Jan 10 – Congo Background Agenda: Reading Quiz Congo – Info HW: Read and annotate page of Heart of Darkness (Download from my website) Take out: Notebook Pen/Pencil

King Leopold and the Congo Free State The Colonial Backdrop for Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness

Quick Overview What you should know: –The geography, including location, natural resources and natural features of the area –The basic overview of pre-colonial history –How the Congo became a colony of Belgium –What King Leopold and his agents did to make the colony profitable –How Joseph Conrad fit into the human rights movement to end the atrocities.

The Democratic Republic of Congo

Natural Resources Today, the D.R.O.C. is rich in copper, diamonds, oil and uranium During colonial era, main exports were ivory and rubber

Congo River 2 nd largest volume in the world

Geography Main geographic feature was the Congo River 3,000 miles long, empties 1.4 million cubic feet of water per second into the ocean, 2 nd only to the Amazon

Geography 2 of the tributaries are longer than any river in Europe The river was of vital interest because it represented a 7,000 mile series of connected waterways, a highway to the African interior

Congo River Rapids

Congo River Village

Congo Steamer from Around the Turn of the Century

Pre-Colonial Congo The Kingdom of the Congo –The kingdom was a sophisticated and well run state, an imperial federation –Known for advanced working in copper and iron

Pre-Colonial Congo Slavery –Slavery was part of the culture of the Congo. Originally captured during warfare, were criminals, or were debtors who could earn back their freedom Eventually, Muslim slave traders began to sell their slaves to European traders for export to America.

The Colonial Period The ability to use the river to gain access to the ivory and rubber rich interior made the Congo a coveted area for colonization.

The Colonial Period Leopold sent the famous explorer of Africa, Henry Morton Stanley to negotiate treaties with the natives. Native chiefs were offered trinkets or cloth if they would place an X on a document in foreign tongue.

The Colonial Period European countries recognized Leopold’s claim in (The U.S. was the first country to recognize the claim) because: –Treaties –Promise to end slavery –Promise to keep the Congo as a free trade area The colony belonged not to Belgium, but to Leopold personally. –Making him the only individual to ever colonize a country.

The Profit Imperative For the first few years of Leopold’s rule his colony did not turn a profit. Soon the idea of free trade went out the window. The natives could only trade with Leopold’s representatives, with 50% of the profits going to Leopold himself. To up the profits it became necessary to make use of cheap labor (gathering rubber is very labor intensive.)

The Colonial Period Leopold drove the slave traders out of the country, which he portrayed as a great humanitarian act. In reality, however, he did it to gain control of the region. He paid his ‘agents’ a percentage of the profits, encouraging them to make the trade more and more profitable. He authorized the use of as much force as necessary.

The Colonial Period Agents ‘encouraged’ men to work by holding their wives and children captive until his quota was met. Many who resisted were killed on the spot. Others were beaten with cruel whips called chicotte, –20 lashes resulted in unconsciousness –100 lashes resulted in death.

Chicotte

The Colonial Period A revolt broke out due to the cruel conditions and slave labor. Leopold sent troops into the villages to exterminate the young men. To make sure bullets weren’t wasted the soldiers were expected to return with the severed right hands of those they killed.

The Colonial Period During the years from it is estimated that 8-10 million people died due to murder, mistreatment and starvation.

The Human Rights Movement This lead to the first human rights movement of the 20 th century. It all began with a steamboat captain that traveled up the Congo and wrote about his experience. –This narrative has since been published as Heart of Darkness.

Heart of Darkness Published in serial form in1898 by Joseph Conrad ( ) Born Jozef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski in the Polish Ukraine Traveled to Marseilles when he was seventeen to work as a sailor Signed on to an English ship in 1878 Became a British subject in 1886 Began writing in 1889 Took command of a steamship in the Belgian Congo in 1890, which provided the inspiration for his best- known work; Heart of Darkness

The Human Rights Movement Edmund Murel. –worked as a shipping clerk. He noticed that while a fortune in rubber and ivory was being exported, the only imports were guns and bullets.

The Human Rights Movement Murel and a British diplomat named Sir Roger Casement set up the Congo Reform Association. Public pressure forced Leopold to sell the Congo Free State to the Belgian government. The Belgian Government ended the worst of the atrocities, but still controlled the fate of the African natives “For their own good.”

The Human Rights Movement The African natives were never consulted about their future