Leopold Lodewijk Filips Maria Victor was born April 9, 1835, in Brussels, Belgium as the oldest son of King Leopold I. He was the first cousin to Queen Victoria of Britain and became king of the Belgium’s upon the death of his father in 1865. The elected Belgium parliament, and not King Leopold II, had most of the power at the time. King Leopold II set about exploiting the Congo Basin to increase his wealth and his regime was known to be very brutal to the African people. King Leopold II first harvested ivory and then switched to rubber. His men used inhumane tactics to get the local village people to gather and assist with the transport of these items between trading posts using the local men as forced labor. Those that resisted were often shot and their heads cut off as evidence showing why the bullet was used (“Leopold II”).
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American children learn about the many genocides that occur towards other white people but are never taught about the genocide of black people in the Congo at the hand of King Leopold II and his private army
American children learn about the many genocides that occur towards other white people but are never taught about the genocide of black people in the Congo at the hand of King Leopold II and his private army