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, Clément Brasseur and Léon 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
Kölnische Zeitung, published, on the authority of ‘a highly esteemed
Belgian, ' news that 1306 severed hands had been turned to the
notorious District Commissioner Léon Fiévez 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 the soldiers want one. The sentries who
are supposed to watch them unchain the prettiest ones and rape them."
~ Hochschild, King Leopold 's Ghost Handout. Although King Leopold II
told the world he was protecting the natives, adding schools and
setting up missionaries, all this cruel, inhumane acts towards the
Congolese caused European and American outrage, causing the Belgium
government to annex Congo colony from its own king in 1908. (Stolk.
Heart of Darkness, Paragraph 4.) "Even so [after annexing Congo],
Belgium did little to develop the colony or educate the natives.
Belgium continued to exploit the Congo 's resources" ~ Wilson.
Belgian Congo Handout.
As time grew, agitation over Congo independence forced Belgium to
grant freedom on the summer of 1960 and it becomes the Republic of
Congo. Nationalists would rise and Patrice Lumumba would become prime
minister and Joseph Kavasubu as head of state. The country would
immediately face mutiny from its army and Katanga, one of its
economically rich provinces, would secede, lead by Moïse Tshombe.
South Kasai, another mining province followed. ("Country Profile:
Democratic Republic of Congo." Overview, Paragraph 3. & "Congo,
Democratic Republic of the." Paragraph 3.) Belgium troops would quell
the war and the UN would send in a peacekeeping for, but was not
allowed to intervene with internal affairs. Republic was already in a
deep conflict of civil war right after its independence. ("Timeline:
Democratic Republic of the Congo") Kavasubu, his rival for power,
would later dismiss Lumumba from his prime minister office and
Lumumba would be killed in 1961. Alleged involvement of the Belgians
and US was scrutinized. ("Congo, Democratic Republic of the."
Paragraph 4.) During that time, Congo was basically a divided nation
and the government couldn 't control it. UN forces were doing as much
as they could to reunite Katanga, but they were later dismissed. In
1965, Joseph-Desiré Mobutu Colonel of the army seized power,
dismissed Kavasubu as head of state and Tshombe as prime minister
just when the central government could control the country. Mobutu 's
regime would prove to be corrupt and getting Congo into a world war
between other African nations. He abolished the prime minister office
set up a presidency. He would change the Republic of Congo to Zaire
and Africanized some of the city names, including its capital,
Léopoldville, to Kinshasa. He wanted Zaire to be "authentically
African", so he changed his Christian name to Mobutu Sese Seko. Zaire
would enjoy stability in the late 1960 's. ("Congo, Democratic
Republic of the." Columbia Encyclopedia, The Mobutu Regime, Paragraph
1.) Although, he suppressed the tribal conflicts and separation of
state, he amassed a tremendous amount of personal fortune through
kleptocracy, a state which those in power exploits national
resources. After 30 years of corruption, Neighboring conflicts and
civil disobedience, Mobutu was ousted by the Tutsi tribe and other
anti-Mobutu rebels, and Laurent Kabila was installed as president in
1997. The name was changed to the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Though he was killed in 2001 by his bodyguard, his son, Joseph
Kabila, is his successor and still is running the rebuilding country
of DR Congo and the UN is still at check with them.

Works Cited

"Congo, Democratic Republic of the." Columbia Encyclopedia. 6th

edition. 2005.

"Congo, Democratic Republic of the." 2005. Pearson Education, Inc.

28, Apr. 2005
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0198161.html

"Country Profile: Democratic Republic of Congo." 16, Feb. 2005. BBC

MMV. 28,
Apr. 2005.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/country_profiles/1076399.stm

Dummett, Mark. "King Leopold 's legacy of DR Congo violence." 24,

Feb. 2004. BBC
MMV. 30, Apr. 2005. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3516965.stm

"Hochschild, Adam." King Leopold 's Ghost. Mariner Books. New York,
New York:
Houghton Mifflin Company, 1998.

Stolk, Martin. "Heart of Darkness." 15 Jun. 2000. Cairo Times. 3 May

2005.
http://www.martinstolk.nl/engels/heart_of_darkness.htm

"Timeline: Democratic Republic of Congo." 8, Mar. 2005. BBC MMV. 30.

Apr. 2005
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/country_profiles/1072684.stm