When I arrived in the Congo, I naturally sought for the results of the brilliant programme: fostering care, benevolent enterprise, an honest and practical effort to increase the knowledge of the natives and secure their welfare. They know that to kill, to sleep with someone elses wife, to lie and to insult is bad. At length he appealed to the Governor-General, and he gave him the woman and thus the trader obtained the child also. It taxes all trading companies and exempts its own goods from export-duty, and makes many of its officers ivory-traders, with the promise of a liberal commission upon all they can buy or get for the State. that he brought fourth about the government and how they wronged the people of the When Leopold was 65, he took the 16-year-old prostitute Caroline Lacroix as his mistress. I know of prisoners remaining in custody for six and ten months because they were not judged. George Washington Williams, An Open Letter to His Serene Majesty Leopold II, King of the Belgians and Sovereign of the Independent State of Congo By Colonel, The Honorable Geo. The white brother took from his pocket a cigar, carelessly bit off the end, held up his glass to the sun and complaisantly smoked his cigar to the great amazement and terror of his black brother. Why are Nigerians cooking with paracetamol? The black servants in the hotel, where the wine had been stolen, had been often accused and beaten for these thefts, and now they were glad to be vindicated. An open letter to His Serene Majesty Leopold III, King of the Belgians In 1870 roughly 80 percent of Africa south of the Sahara Desert was governed by indigenous kings, chiefs, and other rulers. dealings with the native people They are ignorant of native character, lack wisdom, 20072023 Blackpast.org. That same year Joseph Conrad trained as a steamship captain on the Congo River. He was very vocal His Heart of Darkness is an accurate description of the Congo drawn from his experience. founders and sponsors to foster understanding through knowledge They were the very first royal family of Belgium, because the country was just 5 years old. Some of the charges The issues addressed in his writings are varied and the major theme is the But Williams went anyways. The staple argument was that the white mans heart had grown sick of the wars and rumours of war between one chief and another, between one village and another; that the white man was at peace with his black brother, and desired to confederate all African tribes for the general defense and public welfare. Your white men sicken and die in their quarters or on the caravan road, and seldom have Christian burial. people of the Congos lives. Copyright 2023 StudeerSnel B.V., Keizersgracht 424, 1016 GC Amsterdam, KVK: 56829787, BTW: NL852321363B01, The Methodology of the Social Sciences (Max Weber), Civilization and its Discontents (Sigmund Freud), Biological Science (Freeman Scott; Quillin Kim; Allison Lizabeth), Campbell Biology (Jane B. Reece; Lisa A. Urry; Michael L. Cain; Steven A. Wasserman; Peter V. Minorsky), Principles of Environmental Science (William P. Cunningham; Mary Ann Cunningham), Business Law: Text and Cases (Kenneth W. Clarkson; Roger LeRoy Miller; Frank B. Posted on August 20, 2009 September 3, 2019 by contributed by: BlackPast. This was definitely a letter that I would like to use when teaching hopefully FOURTH.The Courts of your Majestys Government are abortive, unjust, partial and delinquent. ), and I was doomed to bitter disappointment. Meet the man who has donated blood every week for 60 years! I have the honour to submit for your Majesty's consideration some reflections respecting the Independent . There is no white commissioned officer at these posts; they are in charge of the black Zanzibar soldiers, and the State expects them not only to sustain themselves, but to raid enough to feed the garrisons where the white men are stationed. As to the significance of this move Europe and America can judge without any comment from me, especially England. History's deadliest king - Georges Nzongola-Ntalaja | TED-Ed Your Majestys Government gives 3 per head for able bodied slaves for military service. Blackpast is a collection of Documents and W. Williams, of the United States of America, 1890. They are introduced by two methods, viz., black men are dispatched to the Portuguese coast where they engage these women as mistresses of white men, who pay to the procurer a monthly sum. The African soldiers and labourers of your Majestys Government fare worse than the whites, because they have poorer quarters, quite as bad as those of the natives; and in the sheds, called hospitals, they languish upon a bed of bamboo poles without blankets, pillows or any food different from that served to them when well, rice and fish. The white man took a percussion cap gun, tore the end of the paper which held the powder to the bullet, and poured the powder and paper into the gun, at the same time slipping the bullet into the sleeve of the left arm. The children have to learn to obey what the missionary recommends, who is the father of their soul. within the next 4 years and I would like to use information like this when I do begin my They are ignorant and cruel, because they do not comprehend the natives; they are imposed upon them by the State. using dialogue as a catalyst for social change. 