Adam Hochschild is an American author and journalist. One of his best-selling books, King Leopold’s Ghost is based on the history of brutality carried out by King Leopold in the Congo. Before writing this book, Hochschild remembered reading about the terror in the Congo in Joseph Conrad’s book Heart of Darkness. Hochschild had to do more research on Kind Leopold and his reign of terror in the Congo to find out if it was really fact or fiction. He later found out that the “death toll was of Holocaust dimensions” (p. 4) There were a number of different of characters in this book. One was George Washington Williams who was a black journalist and historian and also the first public witness to what Leopold was doing in the Congo. There was
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Leopold would issue warnings banning slave trade but he seemed to be a bit hypocritical by the way he operated. He would chain his “slaves”, whether they were men, women or children, starving and whipping them. Later down the road, rubber would start to be manufactured and Leopold got his hands on it. Around this time, he had gone into some debt with his Congo investment (Hochschild, 159). Leopold’s soldiers started looting all the food sources of a village. They also held women, children, and sometimes chiefs hostage until the men produced enough rubber. The hostages were held in stockades, many died of starvation, and women were raped (Hochschild, 161). Hochschild recounts many stories of people who were present during King Leopold’s reign. One of the stories I feels sums up how people were treated back then was a story told by a woman names Ilanga. She lived in a village called Waniendo that was taken over by “white men and their warriors” (Hochschild, 132). Her and her family were taken from their home, had cords tied to their necks, and were taken to become slaves. Along the road, they were not given any food or and were beaten. Ilanga’s sister had her baby with her and the soldiers took the baby and threw it into the grass to die (Hochschild,
Leopold would issue warnings banning slave trade but he seemed to be a bit hypocritical by the way he operated. He would chain his “slaves”, whether they were men, women or children, starving and whipping them. Later down the road, rubber would start to be manufactured and Leopold got his hands on it. Around this time, he had gone into some debt with his Congo investment (Hochschild, 159). Leopold’s soldiers started looting all the food sources of a village. They also held women, children, and sometimes chiefs hostage until the men produced enough rubber. The hostages were held in stockades, many died of starvation, and women were raped (Hochschild, 161). Hochschild recounts many stories of people who were present during King Leopold’s reign. One of the stories I feels sums up how people were treated back then was a story told by a woman names Ilanga. She lived in a village called Waniendo that was taken over by “white men and their warriors” (Hochschild, 132). Her and her family were taken from their home, had cords tied to their necks, and were taken to become slaves. Along the road, they were not given any food or and were beaten. Ilanga’s sister had her baby with her and the soldiers took the baby and threw it into the grass to die (Hochschild,