Scramble for Africa

Scramble for Africa 20th Century World History September 24 - 25, 2012

I can explain why Europeans wanted to take over African countries. • I can see what is created and destroyed in the Congo as it became a colony. • I can write a Raft explaining the perspective of a colonist or a native. Objectives

The Congo "I do not want to risk...losing a fine chance to secure for ourselves a slice of this magnificent African cake.”--Leopold II Belgian Congo

Leopold II of Belgium was an unhappy king. Having only limited power over a tiny realm, he dreamed of ruling a vast empire. After looking around a bit, he settled on the Congo. He was a very greedy man. Belgian Congo

Leopold waged a skillful public relations campaign to promote his “Congo Free State” as an effort to drive Arab slave traders from Africa. However, this was only a ruse. Slave raids such as this one carried out by the kingdom of Dahomey in return for European muskets and money provided Leopold II with his “humanitarian” excuse for going into the Congo. Leopold II fooled everyone into thinking he was a kind man toward his

Leopold even designed this flag for his Congo Free State, the star representing freedom

What ensued was one of the worst cases of exploitation and atrocities in history. Joseph Conrad grimly portrayed it in Heart of Darkness. Some even call what happened in the Congo the “African Holocaust.” Belgian Congo

Using Henry Stanley, a journalist and explorer famous for his tracking down the “presumed” Dr. Livingstone, he swindled unwitting natives, unfamiliar with European contracts and treaties, out of their lands. Belgian Congo Belgian Congo Henry Morton Stanley in his “Stanley Cap” which he designed for exploring the tropics

Leopold’s men then proceeded to rape the land of its riches, especially ivory, ruthlessly using forced labor to get the job done. When Stanley left, Leopold sent in corporations who had private armies to protect their investments. Leopold II urged his men to send large amounts of raw materials, especially rubber.

What is created and destroyed by Leopold’s rule in the Congo?

One of Leopold’s first projects for the Congo was a railroad for hauling out ivory. The line from Matadi to Kinshasa/Leopoldville was 366 kilometers long. The initial stage through the rugged hills around Matadi was especially costly in lives, giving rise to a legend that every sleeper represented a human life. What is created/destroyed?

Left: Ivory gathered by natives who were paid almost nothing –but there were huge profits when sold that went to Europe and Leopold II • Ivory • wide variety of products • ranging from dentures to cue balls and piano keys. The bicycle tire was invented by a man in Scotland. It needed a raw material that the Congo had – rubber. The rubber became red from the blood of the Congo. What is created/destroyed?

Women were kept hostage to force their husbands to go and gather rubber. • Rubber was harvested by climbing the rubber tree, • tapping into it and • letting the sap run all over the slave’s body, where it would congeal. • Later he would peel the rubber off his body, taking any body hair with it. • Rubber harvesters were given impossible quotas to fill each month. • If quotas were not met, villages were destroyed and all the people were killed.

The village of Baringa before and after it was burned & converted into a rubber plantation, it being easier to clear a village than a deeply rooted jungle Belgian Congo What is created and Destroyed?

Belgian Congo Two victims (l.) who lost their hands, one because his wrists were tied too tightly, the other because company militia cut it off to claim him as killed and get a reward. Below, a father looks at the severed hand and foot of his daughter

Leon Rom, the most likely real life model for Conrad’s Mr. Kurtz in Heart of Darkness. Along with displaying a row of severed African heads around his garden, he wrote a book on African customs, painted portraits and landscapes, and kept a butterfly collection. Below: he stands triumphantly over an elephant he just killed. Belgian Congo Affect on Congo – what did men like this create/destroy?

In 1904, Leopold’s bubble burst. • A shipping clerk named Edmund Dene Morel noticed • Vast loads of ivory and rubber were coming from the Congo Free State • Only guns and ammunition seemed to be going back there in payment. • No supplies were heading toward the native • Morel blew the whistle on Leopold & waged a tireless campaign to get the Congo taken from Leopold. • What do men like this create/destroy?

The Belgian government took the Congo from Leopold in 1908. Overall, the atrocities in the Congo killed an estimated 10 million Africans – half the population of the Congo.

I contend that we are the first race in the world and that the more of the world we inhabit the better it is for the human race. … I contend that every acre added to our territory provides for the birth of more of the English race, who otherwise would not be brought into existence. … I believe it to be my duty to god, my Queen and my country to paint the whole map of Africa red. … That is my creed, my dream and my mission."—Cecil Rhodes, quoted in A Plague of Europeans: Westerners in Africa Since the Fifteenth Century by David KillingrayWhat is his driving force for Imperialism? Stretching from Cape Town to Cairo

The Scramble for Africa

Boy soldier forced to fight in the civil war in Uganda Homeless refugees in the Darfur region of Sudan

Highlight the article on China • What was created and destroyed in China during imperialism? • What kind of control did Europeans use in China? China

Dependent Colony • Settlement Colony • Protectorate • Sphere of Influence Types of control

Role • Audience • Format • Topic/Task • You are like an actor in a play but you are writing your part. Today you will be writing a letter. • Let’s look at the rubric • What grade would Mrs. Murphy get for the sample? RAFT

Choose to write as a colonist (from imperial country)or a native. • Look at the requirements – three facts about what happened there… • The viewpoint of your person is correct. • You use vocabulary to show you understand the type of control used by the imperial country in this colony. Your Raft

Quiz on all we have studied to date on Monday/Tuesday of next week • Re-take your quiz 1 today or tomorrow or Monday. • All late work needs to be in by Weds if you want it on your report card. Write in your planner

Scramble for Africa