In order to colonize Congo King Leopold III attended the Berlin conference where he claimed Congo by claiming that he would help the Congolese’ civilize. Once in control of Congo, he then tricked and traded immorally to gain power and wealth - with no consideration to their pain and vulnerability. Overworking and underpaying the Congolese, he destructed their economy and population. Overall, the legacy of colonization in Congo was destructively negative both economically and socially. In the short term, the social impact of colonization in Congo was mainly negative because of the many deaths due to violence. In the long term, the economic impact of colonization was strongly negative because of the bad economy and trickster rulers who added
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This lead congolese to vicious cycle where they had no choice but to work for Leopold. According to E.D. Morel a British journalist, “On the face of the important statistics, the natives were getting nothing or next to nothing. How, then, was this Rubber and ivory being acquired? Certainly not by commercial dealing. Nothing was going in to pay for what was coming out.” Leopold’s schemes ensured he and his companies gained large amounts while never having to work or pay for what they would receive. Instead, Congolese were forced to pay taxed in both money and labor which would ultimately benefit Leopold while the positive effects would never even touch the congolese’ lives. These unfair tricks by Leopold were far too common and while they benefited him, they set Congo’s government up for deterioration and didn’t give the Congolese a chance to grow their own financial system. The World Bank’s economic overview along with social context of Congo’s economy emphasized the lack of improvement in their economy despite all the years that have gone by. In terms of how poor the country is, it described it as 176/187 based on the Human Development in 2015. In 2012 the poverty rate was 63% and it still “remains very high”. Today the country of Congo isn’t much better in terms of their economy. Congo is one of the poorest countries in the world and its history hasn’t helped it in any way. These harsh financial throwbacks in Congo ultimately left them with a virtually washed-out
This lead congolese to vicious cycle where they had no choice but to work for Leopold. According to E.D. Morel a British journalist, “On the face of the important statistics, the natives were getting nothing or next to nothing. How, then, was this Rubber and ivory being acquired? Certainly not by commercial dealing. Nothing was going in to pay for what was coming out.” Leopold’s schemes ensured he and his companies gained large amounts while never having to work or pay for what they would receive. Instead, Congolese were forced to pay taxed in both money and labor which would ultimately benefit Leopold while the positive effects would never even touch the congolese’ lives. These unfair tricks by Leopold were far too common and while they benefited him, they set Congo’s government up for deterioration and didn’t give the Congolese a chance to grow their own financial system. The World Bank’s economic overview along with social context of Congo’s economy emphasized the lack of improvement in their economy despite all the years that have gone by. In terms of how poor the country is, it described it as 176/187 based on the Human Development in 2015. In 2012 the poverty rate was 63% and it still “remains very high”. Today the country of Congo isn’t much better in terms of their economy. Congo is one of the poorest countries in the world and its history hasn’t helped it in any way. These harsh financial throwbacks in Congo ultimately left them with a virtually washed-out