Summary Of King Leopold's Ghost
Adam Hochschild’s King Leopold’s Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroics in Colonial Africa presents insight into the nature of a Central-African fiefdom owned entirely by a single European man: Leopold II, King of the Belgians. Recorded history of the Congo began with Portuguese arrival on the west-coast of Africa in the late 15th-century; further colonization was limited to the coastline as equatorial diseases and terrain proved too hospital for Europeans, leaving the Congo Basin unobtainable and unwanted. It was not until some 400-years later that the Congo found a hospitable suiter, an ambitious Belgian king whose inadequately-small kingdom instilled him with dreams of empire. Through proxy organizations for African development and
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recognized Leopold’s État indépendant du Congo in 1884, followed then by other colonial powers. The Congo Free State exercised a monopoly upon all exports with Leopold as its sole proprietor and profiteer. The Congo’s initial prospect was ivory, but the 1890s created a craze for an elastic, durable material: rubber. Both trades proved exceptional lucrative. Failure to meet work quotas resulted in whippings, hostage taking, and amputating appendages. Acknowledge of these atrocities was nonexistent until Edmund Morel, a dock supervisor first noticed the Congo’s riches only compensated by imports of ammunition and soldiers. Morel’s scrutinous journalism reached all of British society, pressing for a Parliamentary investigation. The Africa-hardened British-Congolese consul, Roger Casement, found and exposed the horrors of Leopold’s Congo in his official report, detailing statistics and first-hand accounts. Upon returning to England, Casement met and befriended Morel; together they formed the Congo Reform Association, the foundational modern human rights movement. The organization grew and spread, successfully
recognized Leopold’s État indépendant du Congo in 1884, followed then by other colonial powers. The Congo Free State exercised a monopoly upon all exports with Leopold as its sole proprietor and profiteer. The Congo’s initial prospect was ivory, but the 1890s created a craze for an elastic, durable material: rubber. Both trades proved exceptional lucrative. Failure to meet work quotas resulted in whippings, hostage taking, and amputating appendages. Acknowledge of these atrocities was nonexistent until Edmund Morel, a dock supervisor first noticed the Congo’s riches only compensated by imports of ammunition and soldiers. Morel’s scrutinous journalism reached all of British society, pressing for a Parliamentary investigation. The Africa-hardened British-Congolese consul, Roger Casement, found and exposed the horrors of Leopold’s Congo in his official report, detailing statistics and first-hand accounts. Upon returning to England, Casement met and befriended Morel; together they formed the Congo Reform Association, the foundational modern human rights movement. The organization grew and spread, successfully