SIXTH.Women are imported into your Majestys Government for immoral purposes. That same year Joseph Conrad trained as a steamship captain on the Congo River. Three hundred Ntakabrassrod-is the price the State pays for a slave, when bought from a native. And all this upon the word of honour of a gentleman, I subscribe myself your Majestys humble and obedient servant. They intend to write a new open letter to the United Nations as a result. personal bias and it came out in his writings. 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. The laws printed and circulated in Europe for the Protection of the blacks in the Congo, are a dead letter and a fraud. When the native inquired about the disparity of strength between himself and his white brother, he was told that the white man could pull up trees and perform the most prodigious feats of strength. 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. 1. 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. 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. They eat their rice twice a day by the use of their fingers; they often thirst for water when the season is dry; they are exposed to the heat and rain, and sleep upon the damp and filthy decks of the vessels often so closely crowded as to lie in human ordure. Not one out of every twenty State-officials know the language of the natives, although they are constantly issuing laws, difficult even for Europeans, and expect the natives to comprehend and obey them. of directors, advisory board, teacher advisory board, and volunteer staff. 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. 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. NINTH.-Your Majestys Government has been, and is now, guilty of waging unjust and cruel wars against natives, with the hope of securing slaves and women, to minister to the behests of the officers of your Government. 1950s (London: Frank Cass and Company Limited, 1969). I cannot deal with the dimensions of these prisons in this letter, but will do so in my report to my Government. He stated when talking about the younger officers He let the King know 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. Global African History: Primary Documents: Global African History (1900) The Uganda Agreement. He gave her tons of money, land, jewels, and even made her a baroness. The website is Cruelties of the most astounding character are practised by the natives, such as burying slaves alive in the grave of a dead chief, cutting off the heads of captured warriors in native combats, and no effort is put forth by your Majestys Government to prevent them. Convert always the blacks by using the whip. your Majestys Government for immoral purposes. 7 This is only three of the problems These officers draw double payas soldiers and as civilians. 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. 60 years after independence, traces of the system of exploitation and violence that Leopold II and colonial-era Belgium created still remain in DR Congo. TENTH.Your Majestys Government is engaged in the slave-trade, wholesale and retail. Keen on establishing Belgium as an imperial power, he led the first European efforts to develop the Congo River basin, making possible the formation in 1885 of the . Why did Katy Perry collapse on set of American Idol? A few hours later the Procurer-General searched his room and found many more stolen bottles of wine and other things, not the property of servants. 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. Washington was a Lawyer, Politician, Journalist . Your Majestys Government gives 3 per head for able bodied slaves for military service. The labour system is radically unpractical; the soldiers and labourers of your Majestys Government are very largely imported from Zanzibar at a cost of 10 per capita, and from Sierra Leone, Liberia, Accra and Lagos at from 1 to 1/10 per capita. Your white men sicken and die in their quarters or on the caravan road, and seldom have Christian burial. This letter was a catalyst for an international outcry against the regime running the Congo, which had caused millions of deaths . At length he appealed to the Governor-General, and he gave him the woman and thus the trader obtained the child also. Your white men sicken and die in their quarters or on the caravan road, and seldom have Christian burial. HENRY M. STANLEYS name produces a shudder among this simple folk when mentioned; they remember his broken promises, his copious profanity, his hot temper, his heavy blows, his severe and rigorous measures, by which they were mulcted of their lands. There are only 2,300 soldiers in the Congo. 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. There is no improvement among the natives, because there is an impassable gulf between them and your Majestys Government, a gulf which can never be bridged. . All the sleight-of- hand tricks had been carefully rehearsed, and he was now ready for his work. T saw the white servant of the Governor-General, CAMILLE JANSSEN, detected in stealing a bottle of wine from a hotel table. A society that considered black and African American, nothing more than subhuman and known them as the "other". Either in the waters of the pool or when docked on the riverbank at Kinshasa, Williams's steamboat crossed paths with a boat that was at the . 