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Recommended: Imperialism and the Congo
Conflict Minerals, Rebels, and Child Soldiers in the Congo - Vice Documentary
Directions:
Watch the Vice Documentary here or here.
Answer ALL of the following questions. Skip a line between each question.
Submit a copy of your responses to the Schoology Dropbox by Sunday 2/28. Documentary Questions:
Give a general overview of the documentary. The Congo has become a source of foreign interference as many western companies buy minerals from the country such as coltan, cassiterite, gold, and tourmaline. Many of the mines are owned by corrupt members of the Kinshasa government. These officials take most of the profit that is earned from selling the minerals and do not try to help the Congolese people. Villagers work in the mines
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From 1879 to 1884, Leopold II of Belgium sent Henry Morton Stanley to form “treaties” with Congolese rulers. From these “treaties” Leopold gained diplomatic power in the Congo and could enslave and exploit the natives in the area to make a profit. Similarly, tech companies make deals with owners of Congolese mines to make products from their deposits of coltan. In the process, the tech companies and the mine owners end up exploiting the Congolese miners which cause them to live in extreme poverty. In both instances, a western power whether it be Leopold II or a tech company makes a deal with a Congolese that has power such as the early rulers or the modern mine owners. In the process the local Congolese labor is exploited causing them to live in poverty, while the western king or western tech company profits from the labor of the locals. The difference between these two examples is that the western power in the 1800’s was a monarch while the modern western power is a company. This shows that due to the Second Industrial Revolution, citizens in the middle class that have power in a company can now attain similar power to a monarch that lived two centuries ago.
In the 1800’s, western countries such as the Belgians also took away the natural resources of the Congo such as ivory and rubber in the 1800’s. In modern times, western countries not only take away minerals such as coltan to produce technology, but they also take away other precious minerals such as cassiterite, gold, tantalum, and tourmaline. These instances are similar in that the materials that are being taken from the Congo are being used to make consumer goods that are sold to the public to profit the western
Think about how your life was when you were ten. For most people, the only worries were whether you finished your homework and if you’ve been recently updated for new games. Unfortunately, in Sierra Leone, kids at the age of ten were worried about if that day was the only day they’d be able to breathe. The cause of one of this devastating outcome is Sierra Leone’s Civil War. This war was a long bloody fight that took many lives and hopes of children and families.
Industrial development of the late 18th century (around 1865-1900) is often characterized by it’s affluent, aggressive and monopolistic industrial leaders of the likes of men such as Andrew Carnegie, William H. Vanderbilt, and John D. Rockefeller. Due to their ruthless strategies, utilization of trusts, and exploitation of cheap labor in order to garner nearly unbreakable monopolies and massive sums of wealth, these men are often labelled as “robber barons”. At the same time, they are also often referred to as “industrial statements” for their organization, and catalyst of, industrial development; not to forget their generous contributions to the betterment of American society. Therefore, whether or not their aforementioned advances in industry were undertaken for their own personal benefits, one cannot ignore their positive effects on America. Thus, one can conclude that not only were the captains of industry both “robber barons” and “industrial statements”, but that that these two labels, in fact, go hand-in-hand.
As a political figure, King Leopold of Belgium had minimal power, yet he acknowledged the political and financial advantages of colonization, and acquired the Congo as a private colony whereas Britain snatched up colonies globally, including the “crown jewel” of all colonies, India. Belgium and Britain demonstrated a stark contradiction of two opposing methods of colonization. These two countries methods’ of domination ultimately decided the fates of each party, ...
At The top of society was a small group of Europeans. Rubber agents and other government officers controlled every aspect of life in The State. They even held control over when natives could visit family. (Doyle, 1909) These Europeans had a section of land that they were to supervise and oversee the production of goods. In Belgium, a very selective group of people had control over the region with King Leopold II at the top. He had the final say in all policy of The Congo Free State. Although he held this power, most of the decision making was sub-contracted to government owned companies, such as The Anglo-Belgian Indian Rubber
Rebels would continue to do this from one village to another in order “to take control of the mines in the area” (Hoyt). It is estimated that in Sierra Leone over 20,000 people suffered mutilation. The acts that the rebels performed against these innocent victims was clearly a violation of their human rights. The RUF collects 125 million a year to fund their war on the government and the people of Sierra Leone. Some of the highest producing diamond mines are in Africa.
