Two prominent writers, Arthur Conan Doyle (creator of Sherlock Holmes) and Mark Twain, bought the issue to wider attention. In Western Europe many books, pamphlets and newspaper cartoons drew attention to Leopold’s atrocities in the early 1900s. These images seared themselves into viewers’ minds. Then Morel and his allies circulated photos of people in the Congo missing one or both hands. Morel, through his work for a shipping company, realized that Leopold was using slave labor to loot the Congo he and others, joined by several missionaries, organized the opposition.Īt first, it was hard to get the world’s attention. He was a skilled orator and writer, and might have threatened Leopold’s plans… but he came down with tuberculosis and died soon thereafter. Among the first was George Washington Williams, a black American who at first believed the stories he heard about Leopold’s humanitarianism, went to see for himself the utopia that had been created, and instead found a living hell. George Washington Williams had served in the Ohio (USA) legislature, before traveling to the Congo.Ī number of people tried to tell the world about the atrocities in the Congo. Or the amputations could be punishment: A picture from 1905 shows a young boy who had one hand and one foot cut off when his village failed to meet its rubber quota. Sometimes, a soldier might use a bullet for hunting, then chop off the hand of a living person, with blood spurting out from the arm stub. But the practice didn’t stay confined to corpses. A soldier who shot and killed someone was required to cut off the right hand, and present it as evidence that the bullet had been used for an approved purpose. But they didn’t want bullets “wasted” on private hunting. Leopold and his lieutenants had no objection to villagers being murdered for refusal to cooperate. One method became notorious above all others: Cutting off hands. This photo was used by the missionary Alice Seeley Harris, who campaigned against Leopold in England. Soldiers cut off her hand, then claimed it came from a rubber worker they had killed. His hands were destroyed by gangrene after soldiers tied him too tightly. Sentries cut off one hand and one foot because his village failed to meet its rubber quota. Whippings, torture, rape, and casual murder were also widely documented. Make her a present and send her to her chief to begin negotiations.” There was a booklet of tips for hostage-takers: “When you feel you have enough captives, you should choose among them an old person, preferably an old woman. One that worked well: Women were seized and held hostage until their husbands returned with a full quota of rubber. They had to be forced, and Leopold’s overseers had several methods. Leopold turned his energies toward this new source of wealth.Ĭollecting rubber sap is unpleasant and often dangerous work. The Congo had wild rubber, the trick was to collect it. Soon automobile tires created an even bigger market. Now you could have a comfortable ride on a bicycle, with the tires acting as cushions. In the 1890s an unexpected invention changed the world: The inflatable tire. Furthermore, his European allies would also benefit he promised to open the Congo to free trade.Īt first, ivory was the main export. He would save the Congo from evil Arab slave traders. To win acceptance from other Western powers – the only voices that mattered – he portrayed himself as a humanitarian. The best spots were already taken so Leopold looked at the vast, unmapped interior of Africa. Early in life, Leopold set his heart on having a colony – of his own, as a personal possession and source of wealth. But its ruler, King Leopold II, was greedy beyond measure. Belgium itself had no colonial aspirations. One not-so-great power also got involved: The tiny kingdom of Belgium. Follow the late 1800s, the great powers of Europe carved up Africa, grabbing colonies for themselves.
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