IMPERIALISM: CONGO

Introduction  I am Beni Mwe and I currently live in Kinshasa, the capitol of the Democratic Republic of Congo.Beni Mwe  I am one of four vice presidents in the country. My job is to help President Joseph Kabila make decisions.President Joseph Kabila  I have come to the U.N. today to demonstrate the affects that colonization has made on my country

Background Information  My great grandfather, Twa Mwe, was a leader for one of the small villages in the Luba Kingdom in the late 19 th centuryLuba Kingdom  His village was very peaceful and everyone got along  Most of the people lived off of agriculture, with occasional hunting  The people worshiped the king of the Luba empire and their dead ancestors  His village was very well known for their wood carvings which they would trade to other towns

Beginning of Colonization  One day a white man showed up to his village and asked him to sign a treaty  The treaty promised my great grandfather a large amount of wealth and prosperity in exchange for land  He happily signed the treaty and heard nothing of any white man for around a year

Colonization Process  After a year passed, a group of white men showed up to the village with guns  They told my great grandfather that all of the people in his village, including him, were now slaves of King Leopold II of BelgiumKing Leopold II of Belgium  Those who refused to be slaves were immediately killed  The white men then told them that they must get a certain amount of rubber, if the amount was not achieved, people would be tortured (Rubber Link) The white men then told them that they must get a certain amount of rubber, if the amount was not achieved, people would be torturedRubber Link

Colonization Process (cont.)  The white men held my great grandmother captive until my great grandfather came back with enough rubber  When he did not have enough, they killed my great grandmother, who was pregnant at the time, in front of him  He was then tortured and his hand was cut off  Later that week, his village was raided by a neighboring village in search of human hands  The neighboring village had not met the amount of rubber so they had to pay for it in human hands

Colonization Process (cont.)  Catholic missionaries then came to my great grandfather’s village and forced him to convert Catholic missionaries then came to my great grandfather’s village and forced him to convert  He had to forget about all of his ancestors, and the King of the Luba empire was killed  My great grandfather later escaped with my grandmother and traveled to British East Africa  My family remained in the area until my father moved back to the Democratic Republic of Congo, where I was born

The Congo as a Result  Before colonization, the Congo was a very peaceful area with one form of government  The Luba people had a very small army because there was no violence throughout the land  Almost everyone practiced the same religion and nonviolently traded  After getting independence in 1960, there have been a variety of different political parties and religions which continue to change the government  Anti-government gangs also go from village to village killing people and burning buildings  So far 3.9 million people have died because of this, the most of any war since WWII

The Congo as a Result (cont.)  While King Leopold II owned the Congo free state the population of indigenous people dropped from 20 or 30 million to 8 million  This deprived the country of human resources and it has taken almost 75 years to recover  The rubber industry also contributed to major deforestation throughout the nation  This has put many rare animals in extreme danger of extinction

Conclusion  Finally, the Belgians brought greed to the Congo  Before, the Luba people were satisfied with everything they had  Today, the Congo faces the problem of blood diamonds  Local warlords are exporting millions of dollars in diamonds to help fund violence throughout the country  This has created a very hostile environment to live in, and gives the Democratic Republic of Congo the highest rate of rape in the world  Without colonization, the Congo was a tranquil, problem free area, but because of colonization, the Congo was put in a state of despair  The Democratic Republic of Congo would greatly appreciate if the United Nations would financially aid the government to help make up for the multiple losses from colonization

 Helpful Resources to help complete worksheet:  CIA World Factbook CIA World Factbook  Blood Diamonds Blood Diamonds