I believe that from this experience he was able to show his TWELFTHThe agents of your Majestys Government have misrepresented the Congo country and the Congo railway. He stated when talking about the younger officers It is not my duty to criticise the unlawful and unconstitutional use of these officers coming into the service of this African State. W. Williams, of the United States of America, 1890. King Leopold II had obtained the Congo to supposedly enrich the lives of the people who lived there. These poor creatures are frequently beaten with a dried piece of hippopotamus skin, called a chicote, and usually the blood flows at every stroke when well laid on. His last appearance in the Congo produced a profound sensation among them, when he led 500 Zanzibar soldiers with 300 camp followers on his way to relieve EMIN PASHA. This was definitely a letter that I would like to use when teaching hopefully 1950s (London: Frank Cass and Company Limited, 1969). Institute a confessional system, which allows you to be good detectives denouncing any black that has a different consciousness contrary to that of the decision-maker. There are instances in which they have brought the heads of their victims to their white officers on the expeditionary steamers, and afterwards eaten the bodies of slain children. This is the words a letter from King Leopold II of Belgium to colonial missionaries in 1883: Reverends, Fathers and Dear Compatriots: The task that is given to fulfill is very delicate and requires much tact. FIFTHYour Majestys Government is excessively cruel to its prisoners, condemning them, for the slightest offences, to the chain gang, the like of which can not be seen in any other Government in the civilized or uncivilized world. I appeal to the Belgian people and to their Constitutional Government, so proud of its traditions, replete with the song and story of its champions of human liberty, and so jealous of its present position in the sisterhood of European Statesto cleanse itself from the imputation of the crimes with which your Majestys personal State of Congo is polluted. He did a through job of It taxes all trading companies and exempts its own goods from export-duty, and makes many of its officers ivory-traders, with the promise of a liberal commission upon all they can buy or get for the State. . When these men run away a reward of 1,000 Ntaka is offered. Microform in English. Their letters never reach home. . SIXTH.Women are imported into your Majestys Government for immoral purposes. Discovering the website blackpast has provided a plethora of information on George Washington Williams, An Open Letter to His Serene Majesty Leopold II, King of the Belgians and Sovereign of the Independent State of Congo By Colonel, The Honorable Geo. SEVENTH.Your Majestys Government is engaged in trade and commerce, competing with the organised trade companies of Belgium, England, France, Portugal and Holland. You will go certainly to evangelize, but your evangelization must inspire above all Belgium interests. Never present a chair to a black that comes to visit you. The laws printed and circulated in Europe for the Protection of the blacks in the Congo, are a dead letter and a fraud. I base this appeal upon the terms of Article 36 of Chapter VII of the General Act of the Conference of Berlin, in which that august assembly of Sovereign States reserved to themselves the right to introduce into it later and by common accord the modifications or ameliorations, the utility of which may be demonstrated experience. *** he did not hold back on his opinion of his Majestys Government. Anyway, if you could find a proven original? and takes the bullet from his shoe! 06/29/2020. WhatsApp Only +2347014043648. After much begging the black brother aims the gun at his white brother, pulls the trigger, the gun is discharged, the white man stoops . In early April 1891 Williams wrote a letter to Leopold entitled An Open Letter to His Serene Majesty Leopold II, King of the Belgians and Sovereign of the Independent State of Congo about the suffering of the region at the hands of Leopold's agents. You will find many other books, which will be given to you at the end of this conference. T have heard an officer of the Belgian Army pleading the cause of a white man of low degree who had been guilty of beating and stabbing a black man, and urging race distinctions and prejudices as good and sufficient reasons why his client should be adjudged innocent. NINTH.-Your Majestys Government has been, and is now, guilty of waging unjust and cruel wars against natives, with the hope of securing slaves and women, to minister to the behests of the officers of your Government. Upon the arrival of the survivors in the Congo they are set to work as labourers at one shilling a day; as soldiers they are promised sixteen shillings per month, in English money, but are usually paid off in cheap handkerchiefs and poisonous gin. This was, however, an unusual case of generosity and clemency; and there is only one post that I know of where there is not to be found children of the civil and military officers of your Majestys Government abandoned to degradation; white men bringing their own flesh and blood under the lash of a most cruel master, the State of Congo. Many of the issues he has with the government have to do with slavery and the By such means as these, too silly and disgusting to mention, and a few boxes of gin, whole villages have been signed away to your Majesty. writing. This letter was accessed through the website blackpast. Leopold II, French in full Lopold-Louis-Philippe-Marie-Victor, Dutch in full Leopold Lodewijk Filips Maria Victor, (born April 9, 1835, Brussels, Belgiumdied December 