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. I cannot deal with the dimensions of these prisons in this letter, but will do so in my report to my Government. These piratical, buccaneering posts compel the natives to furnish them with fish, goats, fowls, and vegetables at the mouths of their muskets; and whenever the natives refuse to feed these vampires, they report to the main station and white officers come with an expeditionary force and burn away the homes of the natives. history of African Americans in the United States and people of Study with Quizlet and memorize flashcards containing terms like George Washington Williams, What did Williams' observe about the methods which Stanley's agents used in the Congo to convince local kings to sign treaties?, What does Williams' report about the working conditions and wages of African soldiers there? 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 ignorant of native character, lack wisdom, justice, fortitude and patience. 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. open-letter-to-leopold-ii Identifier-ark ark:/13960/s261h3f8zpf Ocr tesseract 5.0.0-rc2-1-gf788 Ocr_detected_lang en Ocr_detected_lang_conf 1.0000 Ocr_detected_script Maryland, Lagos. And, of course, many die. Looking in to why the website was 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. I know of prisoners remaining in custody for six and ten months because they were not judged. They make no report as to the number of robberies they commit, or the number of lives they take; they are only required to subsist upon the natives and thus relieve your Majestys Government of the cost of feeding them. Government are abortive, unjust, partial and delinquent 6 , and Women are imported into The letter is dated from June 16, 1897. Indeed the most unpractical measures have been adopted against the natives in nearly every respect; and in the capital of your Majestys Government at Boma there is not a native employed. African ancestry in other regions of the world. He describes the atrocities in detail As to the significance of this move Europe and America can judge without any comment from me, especially England. The officers made a wager of 5 that they could hit the native with their rifles. ELEVENTH.Your Majestys Government has concluded a contract with the Arab Governor at this place for the establishment of a line of military posts from the Seventh Cataract to Lake Tanganyika territory to which your Majesty has no more legal claim, than I have to be Commander-in-Chief of the Belgian army. 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. 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. source of this documents authenticity I looked at the original source first. But Williams went anyways. The following are documents which have contributed to the shaping of Global African history. This letter was accessed through the At the end of the 19th century, the Europeans scrambled for control of Africa. This first salvo would not undo Leopold but it paved the way for others. 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In the Lower Congo River there is but One post, in the cataract region one. George Washington Williams, 1889. All the sleight-of- hand tricks had been carefully rehearsed, and he was now ready for his work. Stanley Falls, Central Africa, This letter was accessed through the website blackpast. A small donation would help us keep this available to all. I have no adequate terms with which to depict to your Majesty the brutal acts of your soldiers upon such raids as these. When these men run away a reward of 1,000 Ntaka is offered. 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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. They thought it meant complete subjugation, and they fled in confusion. Not long ago a Belgian trader had a child by a slave-woman of the State, and he tried to secure possession of it that he might educate it, but the Chief of the Station where he resided, refused to be moved by his entreaties. 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. history of African Americans. They were a newly independent country . Leopold was alarmed at the idea that Williams wanted to see the Congo for himself, even urging him to wait. In the Lower Congo River there is but One post, in the cataract region one. 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. Leopold's Open Letter (Document A) The following is an excerpt from an open (public) letter written by King Leopold to all Belgian agents working in the Congo. 6 Ibid, page 6 all that was wrong with what was going on in the Congo. 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. 