Reading Response 1

The first 30 pages of King Leopold's Ghost starts off with giving a description of how the people of Congo were found and then exposed. The introduction presents you to problems of salving trading that began long before the time of imperialism. Another interesting fact was that the people of Congo had no written language but were able to have a stable governing body through a monarch. The Congo territory was broken down into different providences, which was ruled by small monarchs. They were usually the tribe leaders. Also within this governing body the people of Congo had unwritten laws that were upheld by the people. They had judges for different crimes. The punishment for crime was usually slavery for a certain amount of time. The slaves in Congo were not like the slaves that people think of today. The slaves would inter mingle with the people around them. The salves would even sometimes marry a non-slave. The next interesting point was that the history has been long lost because of the Africans at the time not having a language. The history of mass genocide was hidden from the people. The people writing the articles and in journals made it sound like the people were doing things for the benefit of the people rather than just slave trading. The stories became stretched and people believed the stories.

Questions

Why did the African people not try to rebel against the white slave traders?

How has the genocide been forgotten even though so many people died?

page 10  
The lust  for slave profits engulfed even some of the priest, who abandoned their preaching, took black women as concubines, kept slaves themselves, and sold their students and converts into slavery.