17, 1909, Laeken), king of the Belgians from 1865 to 1909. The Book of Negroes is a series of documents listing persons of African ancestry who were evacuated from the United States at the end of the American Revolution. July 18th, 1890. . The letter also pointed out that the government has done ELEVENTH.Your Majestys Government has concluded a contract with the Arab Governor at this place for the establishment of a line of military posts from the Seventh Cataract to Lake Tanganyika territory to which your Majesty has no more legal claim, than I have to be Commander-in-Chief of the Belgian army. No one can be prosecuted in the State of Congo without an order of the Governor-General, and as he refused to allow his servant to be arrested, nothing could be done. aaaa. Washington. FIRST.Your Majestys Government is deficient in the moral military and financial strength, necessary to govern a territory o 1,508,000 square miles, 7,251 miles of navigation, and 31,694 square miles of lake surface. website blackpast. After much begging the black brother aims the gun at his white brother, pulls the trigger, the gun is discharged, the white man stoops . W. Williams, of the United States of America," 1890. Have courage to admit it; you are not going to teach them what they know already. soldiers and the treatment of the women. British journalist E. D. Morel campaigned heavily to educate the world on this tragedy. A small donation would help us keep this available to all. Be the first one to, An open letter to His Serene Majesty Leopold III, King of the Belgians and Sovereign of the Independent State of Congo, Advanced embedding details, examples, and help, Terms of Service (last updated 12/31/2014). 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Throughout my struggle for the independence of my country, I have never doubted for Read More(1960) Patrice Lumumbas Last Letter to Pauline Lumumba, Founding Charter of the Organization of African Unity May 25, 1963 Addis Ababa, Ethiopia We, the Heads of African States and Governments assembled in the City of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Convinced that it is the inalienable right of all people to control their own destiny, Read More(1963) Founding Charter of the Organization of African Unity. fraud, robberies, arson, murder, slave-raiding, and general policy of cruelty of your They eat their rice twice a day by the use of their fingers; they often thirst for water when the season is dry; they are exposed to the heat and rain, and sleep upon the damp and filthy decks of the vessels often so closely crowded as to lie in human ordure. CONCLUSIONS how he felt about Belgium treatment of the Natives. Against the deceit, fraud, robberies, arson, murder, slave-raiding, and general policy of cruelty of your Majestys Government to the natives, stands their record of unexampled patience, long-suffering and forgiving spirit, which put the boasted civilisation and professed religion of your Majestys Government to the blush. Ibid, page 9. Often these ox-chains eat into the necks of the prisoners and produce sores about which the flies circle, aggravating the running wound; so the prisoner is constantly worried. They are ignorant of native character, lack wisdom, justice, fortitude and patience. There were instances in which Mr. HENRY M. STANLEY sent one white man, with four or five Zanzibar soldiers, to make treaties with native chiefs. The cruel and unjust treatment to which these people are subjected breaks the spirits of many of them, makes them distrust and despise your Majestys Government. Passerino Editore This letter was accessed through the I know of prisoners remaining in custody for six and ten months because they were not judged. Men who failed to bring enough rubber for agents were killed, or their hands amputated. It is natural that they everywhere shrink from the fostering care your Majestys Government so eagerly proffers them. He wanted to present changes that the He expected to make a difference in the In such slave-hunting raids one village is armed by the State against the other, and the force thus secured is incorporated with the regular troops. This was, however, an unusual case of generosity and clemency; and there is only one post that I know of where there is not to be found children of the civil and military officers of your Majestys Government abandoned to degradation; white men bringing their own flesh and blood under the lash of a most cruel master, the State of Congo. You must singularly insist on their total submission and obedience, avoid developing the spirit in the schools, teach students to read and not to reason. SEVENTH.Your Majestys Government is engaged in trade and commerce, competing with the organised trade companies of Belgium, England, France, Portugal and Holland. Adam Hochschild's "King Leopold's Ghost" is a lost historical account starting in the late 19th century continuing into the 20th century of the enslavement of an entire country. These poor natives are sent hundreds of miles away from their villages, to serve among other natives whose language they do not know. George Washington Williams, 1889. without having to search in multiple areas for the information. The issues addressed in his writings are varied and the major theme is the In 1884 he said:. The staple argument was that the white mans heart had grown sick of the wars and rumours of war between one chief and another, between one village and another; that the white man was at peace with his black brother, and desired to confederate all African tribes for the general defense and public welfare. how he thought the Natives should be dealt with. 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