1950s (London: Frank Cass and Company Limited, 1969). No white man commanded his rear column, and his troops were allowed to straggle, sicken and die; and their bones were scattered over more than two hundred miles of territory. But to the surprise of every honest man, the thief was sheltered by the Governor General of your Majestys Government. SECOND.Your Majestys Government has established nearly fifty posts, consisting of from two to eight mercenary slave-soldiers from the East Coast. The propensity for violence is . SECOND.Your Majestys Government has established nearly fifty posts, consisting of from two to eight mercenary slave-soldiers from the East Coast. and takes the bullet from his shoe! Maryland, Lagos. His testimony joined hundreds of others to help bring an end to one of the greatest atrocities in human history. Allegations fly on social media, Volunteers to be paid 3,500 to get infected with coronavirus, Katy Perrys pregnancy and wedding plans with Orlando Bloom. Excerpts from The Crime of the Congo ''The Guilt of Delay'' (1909 . Melanie Knight The white man took a percussion cap gun, tore the end of the paper which held the powder to the bullet, and poured the powder and paper into the gun, at the same time slipping the bullet into the sleeve of the left arm. Major Barttelot was shot by a Zanzibar soldier, and the captain of a Belgian trading-boat was the victim of his own rash and unjust treatment of a native chief. After much begging the black brother aims the gun at his white brother, pulls the trigger, the gun is discharged, the white man stoops . of directors, advisory board, teacher advisory board, and volunteer staff. P.IVA: 02825660596. The letter created a . 1 They are ignorant of native character, lack wisdom, justice, fortitude and patience. 9. Instead of the natives of the Congo adopting the fostering care of your Majestys Government, they everywhere complain that their land has been taken from them by force; that the Government is cruel and arbitrary, and declare that they neither love nor respect the Government and its flag. There has been, to my absolute knowledge, no honest and practical effort made to increase their knowledge and secure their welfare. Your Majestys Government has never spent one franc for educational purposes, nor instituted any practical system of industrialism. (1960) Patrice Lumumbas Last Letter to Pauline Lumumba, African American History: Research Guides & Websites, Global African History: Research Guides & Websites, African American Scientists and Technicians of the Manhattan Project, Envoys, Diplomatic Ministers, & Ambassadors, Africa-Democratic Republic of the Congo (Zaire), Foundation, Organization, and Corporate Supporters. Mr. H. M. STANLEY, the man who was your chief agent in setting up your authority in this country, has grossly misrepresented the character of the country. FOURTH.The Courts of your Majestys Government are abortive, unjust, partial and delinquent. Under Leopold II's administration, the Congo Free State became one of the greatest international scandals of the early 20th century. When my ex became rich and famous, I thought I was going to die! These recruits are transported under circumstances more cruel than cattle in European countries. I appeal to the Belgian people and to their Constitutional Government, so proud of its traditions, replete with the song and story of its champions of human liberty, and so jealous of its present position in the sisterhood of European Statesto cleanse itself from the imputation of the crimes with which your Majestys personal State of Congo is polluted. They are enemies, not patriots. Sick sailors frequently die on board their vessels at Banana Point; and if it were not for the humanity of the Dutch Trading Company at that placewho have often opened their private hospital to the sick of other countriesmany more might die. Open letter to King Leopold on Congo - Passerino Editore George Washington Williams (October 16, 1849 - August 2, 1891) was a soldier in the American Civil War and in Mexico before becoming a Baptist minister, politician, lawyer . Search the history of over 806 billion From Leopoldville to NGombe, a distance of more than 300 miles, there is not a single soldier or civilian. The Scramble for Africa edited by Barbara Harlow and Mia Carter, 770-780. George Washington Williams' Open Letter to King Leopold - docmadson The natives can scarcely subsist upon the vegetable life produced in some parts of the country. I now would There, dear patriots, are some of the principles that you must apply. King Leopold on Congo PSA.pdf - Leopold's Open Letter nothing to help the people of the Congo to be educated. But the only thing they found in the wake of his march was misery. When these men run away a reward of 1,000 Ntaka is offered. "An Open Letter to His Serene Majesty Leopold II" In Archives of Empire: Volume 2. I was anxious to see to what extent the natives had adopted the fostering care of your Majestys benevolent enterprise (? Discovering the website blackpast has provided a plethora of information on In such slave-hunting raids one village is armed by the State against the other, and the force thus secured is incorporated with the regular troops. I have no adequate terms with which to depict to your Majesty the brutal acts of your soldiers upon such raids as these. All Rights Reserved. to an end. Using eyewitness accounts, letters, and official records, Williams became the first to shatter the kings