Nat Hernandez: Indictment of King Leopold II by

About King Leopold II of Belgium

861671 — 2025-04-22 20:32:43 UTC

This is King Leopold II of Belgium. King Leopold was born on April 9th 1835, and died on December 17, 1908. He served in the Belgian Army and is a first cousin of Queen Victoria of Britain. He also married Marie-Henriette. King Leopold was a part of the Berlin conference and wanted to examine the central part of Africa. He wanted to see if anyone was there and sent out a personal person to find out what's there called Henry Morton Stanley. Then, Henry Morton Stanley discovered the Congo and the Congolese people. Leopold wanted to make this his own colony, and not his country. So Stanley gave them papers to sign, (they did not know what they were signing and getting scammed) which gave them no power. Then, after that, he owned the Congo River Basin and basically controlled the Congo. The Congo had no say in it, and soon, Administrators of him, and the Force Publique, an army. Took control and used weapons against them, brutalizing them. They chopped their heads off, burned villages, chopped off hands, and forced them to work to death to give them rubber and in return, only a little bit of clothes and materials.

Map of the Congo.

861671 — 2025-04-23 19:53:59 UTC

Evidence 1: How King Leopold Created A Humanitarian Face to Cover Up True Intentions

861671 — 2025-04-23 20:07:42 UTC

In the text it states "You created organizations with humanitarian sounding names like the international African Association" This piece of evidence contributes to the plot of Leopold because when King Leopold was doing all of his atrocities in the Congo. He ordered publishers in the newspaper to say hes "helping" the Congo but it is actually to cover up his true intentions. Which is man slaughtering the Congolese people, without anyone knowing.

Evidence 2: How King Leopold Did His Man slaughtering, without ever stepping foot in the Congo.

861671 — 2025-04-23 20:15:56 UTC

In the text it states "You paid for all of the weapons used to enslave the people of the Congo" Even though King Leopold did not lay a finger on one of the Congolese people, he still caused tons of manslaughter. He paid for all of the weapons to use to kill the Congo, and to hold them hostage. He knew what he was doing, and didn't give a crap about what the Congo had to say. Which unfortunately, caused the death of 10 million people which he didn't care about.

Marie-Henriette, Wife of King Leopold

861671 — 2025-04-23 20:17:45 UTC

Henry Morton Stanley, discoverer Of The Congo

861671 — 2025-04-23 20:19:13 UTC

Evidence 3: How King Leopold Forced The Congolese People to Give them Their Rubber/How Edmund Dene Morel found about the horrors that were happening in the Congo.

861671 — 2025-04-23 20:26:00 UTC

In the text it states "Leopold decided to "tax" his Congo subjects by requiring local chiefs to supply men to collect rubber. Leopold's agents held the wives and children of these men as hostages until they returned with their quota of rubber." Not only did King Leopold manslaughter millions of people, he was greedy and took tons of rubber from the Congo. He made the chiefs get the rubber and they held their family hostage, until they did. If they simply made a mistake, they would get their hands/heads chopped off. And the administrators often worked the Congolese people to death. Until people found out about the horrors of Leopold work, and people around the world were discombobulated about this, and thought he was humanitarian. And it was all found out by a person named Edmund Dene Morel. He made the discovery about this and told other famous people like president Theodore Roosevelt, and Mark Twain. Together, they worked together to end these atrocities.

Counter Argument

861671 — 2025-04-23 20:32:50 UTC

People might say that it wasn't all Leopold's fault/it isn't his fault. And yes, it wasn't, since the people like the administrators killed them. But after all, he did order them to do it and it was all his fault. He did own the Congo and overpowered them. He didn't give a crap about people's lives and made all of these atrocities.