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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 3 page essay that discusses the atrocities committed in the Congo under the colonial rule of King Leopold of Belgium as reported in Adam Hochschild's King Leopold's Ghost (1998). No additional sources cited.
Page Count:
3 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_khleo2.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
from imperialism. As documented in his text King Leopolds Ghost (1998), historian Adam Hochschild shows that it was primarily his enriching his personal wealth that motivated Leopolds obsession, as the
monarch saw the possibility of making the Congo his own personal fiefdom. To the world, Leopold showed a different face, asserting that his motives for venturing into Africa were purely
philanthropic. To legitimize this front for his personal ambitions, Leopold organized the International African Association (IAA) and assembled a 190-man "civilizing" crusade that would venture into the heart of Africa
led by the most famous explorer of the age, American Henry Morton Stanley. Under the guise of curbing Arab slave trade, advancing science and bringing the benefits of Christianity
to the "savages" of Africa, Leopold was able to convince several influential Americans as his boosters, earning the backing of the US to his claim to the Congo. The French
government also endorsed his claim, hoping that when Leopold ran out of funds, he would sell the Congo to France. By 1884, the International Association of the Congo was in
place and it formed the basis for Leopolds personal African colony and the plundering of the region could begin in earnest. From a modern perspective, it is reprehensible that
Western European nations and the US condone imperialism, in the first place; however, the people, at the time, who supported King Leopolds colonization of the Congo would have undoubtedly argued
that this was a humanitarian effort for the good of the Congolese people. This attitude would prove to be hypocritical. Rather than any benefit, this imperialist effort resulted in atrocities
that rival in the Nazi Holocaust in deaths and brutality. Initially, the profits from his colony were quite modest and came primarily from trade in ivory. However, new technologies
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