An estimated 1 million diamond miners in Africa earn less than $1 a dollar a day (Brilliant Earth n.d.) Children as young as 8 forgo school for daily wages ranging between $0.15- $0.60 (The International Human Rights Clinic at Harvard Law School 2009). According to Adele Farquhar, a man fighting for legal ownership of a diamond mine, the problem isn’t people mining for precious diamonds, it’s those buying the diamonds originating in conflict areas; "People think it's a Zimbabwe problem but they forget that there is huge international complicity. You can't stop the Zimbabweans until you stop the money men. The people in Zimbabwe are getting next to nothing for these diamonds. The guy with the pick and shovel is literally earning $5. The guy to go and find is the one making $1,000. Go and look at the money and see who else is benefiting. That's why there's no momentum to stop this thing” (Cahill 2009). According to Time, the owner of the mines usually takes around 70% of the value when diamonds are sold to
Over the course of human history, many believe that the “Congo Free State”, which lasted from the 1880s to the early 1900s, was one of the worst colonial states in the age of Imperialism and was one of the worst humanitarian disasters over time. Brutal methods of collecting rubber, which led to the deaths of countless Africans along with Europeans, as well as a lack of concern from the Belgian government aside from the King, combined to create the most potent example of the evils of colonialism in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century’s. The Congo colonial experience, first as the Congo Free State then later as Belgian Congo, was harmful to that region of Africa both then and now because of the lack of Belgian and International attention on the colony except for short times, the widespread economic exploitation of the rubber resources of the region, and the brutal mistreatment and near-genocide of the Congolese by those in charge of rubber collecting.
For the majority of the nineteenth century, European nations did not care enough to explore the unsafe Congo. Being new and unexplored, they did not want to take the risk of encountering deadly unknown diseases, which is why it was not considered a worthwhile area to take control of. But, unlike many others, King Leopold II seen profits when it came to the uncharted African land and stated “I do not want to miss us getting a slice of this magnificent African cake” in 1876. So, despite all the negative possibilities, in 1877 King Leopold II of Belgium assembled a team with Henry Morton Stanley to take a look at the unseen region and make treaties with native people. Not only did he believe that colonies could only bring positive feedback, such as economic progress and respect from other nations. He considered that it was his right to help the Con...
After learning of Lord Stanley’s expedition through the Congo, and his offer to work for any interested nation King Leopold saw an opening for Belgium in the Congo. Having an interest in acquiring wealth and increasing Belgium...
This report will analyse the ethical perspectives, its relationship with Phronesis and how it can be used to solve social issues emanating from Congo. Issues such as child labour, civilian deaths a fall out from the continued finance of an illicit war in Congo. According to the findings, Congo supplies 80% of the world coltan and also provides the cheapest coltan in the world. This is perhaps the main reason why foreign companies desire to purchase coltan from Congo as spells more profit (Utilitarianism) for Western based shareholders but translates in more death in Congo in Africa. This rising civilian deaths (5.4 million) also means that more orphans are created which forms the bulk of labour force in the mines in Congo.
5 million. 5 million dead. for what? Some due to political instability, some due to the continued ethnic conflict between the Hutu and the Tutsi, and a multitude of others due to disease or starvation. This, The Second Congo War, is the deadliest conflict in the world since World War II. While I was only three months old at its outbreak and unable to retain a single memory of the events that took place while I was there, I do believe that the Second Congo War and the massive, seemingly insurmountable obstacle which it posed for me and my family, almost single-handedly changed the direction of my family's life as well as the attitude we have in everything we do. I was born on May 12, 1998, alongside my twin sister and following my older sister,
In 1991 there was a war that broke out in Sierra Leone. This war was known as the civil war. No one acted upon the blood diamond issue until sixteen years later when a Hollywood movie came to light called Blood Diamond. We all sat in a movie theatre and watched how we did nothing about the horrible disaster. We hung out in our seats and laid back to watch our visions and ethic be streamlined by dialogue, cinematography and the act of men and woman in addition, the ideal perfect clip edit or sound lead.
The recent Civil War in Congo has been a bloody flight, causing more then 3.3 million deaths in just 4 short years.1 Various rebel and ethnic groups have have been involved in the violence, fighting over Congo's rich natural resources or engaged in a bitter ethnic war. With so many opposing factions, it has made reaching a solution difficult. While a rough peace treaty has been established, sporadic fighting pops up in the country everyday. The people of Congo are being pushed farther into poverty and starvation can't handle the fighting for very much longer. I propose that the solution to the post-Civil War violence in Congo is to rid the country of all foreign nations and their problems, namely the Rwandans, and to get combatants inside of the country to hold a summit and find a peaceful and fair resolution to the problem, with a superpower like the United States acting as host and mediator. Once all quarrels are amended, the Congolese can start to focus on a economic strategy for rebuilding the country.
Over a period from 1960-1965, the first Republic of the Congo experienced a period of serious crisis. There was a terrible war for power that displayed senseless violence and the desperation to rule. There were many internal conflicts among the people. The country eventually gained independence from Belgium. For many countries this would be a time for celebration. Unfortunately for the people of the Congo this became a time to forget. Almost immediately after independence and the general elections, the country went into civil war. Major developed cities like Katanga and Kasai wanted to be independent from the Lumumba government. Different factions started to fight the government and Katanga and Kasai tried to secede from the rest of the country out of fear of the mutinous army that was out of control looting and killing.
Many natural resources that inhabit are gold, diamonds, uranium, oil, copper, tin, coal, and coltan. Coltan is one of the most wanted resources in Africa, especially the Congo because it creates electronics that are widely used around the world. This is an issue because it is exploiting the land of the Congo and other countries that do no have coltan as a natural resource are believed to be smuggling it out of the country and making a profit on it. This is a serious problem that is occurring in Africa because mining is being done daily and there are almost no