Background Information for King Leopold’s Soliloquysee

State Free Congo the about publications other and version full the Scribd on also

1876 Leopold’s Geographical Conference. Establishes the International African Association.

1879 Leopold II establishes his own personal kingdom in the Congo April 22, 1884 United States became the first country to recognize Leopold’s claim to the Congo.

Other major European powers followed in granting recognition.

Nov. 1884-1885 Berlin Conference – set guidelines for the division of Africa May 29, 1885 Leopold named his territory the Etat Indépendant du Congo (Congo Free State).

Previously it had been known as the International African Association of International Association of the Congo.

Leopold’s rule saw extreme brutality:

- people forced to collect rubber - estimated 10 million deaths over 20-year period

Leopold tried to cover up the brutality:

- successful for a while - techniques used to hide information:

o missionaries limited o white employees forbidden to leave the Congo o publicity campaign to discredit rumors

Reform movement:

- began with E.D. Morel in England - shipping clerk/part-time journalist who saw ships come in from the Congo, and he wondered why the ships that came in with rubber returned to the Congo with guns and ammunition he became full-time investigative journalist to report on what was happening

- 1902 – Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness – based on his experience as a steamer captain in the Congo in 1890s caught public attention

- 1903 – Morel and other members of House of Commons passed resolution calling British government to conduct an inquiry into abuses in the Congo

- 1904 – Roger Casement, British Consul to the Congo, gave report of abuses - 1904 – Casement and Morel founded the Congo Reform Association in Britain - 1905 – Belgian Parliament forced Leopold to set up independent commission of inquiry, which

confirmed Casement’s report - George Washington Williams and William Sheppard – 2 black Americans who risked much to bring

evidence of the atrocities to the outside world Mark Twain:

- served as a VP for the American Congo Reform Association (est. by Morel in 1904) - went to Washington, D.C. 3 times to lobby; met with Pres. Teddy Roosevelt and secretary of state - 1905 – King Leopold’s Soliloquy

o imaginary monologue by Leopold o royalties donated to Congo Reform Association o Hochschild, p. 242: “Although it is painted with too broad a brush and is far from Twain’s best

work, King Leopold’s Soliloquy provoked the royal propaganda machine to ruse out an anonymous 47-page pamphlet, An Answer to Mark Twain.”