carefully cultivated image of his rule of the African territory. This is Looking in to why the website was He pointed out in twelve charges against the Belgium My girlfriend has refused to go back to her house, A SAD story about a GAY man dying from AIDS, How I discovered my husband is GAY during the coronavirus lockdown. The source that is being analyzed is the open letter written by George Washington William's to King Leopold on the Congo, 1890. But I take the liberty to say that many of these officers are too young and inexperienced to be entrusted with the difficult work of dealing with native races. Your Majestys Government gives 3 per head for able bodied slaves for military service. King Leopold's Soliloquy. Utilizziamo i cookie per essere sicuri che tu possa avere la migliore esperienza sul nostro sito. TWELFTHThe agents of your Majestys Government have misrepresented the Congo country and the Congo railway. For thousands of years, that territory had been conquered by nearby Netherlands, France, Germany, and Luxembourg. It is natural that they everywhere shrink from the fostering care your Majestys Government so eagerly proffers them. Whenever children are born of such relations, the State maintains that the women being its property the child belongs to it also. The Book of Negroes is a series of documents listing persons of African ancestry who were evacuated from the United States at the end of the American Revolution. The original source came from blackpast. George Washington Williams, An Open Letter to His Serene Majesty Leopold II, King of the Belgians and Sovereign of the Independent State of Congo By Colonel, The Honorable Geo. written to King Leopold by George Washington Williams in 1890. Between 800 and 1,000 slaves are sold to be eaten by the natives of the Congo State annually; and slave raids, accomplished by the most cruel and murderous agencies, are carried on within the territorial limits of your Majestys Government which is impotent. WhatsApp Only +2347014043648. EIGHTH.Your Majestys Government has violated the General Act of the Conference of Berlin by firing upon native canoes; by confiscating the property of natives; by intimidating native traders, and preventing them from trading with white trading companies; by quartering troops in native villages when there is no war; by causing vessels bound from Stanley-Pool to Stanley-Falls, to break their journey and leave the Congo, ascend the Aruhwimi river to Basoko, to be visited and show their papers; by forbidding a mission steamer to fly its national flag without permission from a local Government; by permitting the natives to carry on the slave- trade, and by engaging in the wholesale and retail slave-trade itself. FIRST.Your Majestys Government is deficient in the moral military and financial strength, necessary to govern a territory o 1,508,000 square miles, 7,251 miles of navigation, and 31,694 square miles of lake surface. It may be safely asserted that no barbarous people have ever so readily adopted the fostering care of benevolent enterprise, as have the tribes of the Congo, and never was there a more honest and practical effort made to increase their knowledge and secure their welfare. In French. Adam Hochschild's "King Leopold's Ghost" is a lost historical account starting in the late 19th century continuing into the 20th century of the enslavement of an entire country. how he thought the Natives should be dealt with. 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G. W. Williams, "An Open Letter to His Serene Majesty Leopold II, King Do you find this information helpful? 1. A small donation would help us keep this available to all. What he witnessed, according to the American journalist and historian Adam Hochschild, was so brutal that, in a confidential letter, Williams accused King Leopold of crimes against humanity, decades before the term would reappear in the Nuremberg trials and . They are ignorant of native character, lack wisdom, justice, fortitude and patience. Three hundred and sixteen slaves were sent down the river recently, and others are to follow. After having been impressed by meeting King Leopold II of Belgium, he traveled in 1890 to the Congo Free State ( then owned by the king) to see its development. 2021-22, Scavanger Hunt - Human anatomy scavenger hunt, Analytical Reading Activity 10th Amendment, 324069444 Introduction to Mastering Chemistry, EDUC 327 The Teacher and The School Curriculum Document, Leadership class , week 3 executive summary, I am doing my essay on the Ted Talk titaled How One Photo Captured a Humanitie Crisis https, School-Plan - School Plan of San Juan Integrated School, SEC-502-RS-Dispositions Self-Assessment Survey T3 (1), Techniques DE Separation ET Analyse EN Biochimi 1. I appeal to Anti-Slavery Societies in all parts of Christendom, to Philanthropists, Christians, Statesmen, and to the great mass of people everywhere, to call upon the Governments of Europe, to hasten the close of the tragedy your Majestys unlimited Monarchy is enacting in the Congo. Be the first one to, An open letter to His Serene Majesty Leopold III, King of the Belgians and Sovereign of the Independent State of Congo, Advanced embedding details, examples, and help, Terms of Service (last updated 12/31/2014). They thought it meant complete subjugation, and they fled in confusion. Passerino Editore Rev. Your Majestys Government has sequestered their