Figure 1.-- Here we see Congolese children waiting for their food in 1907. We have not been able to find details, but we think that the children may be orphans, their parents killed by the abusive Belgan system. It is possible that thy are children taken in at a mission. The way the children are dressed suggests to us that it may be a mission.

The loans the Belgian Government gave to King Leopold gave the Belgian Government the right to take control of the Congo. Thr Goverment did not, however, exercise its option (1901). The Congo Free State looked like it might continue as an example of a successful private enterprise. Soon after the Belgian Parliament decided not to make the Belgian Free State an actual colony, however, reports filtered out describing the abuses. It is at this time that ugly rumors began to appear in the European press about gastly atrocities being perpetrated by Congo authotities. Actual evidence was hard to come by because the King Leopold's Congo authorities controlled access. They denied the accusations. The Belgian press did not press the issue dilgently. The more aggressive British press did. Not only did the British press have a more open journalistic tradition, but Belgian trade restruictions created considerable indignation as well. As a result, an international campaign to unearth the truth about what was occurring in the Congo began to grow. The turning point came from the British. Roger Casement was the British Consul to the Congo Free State at Boma. The Foreign Office sent him an encrypted cable (1903). The Foreign Office ordered Casement to proceed into the Congo interior to investigate the rumors of abuses being perpetrated against the Congo people. Boma was located at the mouth of the Congo. Casement embarked on an extrordinary journey up the Congo River in the Henry Reed, a small steam launch, hired from American Baptist missionaries. He steamed into the interior of the Congo and only a cursory assessment revealed the awful truth. Casement found villages that have been depopulated. The people he does find are terrified and tell him horific stories of death and torture carried out by the Belgian authorities. And there was more than testimonials to verify stories. There was proof in the large number of traumitized victims whose hands have been amputated. The Foreign Office released the Casement report to the press. Eventually this and other reports were published in Belgian newspapers (1904). E. D. Morel published a similar account. And thanks to advances in photography and lithography, there was photograps which could be easily taken and published in magazines and newspapers. English missionary Alice Seeley Harris provide apauling evience of Belgian atricities. A disdraught Congo father arrived at Harris' mission clutching a parcel that contained what was left of his beloved 5-year-old daughter (1904). Belgian authorities were responsible for killed and dismembering her as a punishment when their village failed to meet the rubber quotas they imposed. The most terrible abuses were carried out in the highly profitable rubber concessions. The Congolese people were essentially enslaved to collect rubber. Inividuals were given quotas to collect. Those who failed to meet the quotas were punished. The punishments varied, but were often terrible--including amputations. As more information was published in Belgium, public pressure mounted for the Government to assume responsibility for administering the Congo Free Sate from the King. Parliament after extended debate decided to do so. Belgium annexed the Congo with a Treaty (November 28, 1907).

Resources

he Congo is a resource rich area. And the most valuable resource in the late-19th century was rubber. An industrializing Europe and America was finding more and more uses for rubber. The profits were very substantial. King Leopold personal receuved half of the resulting profits. The system for producing the latex tree sap frm which rubber was produced. Villages were given a quota of latex to be collected from the rubber trees. To maximize profits, there were many increases in the quotas.

Horific Abuses

T The Belgian concessionary companies conducted systematic and brutal exploitation of the Congo people who became little more than company slaves. The most terrible abuses were carried out in the highly profitable rubber concessions. The Congolese people were essentially enslaved to collect rubber. Inividuals were given quotas to collect. If the target is not met, reprisals are savage. Those who failed to meet the quotas were punished. The punishments varied. Villages were looted and burned. There were amputations and execultions. Families were butchered. Severed hands were a way that the companies could be certain that their barbaric militia were maintaining control and not wasting ammunition. Hands were portable evidence of disciplinary activity.

Belgian Government Declines to Take Control of the Congo

The loans the Belgian Government gave to King Leopold gave the Belgian Government the right to take control of the Congo. Thr Goverment, however, not wishing to upset King Leopold did not exercise its option (1901). The Congo Free State looked like it might continue as an example of a successful private enterprise. Soon after the Belgian Parliament decided not to make the Belgian Free State an actual colony, however, reports filtered out describing terrible abuses.

Reports of Absuses

It is at this time that ugly rumors began to appear in the European press about gastly atrocities being perpetrated by Congo authotities. Actual evidence was hard to come by at first because the King Leopold's Congo authorities controlled access. They denied the accusations. The Belgian press did not press the issue dilgently. The more aggressive British press did. Not only did the British press have a more open journalistic tradition, but Belgian trade restruictions created considerable indignation as well.

Investigations

As a result, an international campaign to unearth the truth about what was occurring in the Congo began to grow. The turning point came from the British. Roger Casement was the British Consul to the Congo Free State at Boma. The Foreign Office sent him an encrypted cable (1903). The Foreign Office ordered Casement to proceed into the Congo interior to investigate the rumors of abuses being perpetrated against the Congo people. Boma was located at the mouth of the Congo. Casement embarked on an extrordinary journey up the Congo River in the Henry Reed, a small steam launch, hired from American Baptist missionaries. He steamed into the interior of the Congo and only a cursory assessment revealed the awful truth. Casement found villages that have been depopulated. The people he does find are terrified and tell him horific stories of death and torture carried out by the Belgian authorities. And there was more than testimonials to verify stories. There was proof in the large number of traumitized victims whose hands have been amputated. The Foreign Office released the Casement report to the press. Eventually this and other reports were published in Belgian newspapers (1904). E. D. Morel published a similar account. And thanks to advances in photography and lithography, there was photograps which could be easily taken and published in magazines and newspapers.

Photographs

English missionary Alice Seeley Harris provide apauling evience of Belgian atricities. A disdraught Congo father arrived at Harris' mission clutching a parcel that contained what was left of his beloved 5-year-old daughter (1904). Belgian authorities were responsible for killed and dismembering her as a punishment when their village failed to meet the rubber quotas they imposed.

Belgian Government Takes Control

As more information was published in Belgium, public pressure mounted for the Government to assume responsibility for administering the Congo Free Sate from the King. Parliament after extended debate decided to do so. Belgium annexed the Congo with a Treaty (November 28, 1907).

Created: 10:41 AM 3/16/2017
Last updated: 10:41 AM 3/16/2017