When searching, King Leopold had explorer Henry Morton Stanley look for land, in which he would claim the region known as the Congo. King Leopold’s Ghost by Adam Hochschild investigates the “exploitation of the Congo Free State by King Leopold II of Belgium between 1885 and 1908”. History. --Leopold II of Belgium King Leopold of Belgium ruled the Congo between 1885-1908. He turned two-thirds of the country into his private land. Many Congolese were killed as a result of Leopold's policies in the Congo before the reforms of direct Belgian rule. This smokescreen had effectively deceived Europe and even gained the recognition of the United States. Rubber Production in Sub-Saharan Africa. Leopold II's rule over the Congo was a horror story with a body count on par with Hitler's, so why haven't more people heard of him? Stanley had reported temples of ivory, and people had found caches of rubber there. King Leopold II Before Congo: Manipulation. To enforce the rubber quotas, the colonists cut off the limbs of the natives as a matter of policy. From 1885-1908, the Congo Free State under the personal rule of King Leopold … King Leopold and many in Belgium knew about this ongoing catastrophe that was happening in Congo. King Leopold II’s Rule By Atrocity. Leopold wanted to make it profitable. The people there were Answer the question by taking notes from the readings in the boxes below and share out with each other. A few accounts mentioned that the people were paid pennies for their labor, but it was soon stopped, and then they were forced to … This book tells the story of how King Leopold II of Belgium took the land around the Congo River and claimed it as his own calling it the Congo Free State. "I do not want to miss a good chance of getting us a slice of this magnificent African cake." King Leopold II, who owned the Congo Free State as a private enterprise, systematically exploited the native population for his own commercial benefit, most notably with the production of wild rubber. Leopold II used explorer Henry Morton Stanley to lay claim on the area of the modern-day Democratic Republic of Congo. “King Leopold’s Legacy of DR Congo Violence.” (n.d.): n. pag. King Leopold, Imperialism, Congo . The results proved devastating to the region in many ways. The reign of King Leopold II ran from 1865, when he succeeded his father as King of the Belgians, to his death in 1909. Congo in 1879 to show the world that he wanted to drive the Arab slavers out of the Congo and establish free trade. For the next five years, Stanley travels the immense waterways of the Congo. With support from a number of Western countries who saw Leopold as a useful A few years later Leopold hired Henry Morton Stanley to be his man in Africa. King Leopold II of Belgium was responsible for the deaths and mutilation of 10 million Congolese Africans during the late 1800’s. The genocide in the Congo is one of the most forgotten pieces of history, but the damage has been long-lasting. King Leopold II’s personal rule of the vast Congo Free State anticipated the horrors of the 20th century, argues Tim Stanley. King Leopold of Belgium was unhappy with his native land and the role he played within his kingdom, as other European powers grew their colonial empires all over the globe, King Leopold sought out for his own. King Leopold II of Belgium, frustrated by his nation's lack of international power and prestige, tried to persuade the Belgian government to support colonial expansion around the then-largely unexplored Congo Basin. He would name the area Congo Free State. Dummett, Mark. Exploitation and Imperialism . King Leopold II took ownership of two-thirds of the Congo land by force and mandated the real owners of the land to work for him as slaves. More than 10 million Africans died when the king ruled over the Congo from 1885 to 1908. There was scandal when the atrocities in the Congo Free State were made public, causing the Free State to be taken over by the Belgian Government. Tim Stanley | Published in History Today Volume 62 Issue 10 October 2012. Stanley had reported temples made of ivory, and people had found collections made of rubber there. One of the main beneficiaries was King Leopold the Second of Belgium. What King Leopold II actually did with the organization was to send Henry Morton When did King Leopold II rule the Congo? He turned two-thirds of the country into his own private land. To enforce his authority, Leopold relied upon a … As a ruler, it was his due responsibility to provide relief to the people if he is taken so much advantage of them. In less than 20 years, African territory would be placed under European colonial rule. When I was a boy we used to play a car game called Name Five Famous Belgians. Born in Brussels, the capital of Belgium, on 04/09/1835, Leopold II was the second son to King Leopold I. King Leopold II was granted personal control over huge areas around the Congo river basin - what would become known as the Congo Free State. 10 Nov. 2014. “And so the full history of Leopold’s rule in the Congo and of the movement that opposed it dropped out of Europe’s memory, perhaps even more swiftly and completely than did the other mass killings that tool place in the colonization of Africa.” (Hochschild 296) The Aftermath of Leopold . Belgian Imperialism in the Congo Free State was done to extract rubber in order to supply the demand created by the industrial revolution, urbanization, and the growth of the consumer class in European and neo-European countries. 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