Sjobloo Research Paper
Belgium become an independent country not before than 1830 and by law was a neutral country. Therefore, it could not participate in adventures along with the big powers such as Britain and France. Although the Belgian people were not enthusiastic, king Leopold was desperate to make an Empire out of Belgium; his philosophy was that no country is complete without overseas possessions, more precisely, colonies. He did not want Belgium to be left behind the other European countries who had colonies in Africa. Leopold felt pushed out by Britain and France, and the growing power of Germany. When Leopold heard of the American explorer Henry Stanley who had completed several expeditions in Congo, he hired him as his agent and between 1880 and 1884, Stanley established several trading stations, mostly in the lower Congo, and got local natives to sign agreements, not knowing they were giving away their land to Leopold. The area Stanley was able to get consisted of nearly 905,000 square miles. At the beginning, King Leopold gained ownership over Congo mostly
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Edward Sjoblom, who was a missionary, arrived in Congo in 1892 and wrote about his experiences. He was traveling by steamship to choose a adequate location for a mission station. On his very first day of journey, he witnessed a torturing with a hippo hide whip. The white men on the boat agreed that only the whip can civilize the black people. The British Consul in Congo, Roger Casement, created a report in 1903 in which he wrote how natives of Congo were being systematically massacred, whipped and executed for not producing enough rubber. Joseph Conrad, who was a merchant seaman on Congo river, published his novel "Heart of Darkness" in 1902. He wrote about ivory trader named Kurtz and his brutal actions, such as stabbing heads of natives on poles. The novel was like an awakening of consciousness for people who did not know what disasters was Leopold
Edward Sjoblom, who was a missionary, arrived in Congo in 1892 and wrote about his experiences. He was traveling by steamship to choose a adequate location for a mission station. On his very first day of journey, he witnessed a torturing with a hippo hide whip. The white men on the boat agreed that only the whip can civilize the black people. The British Consul in Congo, Roger Casement, created a report in 1903 in which he wrote how natives of Congo were being systematically massacred, whipped and executed for not producing enough rubber. Joseph Conrad, who was a merchant seaman on Congo river, published his novel "Heart of Darkness" in 1902. He wrote about ivory trader named Kurtz and his brutal actions, such as stabbing heads of natives on poles. The novel was like an awakening of consciousness for people who did not know what disasters was Leopold