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Essays on imperialism and decolonization on congo from belgium
Essays on imperialism and decolonization on congo from belgium
Essays on imperialism and decolonization on congo from belgium
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Born on July 2, 1925, in Onalua, Belgian Congo, Patrice Lumumba had no idea he was going to be one of the most important people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Lumumba was born in a small village in Onalua , Belgian Congo. He was a part of the Batetela tribe. There were many ethnic groups in the Congo, the Batetela people were one of those groups who mostly spoke the Tetela language. They lived in between Lusambo and the Upper Congo River. The Batetela people spent much of their time fishing and farming fruits and vegetables; some of those being cassava, banana and kola nuts. They considered their land sacred and were very cautious of strangers entering without an invitation. During his primary and high school years, Lumumba attended
The Canela People are native to Brazil, populating the zone in-between the Amazon basin and the Northeast (“Brazil’s Canela Indian Festivals” 1). Their diet has evolved greatly over time as they came into contact with the outside world. Historically, they were more of a food foraging people than horticulturalists, meaning they mostly scavenged wild plants, roots, nuts and eggs, fished, and practiced limited hunting of tapir, deer, emu, boar, paca, cutia, and fox. Up until the 19th century, the Canela relied only 20% on horticulture (“Canela” 1). In their limited practice the Canela grew manioc, maize beans, squash, peanuts and sweet potatoes (“Canela” 1). The Canela’s hunting and food foraging ways shifted around 1814 when they first made contact with the Europeans. The Canela and Europeans conflicted over several issues. Primarily, the two groups clashed over cattle. The European’s cattle lured the Canela; they often raided plantations and killed cattle in large numbers. The Canela were eventually resettled onto merely five percent of their previous land and thus forced to change their subsistence patterns (Crocker "Journal of the Society" 33). With less land, they did not have the same access to recourses for foraging. Instead, they adopted the slash- and-burn Brazilian farming techniques. Additionally, the Europeans influenced the Canela’s subsistence by teaching them to cultivate watermelons, sugar cane, rice and bananas; with the capability to grow more crops, the Canela shifted away from food foraging and towards horticulture. The Canela have since been relocated several times to different reservations.
One of the most interesting indigenous groups in the world is the Batek of Malaysia, this is a group of people that live in the oldest rain forest of peninsular Malaysia. Orang ASli means “Original people” in the native Malay Language, and they truly are the original people of the land. Being a nomadic group of hunters and gatherers, means that they are at the mercy of the land and the elements for survival. Batek beliefs note that, the rainforest was created by “superhuman” beings for the Batek to use and will destroy the world and everything on it if the Batek were ever to leave the rainforest ( K.M. Endcott 1979a; Lye 2004). The Batek believe that the “superhuman” beings created the forest for the Batek to harvest, build houses in, and provide also to decorations for their ceremonial rituals.
Simon Bolivar was proclaimed “Liberator” by his own people and a world-renowned figure in his day. His prophetic vision of hemispheric solidarity lives today, and his political thinking serves dictators and democrat alike in contemporary Latin America. This paper explores the impact the days of colonialism and revolution, in which treatment of Creoles was inferior to Peninsulares (Spaniards born in Spain). And this was a long-standing cause of frustration and resentment that contributed to the desire for independence from Spain. In addition, this paper analyzes some facts of one of the greatest minds of the 18th century “Simon Bolivar”. There is abundant evidence that Bolivar worked extensively to create a system that would preserve unity and stability through a powerful, centralized government while retaining as much individual liberty as possible; but his efforts were exhausting and fruitless. However, even today (after 200 years) his contribution had been to promote the idea of independence among Spanish-American leaders. Simon Jose Antonio de la Santisima Trinidad Bolivar y Palacios (this was his real name) was born on July 24, 1783, the year England’s North colonies won their independence. [1] His father had been an important figure and the landlord of twelve houses in Caracas, herds of cattle, indigo plantations, mines, and sugar plantation that had been in the family for at least two centuries. He had organized a militia battalion in which his youngest son (Simon) would later serve, and he had been Caracas’s deputy to Madrid. Like many Creoles who visited Spain, he was disillusioned by Spain’s backwardness in comparison to other European nations. The Venezuelan Creoles, like those of other S...
The Anasazi Indians developed their farming methods gradually once they found the perfect homelands. They would grow and eat corn, squash, pinon nuts, fruits and berries. Once the corn was fully-grown, the Anasazi women ground the corn with ametate and a mano. The metate is a "flat stone receptacle" and the mano is a "hand-held stone" (Ferguson...
The director’s attempt at bringing the story of Patrice Lumumba to the “silver screen” had political intentions. It had intentions of breaking post-colonial hegemonic forces that portrayed Lumumba as a nationalist dictator. In regards to race and class in Congo, I will refer to the work of Franz Fanon, in particular his book entitled The Wretched of the Earth. In this book Fanon develops a theory of “dual citizenship” required by the colonizers in order to validate the colonization process.
