1. Between 1880 and 1920, the population of the Congo was slashed in half; some ten million people were victims of murder, starvation, exposure, disease and a plummeting birth rate. Why do you believe this carnage has remained virtually unknown in the United States and Europe? Leopold became king of Belgium around the time royalty had to start worrying about Parliament and such things as voters. There was this sort of contest Erurope was going through; countries would rush to get as much African land as they could, usually going after the rich land.
Under the ironic and spurious guise of humanitarianism, Leopold built himself an empire in central Africa, lining his pockets and satisfying his egotism, becoming the largest individual landowner in the world, while the brutality of his reign slashed the Congolese population by 10 million people, or approximately in half (Hochschild, 233). The narrative is uplifting at points as it also tells the story of the courageous few Africans, Europeans, and Americans that stood up to Leopold in what, in hindsight, was the first major humanitarian effort of the twentieth century (Straus). The book strikes a fine balance between literary fiction and statistical evidence. Hochschild often invokes Joseph Conrad’s novella Heart of Darkness as an allegory, despite academia’s typical regard for that work as fiction. In fact, Hochschild spends nearly an entire chapter, “Meeting Mr. Kurtz,” on the comparison.
Brittany had created a social system that allowed the upper class African nobility to be treated respectfully, and treat peasants badly while still regarding them as fully human. Harms also explains what drove and inspired the slave traders. He admitted it was “driven by greed and afflicted with inhumanity and caused people to be treated like cattle” (Harms 18). However, Harms mentioned how not everyone involved in the slave trade thought they were doing inhumane acts. Some people defended the slave trade.
- At the Berlin Conference in 1885 Leopold's claims were recognized. -Brutality was used on the people in Joseph Conrad's novel Heart of Darkness, he discusses the cruelties used in the Congo. Southern Africa -Fertile pastures and farm land and deposits of coal, iron ore, gold, diamonds, and copper made it appealing. -Boers or Dutch descendants of 17th and 18th century settlers. -British took over the Cape colony after Napoleonic Wars.
These inventions (refer to Document C for examples) caused great economic expansion across Europe. Yet at the same time, these exact inventions caused for a need of more raw materials. This is where Imperialism began to take shape, because before Imperialism in Africa had begun, there were still many examples of Europeans who’d enslaved africans on their own land. Which meant that once raw materials for machines that needed simple labor in a factory rather than the fields were needed to maintain their great economic boost; whichever European country had the most property in Africa, got to conquer the most land in its entirety (Scramble for Africa). Meaning these now obsolete slaves were being subject to have to watch European countries take over their lands and began industrializing on african soil because of how rich in materials the African land is.
In 1845 there was an uprising in the Congo where the local inhabitants began decolonizing Congo. In this essay, points will be given as well as evidence to show what happened and how the black nationalists and their nationalism saved their country, and brought their independence and self-government to the Congo. The main driving power to free the Congo of the colonists was black nationalism. Black nationalism was used to free the country of colonists, and this meant that all different genders, ages, races and ethnic groups would have to join together to stand up and fight against the colonialists. The black nationalists were very clearly proud of their country, and believed that they should be able to run it in the way they saw fit, and not have some foreign controllers running their country.
Many were mostly sent to the plantations such as the sugar plantations this was mainly in Brazil and in the Caribbean’s. Seasoned slaves were preferred because they were already disciplined by their masters. Finally Africans survived the horrible treatment, and the conditions the most brutal of this was the Atlantic slave trade. When we look back at the struggles that the African Americans went through it testifies to humility and humanity as well as the spirit which is the corner stone as well as the middle of the African American
The film 21 also shows the influence of power and corruption on the American Dream. It also shows a further insight on money’s influence on this and how it affects a person. The more power and affluence a person has, the more self-centred they become. “There’s no way I can lose this time, ” A self directed quote by Ben, further enforces the notion that arrogance stems from the gain of power. It is this arrogance that eventually leads to losses.
In both cases, the slave trade worked to undermine the legitimacy of political institutions and sustain large gulfs between the interests of the ruling classes and those of the common people. Although the trans-Atlantic slave trade was a global system that involved several continents, the trade as a whole was controlled by European middlemen. As Walter Rodney wrote, "Only the European capitalist had such world-wide power, and they used Africans for their own purposes. "[1] However, views differ as to the causes and consequences of the African slave trade in Europe. Eric Williams' economic reductionist argument presented in his 1944 Capitalism and Slavery supported the theory that the move toward African enslaved labour in the Americas was entirely a matter of economic expedience that helped catapult Western Europe to the forefront of a new global capitalist economy.
In Nigeria, things were no different and by 1905 the British had established rule over all of present-day Nigeria. Colonial Nigeria ran from 1800 til 1960 when it gained independence. The slave trade often made Nigeria a violent land. Many were terrified over the prospect of being rounded up in slave raids. Nigerian tribes were outweighed in military resources and skills compared to British forces.