King Leopold's Ghost Sparknotes

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King Leopold’s Ghost is a historical account of colonial exploitation of the Congo region of Africa. King Leopold II wanted Belgium to have its own colony, as countries moved towards the practice of imperialism. Since Belgium was small, Leopold II figured that if he was able to obtain the Congo territory, he would be a major contender and encounter considerable amounts of money. The thesis of the book is how King Leopold used his power to exploit African resources for his own benefit with disregard to death and hardship of the Native people. King Leopold sent explorers over to map out the land of Africa and they eventually came upon rubber, which was found in the vines. The Africans were sent out with buckets and had to bring back a certain amount of rubber or they could …show more content…

At this point in time, geographic areas close to trade routes had more economic resources which brought them power and they could use this power to target areas with profitable natural resources, such as ivory or rubber, without risk. Explorers were sent to Africa in search of whatever could make King Leopold money. They were able to explore more parts of the Congo River and set up trade routes. The explorers would do whatever they had to do to get their way even if it meant taking a life. This was also during the time of slave trading. King Leopold was able to have his men set up trading post to sell African Americans. They would get on a ship and travel the long journey across the Atlantic Ocean from Africa to Europe. “Forced-marched to the coast, their necks locked into wooden yokes, the slaves were rarely given enough food, and because caravans usually traveled in the dry season, they often drank stagnant water” (Hochschild, 1998. Page 202). This just shows that no one cared about the Africans and how they were being treated; as long as the whites got what they wanted, they were

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    The book mainly chronicles the efforts of King Leopold II of Belgium which is to make the Congo into a colonial empire. During the period that the European powers were carving up Africa, King Leopold II of Belgium seized for himself the vast and mostly unexplored territory surrounding the Congo River.

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