation, and we begged the white man to leave us alone, saying that we could get no more rubber, but the white men and their soldiers said: ‘Go! You are only beasts yourselves.’”

—A Congolese refugee

1. What were some of the dangers of going further into the forests to find rubber?

2. What are two motives of imperialism represented here? Explain.

#3“The Congo Free State has invented a form of slavery more degrading and more atrocious than any slavery which has existed previously. They may disguise it as they like. The fact remains…[the Congo Free State] is guilty of having established official slavery.”

—E. D. Morel

1. Why do you think Morel referred to slavery in the Congo as “more degrading and more atrocious than any slavery which has

existed previously”?

2. Can there be cases of slavery or genocides that can be considered worse than others? If so, what makes one worse than the other?

If no, why not?

#4“[Our goal is]...to open to civilization the only part of the globe where it has yet to penetrate…. It is, I dare to say, a crusade worthy of this century of progress…. In bringing you to Brussels I was in no way motivated by selfish designs.”

—King Leopold II

1. What reason or motive does Leopold II give for Belgium’s presence in the Congo?

2. What is ironic about this?

#5

Nsala, the man in the picture, was photographed by English missionary Alice Seeley Harris after he arrived at her mission clutching a parcel that contained what was left of his five-year-old daughter. She'd been killed and dismembered as a punishment when his village failed to meet

the rubber quotas demanded by the imperial regime.

1. What is the purpose of this image?

2. Why is it often difficult for people and other nations to take action against such atrocities?

#6“...Two Belgian Army officers saw, from the deck of their steamer, a native in a canoe…. The officers

made a wager of £5 that they could hit the native with their rifles. Three shots were fired and the native fell dead, pierced through the head, and the trade canoe was transformed into a funeral barge and

floated down the river.”

—from George Washington Williams’ letter to King Leopold

1. Williams was the first to write Leopold a letter, the first to urge others to act, and the first to

begin recording the atrocities, what does that and this quote say about him as a person?

2. What does it take for action to be successful?

#7

1. List three words to describe this image.

2. Petronelle Moanda, operations manager of the Congolese Association of Merseyside, gave a quote for a museum exhibit in response to this photograph. She

said, "It is a blessing to be Congolese and nobody can become Congolese by might, by greed or by power!“ What does this quote mean? Why do you think she

said this in response to this image in particular?

#8

1. Who does the snake represent?

2. What nation does the man represent?

3. According to the cartoon, what is it saying about the “snake’s” rule?