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. For this work the Arab Governor is to receive five hundred stands of arms, five thousand kegs of powder, and 20,000 sterling, to he paid in several instalments. Meet the man who has donated blood every week for 60 years! In the late 1800s King Leopold II of Belgium ruled the Congo as his own personal property. W. Williams, of the United States of America, 1890. The other method is by capturing native women and condemning them to seven years servitude for some imaginary crime against the State with which the villages of these women are charged. As I write, the news reaches me that these much- treasured and long-looked for materials of war are to be discharged at Basoko, and the Resident here is to be given the discretion as to the distribution of them. From Leopoldville to NGombe, a distance of more than 300 miles, there is not a single soldier or civilian. During thirteen years only one white man has lost his life by the hands of the natives, and only two white men have been killed in the Congo. . SIXTH.Women are imported into your Majestys Government for immoral purposes. In 1884 he said:. I have no adequate terms with which to depict to your Majesty the brutal acts of your soldiers upon such raids as these. This is the words a letter from King Leopold II of Belgium to colonial missionaries in 1883: Reverends, Fathers and Dear Compatriots: The task that is given to fulfill is very delicate and requires much tact. In one war two Belgian Army officers saw, from the deck of their steamer, a native in a canoe some distance away. After much begging the black brother aims the gun at his white brother, pulls the trigger, the gun is discharged, the white man stoops . MEETING MR. KURTZ. Every twig represented a person in his village who died because of King Leopold's brutal regime in the Congo. An open letter to His Serene Majesty Leopold II: King of the Belgians and Sovereign of the Independent State of Congo. 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. SECOND.Your Majestys Government has established nearly fifty posts, consisting of from two to eight mercenary slave-soldiers from the East Coast. Read millions of eBooks and audiobooks on the web, iPad, iPhone and Android. and more. These black soldiers, many of whom are slaves, exercise the power of life and death. T saw the white servant of the Governor-General, CAMILLE JANSSEN, detected in stealing a bottle of wine from a hotel table. Institute a confessional system, which allows you to be good detectives denouncing any black that has a different consciousness contrary to that of the decision-maker. 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. It buys and sells and steals slaves. I believe that from this experience he was able to show his dealings with the native people They are ignorant of native character, lack wisdom, Georges Nzongola-Ntalaja details the horrific abuses of Leopold's occupation and looting of the . 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. November 11, 2017. 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. There, dear patriots, are some of the principles that you must apply. They thought it meant complete subjugation, and they fled in confusion. and takes the bullet from his shoe! 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 regions native inhabitants at the hands of the kings agents. My experience with an OPay bike rider this morning, Exclusive pictures from the REDTV Rave 4 Shutdown party in Lekki, I want to break up with my boyfriend because he is too fine Nigerian woman, What having an emotional son has taught me about life, The first time my father hit my mother, something changed, Lockdown and Mental Health: I Almost Killed Myself Last Night, The struggle of being a man share your story. 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. danielnkado@gmail.com Coronavirus patient shares what having the disease feels like! But the only thing they found in the wake of his march was misery. Your principal objective in our mission in the Congo is never to teach the niggers to know God, this they know already. Excerpts from The Crime of the Congo ''The Guilt of Delay'' (1909 . In 1904, Chief Lontulu laid 110 twigs in front of a foreign commission. Instead of it being fertile and productive it is sterile and unproductive. George Washington Williams was an impressive individual. All the crimes perpetrated in the Congo have been done in your name, and you must answer at the bar of Public Sentiment for the misgovernment of a people, whose lives and fortunes were entrusted to you by the august Conference of Berlin, 18841 885. issue he stands on. 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. They speak and submit to a Mungu, one Nzambi, one Nzakomba, and what else I dont know. In a published open letter to King Leopold in 1890, Williams documented the massive enslavement, torture and killing of Africans by the king's subjects. he did not hold back on his opinion of his Majestys Government. They are enemies, not patriots. Public domain image. Microform in English. This letter is in a UK documentary about King Leopold. Make them pay tax each week at Sunday mass. I have the honour to submit for your Majesty's consideration some reflections respecting the Independent . King Leopold's Soliloquy. The third act was the gun trick. Your Majestys Government gives 3 per head for able bodied slaves for military service. Sentiments of American Negro Leaders on Africa From the 1800s to 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. Your email address will not be published. This was definitely a letter that I would like to use when teaching hopefully Some of the charges 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. The cruel and unjust treatment to which these people are subjected breaks the spirits of many of them, makes them distrust and despise your Majestys Government. were being abused in the home country and he wanted there to be changes in the country 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. 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.
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