When it comes to historical events, the happiest are remembered and celebrated while the worst are often forgotten and ignored. The events that have shaped society have not been the pleasant ones but they are the painful, horrendous, and bloody disasters. One such disaster was the exploitation of the Congo by King Leopold II of Belgium in the late 1800s and 1900s. In colonial Africa, the people of the Congo were subjected to personal greed, terror, and a few acts of heroism from specific individuals. The book, King Leopold’s Ghost, written by Adam Hochschild brought this neglected historical event of the African people to life. The individual that started the terror that occurred in the Congo was King Leopold II of Belgium. Leopold was known
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Stanley was famous across Europe as an explorer and that is why he caught Leopold’s eye. Stanley was in the Congo for five years working for King Leopold II and during this time he had his crew make roads, bridges, and stations. He was known as harsh among his crew members and enjoyed giving out punishments. Stanley once stated, “The best punishment is that of irons, because without wounding, disfiguring, or torturing the body, it inflicts shame and discomfort.” This quote shows how Stanley felt about punishing the African members of his crew. He would not punish the white men this way. He would often criticize his workers in his letters to King Leopold calling this lazy and …show more content…
He was from Ireland and worked with the government and joined Edmund Dene Moral and spoke out against King Leopold. They were both part of the Congo Reform Movement. The ways that they would speak out was by writing letters and doing speeches about what was occurring in the Congo. King Leopold II would try to get both men to stop speaking out against him by giving them gifts and potentially bribing them. Casement would write in his diary the horrors he saw and one entry was, “I walked into villages, and saw the nearest one—population dreadfully decreased—only 93 people left out of many hundreds.” This heartbreaking entry fueled his fire for speaking out against King Leopold
Stanley was famous across Europe as an explorer and that is why he caught Leopold’s eye. Stanley was in the Congo for five years working for King Leopold II and during this time he had his crew make roads, bridges, and stations. He was known as harsh among his crew members and enjoyed giving out punishments. Stanley once stated, “The best punishment is that of irons, because without wounding, disfiguring, or torturing the body, it inflicts shame and discomfort.” This quote shows how Stanley felt about punishing the African members of his crew. He would not punish the white men this way. He would often criticize his workers in his letters to King Leopold calling this lazy and …show more content…
He was from Ireland and worked with the government and joined Edmund Dene Moral and spoke out against King Leopold. They were both part of the Congo Reform Movement. The ways that they would speak out was by writing letters and doing speeches about what was occurring in the Congo. King Leopold II would try to get both men to stop speaking out against him by giving them gifts and potentially bribing them. Casement would write in his diary the horrors he saw and one entry was, “I walked into villages, and saw the nearest one—population dreadfully decreased—only 93 people left out of many hundreds.” This heartbreaking entry fueled his fire for speaking out against King Leopold