land, burned their towns, stolen their property, enslaved their women and children, and committed other crimes too numerous to mention in detail. It buys and sells and steals slaves. The soldiers who open the combat are usually the bloodthirsty cannibalistic Bangalas, who give no quarter to the aged grandmother or nursing child at the breast of its mother. congo-1890 5 , page 13 W. Williams, of the United States of America," 1890. When I arrived in the Congo, I naturally sought for the results of the brilliant programme: fostering care, benevolent enterprise, an honest and practical effort to increase the knowledge of the natives and secure their welfare. New York, USA: Duke University Press, 2004. . This is a fake. Sentiments of American Negro Leaders on Africa From the 1800s to the In 1935, while working in the Congo, Muikwani Bukoko bought a second-hand Bible from a Belgian priest who forgot the speech in the Bible. Next came the lens act. Programming Project - Word doc comes with QuadraticMain and QuadraticCalculator Java class files, Lab 2 - CYB 606 - Template w/instructions, seven questions, answers, and pictures. Congo being maltreated but also the Belgium men that were being sent over were sick website blackpast. FIFTHYour Majestys Government is excessively cruel to its prisoners, condemning them, for the slightest offences, to the chain gang, the like of which can not be seen in any other Government in the civilized or uncivilized world. Adelaide Cromwell Hill & Martin Kilson, eds., Apropos of Africa: The book tells the story of King Leopold and his selfish attempt to essentially make Belgium bigger starting with the Congo. . source of this documents authenticity I looked at the original source first. When these men run away a reward of 1,000 Ntaka is offered. All the sleight-of- hand tricks had been carefully rehearsed, and he was now ready for his work. how he felt about Belgium treatment of the Natives. Uploaded by Such criticism will come with more grace from some Belgian statesman, who may remember that there is no constitutional or organic relation subsisting between his Government and the purely personal and absolute monarchy your Majesty has established in Africa. Otis Moss, III: The Criminalization of Blackness, #NowWhatBmore: Baltimore hosts a townhall on what lessons it can learn from #Ferguson. To discover the Se continui ad utilizzare questo sito noi assumiamo che tu ne sia felice. African American history in one place that will provide me with a resource to use once I Three hundred Ntakabrassrod-is the price the State pays for a slave, when bought from a native. Never invite him for dinner even if he gives you a chicken every time you arrive at his house.. Often these ox-chains eat into the necks of the prisoners and produce sores about which the flies circle, aggravating the running wound; so the prisoner is constantly worried. There are from sixty to seventy officers of the Belgian army in the service of your Majestys Government in the Congo of whom only about thirty are at their post; the other half are in Belgium on furlough. 6 Ibid, page 6 They have estranged the natives from your Majestys Government, have sown the seed of discord between tribes and villages, and some of them have stained the uniform of the Belgian officer with murder, arson and robbery. Upon the arrival of the survivors in the Congo they are set to work as labourers at one shilling a day; as soldiers they are promised sixteen shillings per month, in English money, but are usually paid off in cheap handkerchiefs and poisonous gin. 1 had never been able to conceive of Europeans, establishing a government in a tropical country, without building a hospital; and yet from the mouth of the Congo River to its head-waters, here at the seventh cataract, a distance of 1,448 miles, there is not a solitary hospital for Europeans, and only three sheds for sick Africans in the service of the State, not fit to be occupied by a horse. There are instances in which they have brought the heads of their victims to their white officers on the expeditionary steamers, and afterwards eaten the bodies of slain children. Against the deceit, fraud, robberies, arson, murder, slave-raiding, and general policy of cruelty of your Majestys Government to the natives, stands their record of unexampled patience, long-suffering and forgiving spirit, which put the boasted civilisation and professed religion of your Majestys Government to the blush. Officers at the chief stations get the men and receive the money when they are transferred to the State; but there are some middle-men who only get from twenty to twenty-five francs per head. place for people to be able to obtain accurate information on African American heritage There is not a single chaplain in the employ of your Majestys Government to console the sick or bury the dead. Just some are. King Leopold II and the CongoThe European colonization of Africa was one of the greatest and swiftest conquests in human history. he did not hold back on his opinion of his Majestys Government. With few exceptions, the surgeons of your Majestys Government have been gentlemen of professional ability, devoted to duty, but usually left with few medical stores and no quarters in which to treat their patients. FIFTHYour Majestys Government is excessively cruel to its prisoners, condemning them, for the slightest offences, to the chain gang, the like of which can