Murder, destruction, mayhem, three things the people of Kinshasa, Congo know too well. This city was started with Eurocentric ideals embedded into the very nature of the land. Originally named Leopoldville, claimed in the name of King Leopold II of Belgium by a British explorer known as Henry Stanley.1 The colony was established as the personal property of the King at the Berlin Conference in 1884. By 1885 King Leopold II had established the Congo as the new Congo Free State.2 The Belgian government seized control from Leopold II at the request of other nations. Leopold II was so destructive during his reign of the Congo, that Belgium needed to take control subsequently renaming the Free State to the Belgian Congo.3 During his rule, King Leopold II killed millions of Congolese from either work exhaustion or from any of the mass murders performed by the king’s men.4 The citizens of Belgium were unaware of how severe conditions were becoming in the Congo. Since only a handful of Belgians visited the Congo, very few spoke publicly against King Leopold II’s conquests. For example Joseph Conrad wrote Heart of Darkness, which discusses horrific conditions the natives faced from the point of view of a European steamboat captain floating down the river.5 Conrad wanted to show the readers the internal struggle the young captain faced. How can he be loyal to a King and country that treats its ‘citizens’ like lesser beings?6 Well in 1908, the Congo officially became the one and only colony under Belgium’s rule. This new administration had similar beliefs of power and colonization as King Leopold II but with less bloodshed. When the government seized power, Leopoldville became a central hub for European affairs.
Joseph Conrad’s own experiences during his trip through the Congo helped him provide a foundation for the writing of Heart of Darkness. In 1890, Conrad took a job as a captain on the river steamer Kinshasa. Before Conrad took this job, he had worked for the French merchant navy as a way to escape Russian military service and also to escape the emotional troubles that had plagued him. Conrad had been in a financial crisis that was resolved with help from his uncle. After this series of events, Conrad joined the British merchant navy at the beckoning of his uncle and took the job as the captain of a steamboat in the Congo River. An important fact to remember is that Conrad was a young and inexperienced man when he was exposed to the harsh and dangerous life of a sailor. His experiences in the West Indies and especially in the Belgium Congo were eye opening and facilitated his strong outlooks that are reflected in the book Heart of Darkness. Conrad’s journey through the Belgian Congo gave him the experiences and knowledge to write about a place that most Europeans would never see in their lives.
“Europe cannot conceive of life without Kings and nobles; and we cannot conceive of it with them. Europe is lavishing her blood to preserve her chains, whereas we are lavishing ours to destroy them”(Maximilien Robespierre). For centuries upon centuries, the monarchal system had dominated European life. The very nature of this method of rule incited rebellious feelings, as a definite imbalance of power was present. Understandably, people under this system had risen against authority. The glorious nation of France was no exception. The eighteenth century brought about a great deal of economic and social turmoil. By the end of this one hundred year period, rebellion had been talked about by many citizens for quite some time. However, no definitive action was taken until one man stepped to the forefront; Maximilien Robespierre. Born in Arras, France about thirty years prior to the French Revolution, Robespierre was an immensely intelligent man as is seen from his ability to read and write fluently from the age of eight (the Force of 10). Robespierre rose from fairly humble origins to become a provincial lawyer, advancing further to become a representative in the Estates General, and eventually ascending to the leader of the French Revolution itself. For its sake he sent thousands to the guillotine, overthrew a monarchy, declared a new national religion, and invigorated the will of a nation. “No individual of the French Revolutionary era, with the exception of Napolean Bonaparte, has excited more passion in his time than the…dedicated provincial lawyer, Maximilien Robespierre”(Maximilien 1). During this era, Robespierre led France’s world inspiring cry for the liberation of mankind and petrified the world with its relentle...
Mandela was born in the town of Transkei, South Africa into a royal family on July 18,1918 (Klerk). Even though Mandela was born into a royal family, he still noticed the ugly treatment of people in South Africa based on their racial background. Mr. Mandela was educated at the University of Fort Hare and the University of Witwatersrand. Both of these universities are located in South Africa, though Fort Ware is in Eastern Cape while Witwatersrand is located in the capital (Klerk, F). While a student in college Mandela was sent home for protesting against the strict policies of the university with several other classmates.
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.
More murderous than Hitler, more powerful than Stalin, in the battle of the Communist leaders Mao Zedong trumps all. Born into a comfortable peasant family, Mao would rise up to become China’s great leader. After leading the communists away from Kuomintang rule, he set out to modernize China, but the results of this audacious move were horrific. He rebounded from his failures time and again, and used his influence to eliminate his enemies and to purge China of its old ways. Mao saw a brighter future for China, but it was not within his grasp; his Cultural Revolution was not as successful as he had wanted it to be. Liberator, oppressor, revolutionary, Mao Zedong was the greatest emancipator in China’s history, as his reforms and actions changed the history of China and of the wider world.
Nelson Mandela was born 1918 into a Royal family in a South African village, after the death of his father he was groomed into the role within the tribal leadership. He was the first in his family to receive formal education, he excelled in boxing, track and as well as academics. He attended the elite University of fort Hare, the only western style higher learning institute in South Africa at the time.
For this assignment I chose to write about Jomo Kenyatta. After reading chapters three and four of Khapoya’s book, it was hard to imagine an Africa that wasn’t under colonial rule. I can only comprehend on a very basic level the impact colonialism had on the Africans economically, physically, and mentally. It is inspiring to read further and discover the immense, calculated, and passionate efforts that many Pan African leaders played in the years that followed. I found Jomo Kenyatta to be particularly interesting. For many reasons, Kenyatta is considered one of the most significant leaders of the Pan African movement in the twentieth century. Kenyatta had a clear vision of what he wanted for Kenya (or Africa as a whole), he was prepared for the path he would have to take, and he accomplished much for the country and continent as a whole.
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.
People in different country has different views or belief of magic and superstition, which of course varies on which culture they came from or choose to follow. When I started researching Chinua Achebe and his books, I noticed that all or most of his books talks about Africa and its cultures and beliefs. Achebe is most famous for his book called Things Fall Apart.