White King, Red Rubber, Black Death

King Leopold and the Congo Belgium, as a small country, did not possess numerous overseas colonies, unlike its neighbours, Holland, France, and Great Britain, but shared their and Germany's imperial ambitions. Leopold's personal willpower was so strong that he was responsible for persuading other European powers at the Berlin Conference of 1884-85 which would give him personal possession of the Congo. In 1876 he organized an international association as a front for his private plan to "develop" central Africa. Leopold used the Congo as a huge money-making resource, committing several human rights violations in the process and then turning a blind eye as he built public works projects in Belgium with the money he raked in.

White King, Red Rubber, Black Death Leopold II took imperialism to a new level! Countries such as France, the Netherlands, and Great Britain that acquired large empires exploited both land and people. However… Some measures to protect the rights of overseas subjects were introduced. Rights of women and men to vote Protection against industrial exploitation was making child labour illegal and improving employment conditions Some of these rights were followed in the African colonies…..but NOT BY LEOPOLD II Leopold had to give up the Congo to Belgium in 1908 as a result of the international campaign exposing Leopold’s activities in the Congo.

The Explorer Stanley’s Role H.M. Stanley, a journalist who explored the Congo on an expedition financed by King Leopold of Belgium. Stanley greatly aided his backer in gaining a firm foothold in what was to become the Belgian Congo (later Zaire), now the Democratic Republic of Congo. King Leopold II never set foot in Africa!

Harvesting Rubber

Punishing “Lazy” Workers

Why Take the Hands? The Congo contained vast areas filled with wild rubber and a labor-force that King Leopold enslaved to do his bidding. Villages were given daily quotas of extracted rubber. If they did not cooperate and fill their quotas, they faced losing their families, a hand, an ear, a foot, or their life.

5-8 Million Victims! (50% of Population!) Eventually people took notice It is blood-curdling to see them (the soldiers) returning with the hands of the slain, and to find the hands of young children amongst the bigger ones evidencing their bravery...The rubber from this district has cost hundreds of lives, and the scenes I have witnessed, while unable to help the oppressed, have been almost enough to make me wish I were dead... This rubber traffic is steeped in blood, and if the natives were to rise and sweep every white person on the Upper Congo into eternity, there would still be left a fearful balance to their credit. -- Belgian Official

The End of Leopold’s Hold In 1904, Roger Casement, British consul to the Congo, filed a report on the state of affairs there, having been an eyewitness to some of the excesses. Under mounting international pressure, Leopold finally lost hold of the Congo, and in November, 1908 the Belgian government annexed the Congo Independent State which thereafter became the Belgian Congo. A gross debt of about 250 million francs transferred from Leopold to the Belgian government. The Belgians in turn turned this debt over to the populace of the Congo. The Congo, having been squeezed of its wealth for years, now found itself shackled in debt for its efforts. Estimates of the total death toll vary considerably. The Encyclopædia Britannica gives a total population decline from 20 or 30 million to 8 million.

King Leopold’s Ghost Novel by Adam Hochschild written in 1998 Tells the horrific story of King Leopold’s colonial rule over a country and it’s native peoples. Based on the true story of the colonial activities. King Leopold II, never ‘set foot’ in the Congo, but managed to ruin a country… his ghost remains today in memories of the Congolese. Why little is known about this history well, for a start, many documents were destroyed on Leopold’s orders also many documents classified

Social Darwinism West had a sense of racial superiority Darwin’s theory of “natural selection” & “survival of the fittest” applied to the human societies Destruction & conquest of weaker races was nature’s way of improving the species

“The White Man’s Burden” ”King Leopold found the Congo…cursed by cannibalism, savagery, and despair; and he has been trying with patience, which I can never sufficiently admire, to relieve it of its horrors, rescue it from its oppressors, and save it from perdition.” --H.M. Stanley The idea that Europeans must carry the burden of civilizing Africa.

Different Motives of Imperialism Some Westerners felt it was their duty to “civilize” the “savage” inhabitant of colonial lands in order to make them more “modern” and European. The English writer Rudyard Kipling displayed such an attitude in 1899 with a poem entitle “The White Man’s Burden”. Take up the White Man's burden-- Send forth the best ye breed-- Go bind your sons to exile To serve your captives' need; To wait in heavy harness, On fluttered folk and wild-- Your new-caught, sullen peoples, Half-devil and half-child. The idea that Europeans must carry the burden of civilizing Africa.

The “White Man’s Burden”? The first step toward lightening the White Man’s Burden is through teaching the virtues of cleanliness! Pear’s Soap is a potent factor in brightening the dark corners of the earth as civilization advances, while amongst the cultured of all nations, it holds the highest place-it is the ideal toilet soap.