not be seen in any other Government in the civilized or uncivilized world. all that was wrong with what was going on in the Congo. They have estranged the natives from your Majestys Government, have sown the seed of discord between tribes and villages, and some of them have stained the uniform of the Belgian officer with murder, arson and robbery. DuBois, An Appeal to the World : A Statement of Denial of Human Rights to Minorities, PREAMBLE Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world, Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which Read More(1948) United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, We Charge Genocide: The Historic Petition to the United Nations for Relief From a Crime of The United States Government Against the Negro People (1951) Introduction: Out of the inhuman black ghettos of American cities, out of the cotton plantations of the South, comes this Read More(1951) We Charge Genocide, The Freedom Charter Adopted at the Congress of the People, Kliptown, on 26 June 1955 We, the People of South Africa, declare for all our country and the world to know: that South Africa belongs to all who live in it, black and white, and Read More(1955) The South African Freedom Charter, My beloved companion, I write you these words not knowing whether you will receive them, when you will receive them, and whether I will still be alive when you read them. In early April 1891 Williams wrote a letter to Leopold entitled An Open Letter to His Serene Majesty Leopold II, King of the Belgians and Sovereign of the Independent State of Congo about the suffering of the region at the hands of Leopold's agents. This letter was accessed through the An open letter to His Serene Majesty Leopold II: King of the Belgians and Sovereign of the Independent State of Congo. I appeal to our Heavenly Father, whose service is perfect love, in witness of the purity of my motives and the integrity of my aims; and to history and mankind I appeal for the demonstration and vindication of the truthfulness of the charge I have herein briefly outlined. King Leopold II had obtained the Congo to supposedly enrich the lives of the people who lived there. Every charge which I am about to bring against your Majestys personal Government in the Congo has been carefully investigated; a list of competent and veracious witnesses, documents, letters, official records and data has been faithfully prepared, which will be deposited with Her Britannic Majestys Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, until such time as an International Commission can be created with power to send for persons and papers, to administer oaths, and attest the truth or falsity of these charges. A number of electric batteries had been purchased in London, and when attached to the arm under the coat, communicated with a band of ribbon which passed over the palm of the white brothers hand, and when he gave the black brother a cordial grasp of the hand the black brother was greatly surprised to find his white brother so strong, that he nearly knocked him off his feet in giving him the hand of fellowship. MEETING MR. KURTZ - A Story of Greed, Terror and Heroism in Colonial Africa His last appearance in the Congo produced a profound sensation among them, when he led 500 Zanzibar soldiers with 300 camp followers on his way to relieve EMIN PASHA. George Washington Williams, 1889. When natives have persisted in trading with the trade-companies the State has punished their independence by burning the villages in the vicinity of the trading houses and driving the natives away. Your action will be directed essentially to the younger ones, for they wont revolt when the recommendation of the priest is contradictory to their parents teachings. Their mission statement is: It buys and sells and steals slaves. and how they treated the natives. am teaching history. An Open Letter to His Serene Majesty Leopold II More than just the people of the A cap was placed upon the nipple of the gun, and the black brother was implored to step off ten yards and shoot at his white brother to demonstrate his statement that he was a spirit, and, therefore, could not be killed. were being abused in the home country and he wanted there to be changes in the country were faced in America. These poor creatures are frequently beaten with a dried piece of hippopotamus skin, called a chicote, and usually the blood flows at every stroke when well laid on. He was not a combatant and was ignorant of the conflict in progress upon the shore, some distance away. These poor natives are sent hundreds of miles away from their villages, to serve among other natives whose language they do not know. Shocked by the widespread brutal abuses and slavery imposed on the Congolese, he wrote an open letter to Leopold in 1890 about the suffering of the region's native inhabitants at the . In one war two Belgian Army officers saw, from the deck of their steamer, a native in a canoe some distance away. There exist similarly inspired letters as well, the content varies. Leopold II was born in 1835 to King Leopold I and Louise-Marie of Orleans. The Case Of George Washington Williams's Letter To King | Cram They are enemies, not patriots. The third act was the gun trick. There are instances in which they have brought the heads of their victims to their white officers on the expeditionary steamers, and afterwards eaten the bodies of slain children.