Verified Document

African History Congo Film Review

African History Film Response In the film Congo: White King, Red Rubber, Black Death, the filmmakers endeavor to show how the nation known as Congo came to be. Like many modern African countries, Congo was originally divided into regions based upon the indigenous tribes who made the land their home. During this period, it cannot be honestly proclaimed that all was peace and cooperation between factions, far from it. However, things were far better during pre-colonialism for the native people of Congo than they would become following the expansion of European powers into the African continent. This film endeavors to remove the veneer that has been placed on events and show Congo's history for what it truly was.

Many people suffered under the control of European imperial powers. In Congo, the oppression of the native population was decimated by King Leopold II who ruled Congo as a colony of his kingdom Belgium. Beginning in 1885, Leopold sent Belgian forces into Congo and extracted the land's...

He claimed that the reason Belgium was invading Congo was to spread western ideologies, Christian faith, and modern technologies to a region of the world that the Europeans saw as uncivilized and backwards. His actual intentions were all to do with acquisition of land and abuse of the natural resources which could be found in that country in order to make money and make the relatively small nation of Belgium into a more powerful country in the process. Amazingly and horrifically, some ten million native people were killed during the approximately fifty years in which Belgium controlled Congo.
Leopold was obviously not the only European ruler who set his sights on African territory, but he was far more severe and ruthless in his actions than many of the others. Much of the country was turned into labor camps where natives were enslaved and forced to mine and harvest for their empirical oppressors. Torture and murder were everyday occurrences and the death…

Sources used in this document:
Works Cited

Congo: White King, Red Rubber, Black Death. (2004). YouTube. YouTube, 27 Oct. 2012. Web.

03 Apr. 2013.
Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

History of Africa
Words: 2584 Length: 8 Document Type: Term Paper

Harmony to Holocaust The Portuguese reached the Gold Coast of Africa in 1439. At first, they were impressed with the culture they found. As they worked their way down the coast "[t]hey found people of varying cultures. Some lived in towns ruled by kings with nobility and courtiers very much like the medieval societies they left behind them." (Obadina). Many years later, a visitor from Holland was equally impressed and

Congo and African Studies Those
Words: 2905 Length: 10 Document Type: Term Paper

This betrayal by a power figure indelibly remains in the hearts and minds of the Congolese when interacting with other nations, even African neighbors (like Rwanda, with whom the DROC has had long-term and bloody conflicts). A more empirical measure of the lasting effects that Belgian colonization has had on the Democratic Republic of the Congo is in the damage that has been done to the latter's natural resources. Almost

History of Multicultural Children's Literature
Words: 2233 Length: 5 Document Type: Term Paper

History Of Multicultural Childrens Literature While all cultures are ripe with stories, tales, and literature geared towards their children, the international melting-pot existence of the modern world necessitates the systematic inclusion of more than one culture with which a child might identify. America stands as a most direct example of this, where people most generally describe their ethnicities with the hyphenated form, - American. While identifying multicultural children's literature is a

History of Wrestling: An Overview
Words: 1385 Length: 4 Document Type: Term Paper

In a reversal, which is worth two points, the prone person comes from underneath and gains control. A near fall is worth 2-3 points and is a 'near pin.' The points awarded for a 'near fall' are based upon how long the 'near pin' lasts. Points are also awarded based upon the opponent's infractions. These may include illegal holds, technical violations (like leaving the mat), grabbing clothing, the mat,

Pre-Historic African Development the Concept
Words: 2501 Length: 6 Document Type: Term Paper

It had started in the present-day Sahel region of south-eastern Mauritania and western Mali. (The similarities and differences between the rise of complex societies in West and East Africa) The evidence for this is again not in written records, but archeological evidence, and this also makes it clear that the history of Ghana has been influenced a lot by geographical changes. A similar situation exists with Egypt. There was

African Slave Trade
Words: 1515 Length: 5 Document Type: Essay

Resistance and Complicity It is impossible to understand or write about Africa's history without considering its relationship with continents like Europe and America. It is imperative that a discussion of the subject concentrate on Africans' pivotal shaping of world history (Lindsay, 2007). Europeans (i.e., Englishmen, Dutchmen, the Portuguese, and the French) contributed only superficially to shaping Africa's history during the Atlantic era's first two centuries, engaging in merchandizing and goods transportation

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now