In what resources is the Congo rich? (List five)
Ivory, rubber, diamond, coffee, gold, etc....
How big is the Congo?
Over 3 times the size of Texas. 76 times the size of Belgium.
Who did Leopold pay to explore it?
Henry Morton Stanley.
What type of person was Leopold?
Why did he want an empire?
He wanted a colony so he could built big cities like London and France.
What was so wrong about the treaties the tribal leaders signed?
They had no written language, so they had no idea what they were signing.
How did Leopold fool the rest of the world, including the United States?
He convinced everyone that he was ending the international slave trade. He told them he was giving them aid, and making their lives better.
To what did ‘rock breaking’ refer?
It was to refer to breaking of all resistance and state.
Who was first person to speak out? From what country was this individual and what what this person’s occupation?
George Washington Williams. He was from the US and was a minister, lawyer, and journalist. He believed that what was going on was horrible. He saw slave trade, and inhumanity, and decided to write journals and share them with the world.
What was the instrument of torture used against the workers?
A chicotte. It was a whip made of dried hippo hide that was cut into pieces and dried to make corkscrews on the whip that would cause scars.
How did some Congolese respond to colonial rule?
Some would revolt.
What were the children’s colonies and why were they created?
They were created to make soldiers out of the children, making them only loyal to the State. Most of them were orphans because the troops had killed their parents.
How did Leopold get the Congolese to turn on their countrymen and women?
He would move his troops(Force Publique) to another place so they weren't attached, and they would give them a better life style than working in the fields as slaves.
What strategies did Leopold’s troops use to obtain rubber?
They would rub the rubber all over their bodies. To take it off was extremely painful. They would either cut the vine at the bottom to collect the rubber, or just cut the vine entirely (but it would die), but they would get punished.
The troops would force the people to get the rubber. If they didn't they would cut off their hands, take women and children as hostages, kill villages, and even cut off innocent peoples hands.
More Notes:
Ivory, rubber, diamond, coffee, gold, etc....
How big is the Congo?
Over 3 times the size of Texas. 76 times the size of Belgium.
Who did Leopold pay to explore it?
Henry Morton Stanley.
What type of person was Leopold?
Why did he want an empire?
He wanted a colony so he could built big cities like London and France.
What was so wrong about the treaties the tribal leaders signed?
They had no written language, so they had no idea what they were signing.
How did Leopold fool the rest of the world, including the United States?
He convinced everyone that he was ending the international slave trade. He told them he was giving them aid, and making their lives better.
To what did ‘rock breaking’ refer?
It was to refer to breaking of all resistance and state.
Who was first person to speak out? From what country was this individual and what what this person’s occupation?
George Washington Williams. He was from the US and was a minister, lawyer, and journalist. He believed that what was going on was horrible. He saw slave trade, and inhumanity, and decided to write journals and share them with the world.
What was the instrument of torture used against the workers?
A chicotte. It was a whip made of dried hippo hide that was cut into pieces and dried to make corkscrews on the whip that would cause scars.
How did some Congolese respond to colonial rule?
Some would revolt.
What were the children’s colonies and why were they created?
They were created to make soldiers out of the children, making them only loyal to the State. Most of them were orphans because the troops had killed their parents.
How did Leopold get the Congolese to turn on their countrymen and women?
He would move his troops(Force Publique) to another place so they weren't attached, and they would give them a better life style than working in the fields as slaves.
What strategies did Leopold’s troops use to obtain rubber?
They would rub the rubber all over their bodies. To take it off was extremely painful. They would either cut the vine at the bottom to collect the rubber, or just cut the vine entirely (but it would die), but they would get punished.
The troops would force the people to get the rubber. If they didn't they would cut off their hands, take women and children as hostages, kill villages, and even cut off innocent peoples hands.
More Notes:
- Most people that visited the Congo realized how horrible Leopold was, and what he was doing to the people.