King Leopold set out to do one thing with the Congo, and that was to get filthy rich in any means possible, all under the name of “colonization”. The king had many tools at his disposal, he had lies, Religion, his stature, manipulation, his connections, and was very willing to use all of them for his own self

Ultimately it would be these, “crimes against humanity” written by George Washington Williams, that would provoke such leaders to rise to the occasion, alerting everyone of the necessity to keep track of the human rights across the world. George Washington was one of these leaders that helped to reveal the horrific tales of the Congo. By writing the, “Open Letter” Williams would give the world a chance to take action upon the crimes of Leopold and his men. Even though he would be ignored in his life span, he nevertheless lit the fire to, “almost all the major charges that would be made by the international Congo protest movement of more than a decade later.” E.D Morel would be a second leader to stand up and dedicate his life to, “ ‘expose and destroy what I then knew to be a legalized infamy…accompanied by unimaginable barbarities and responsible for a vast destruction of human life.’” Morel had a “rare gift” to publicize, and he used that tool to change the outcome of the Congo for the better. More importantly, his use of publication would also kick start the first human rights movement, and would eventually serve as an example to reach the “sleeping” world for all movements of any kind till this day. Hochschild showed through Morel and his skill, not only the power of media, but also the state of the world and their unwillingness to care about what happened in some obscure land far away from pressing matters of their own. It was these people who redefined the idea of humanity to not just the people directly around, but also to the people across the ocean, the people of other skin color, and the people of other religion.

Some topics in this essay:
Europeans Africans, Congo Arab, Hochschild Morel, Prejudgments Africa, ED Morel, Leopold’s Ghost”, Stalin Hitler, King Leopold, Africans” Millions, Morton Stanley, king leopold, george washington, human rights,