Employing European Maps to Analyze Congos Exploitation* * Designed for a 10 th grade World History course at Collins Academy in Chicago, IL Collins Academy High School North Lawndale Community Chicago, IL Congo Project: Essential Question Why is the worlds most resource-rich country one of its poorest and most violent? Natural Resources in DR Congo Source: United States Geological Survey, 2006 Minerals Yearbook: 80% of the worlds coltan reserves Used in cell phones and other electronics 49% of the worlds cobalt reserves 28% of the worlds industrial diamonds Natural Resources in DR Congo Up to 25% of the worlds tropical forests Additional major natural resources: copper, niobium, petroleum, gem diamonds, gold, silver, zinc, manganese, tin, uranium, coal, hydropower, timber, coffee, sugar, palm oil, rubber, tea, quinine, cassava (tapioca), palm oil, bananas, root crops, corn, fruits wood products Source: Central Intelligence Agency World Factbook, 2009: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the- world-factbook/geos/CG.htmlhttps://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the- world-factbook/geos/CG.html Poverty in DR Congo Source: United Nations Development Programme, December 2008; Mail & Guardian article:poverty-in-drchttp://www.mg.co.za/article/ un-report-points-to-alarming-levels-of- poverty-in-drc 75% live below poverty line ($1/day) 57% have no access to drinking water 54% lack access to basic healthcare 47% chance of death before age 40 War-Related Deaths in DR Congo Source: International Rescue Committee, January 2008: million war- related deaths, ,000 deaths per month Now when I was a little chap I had a passion for maps. I would look for hours at South America, or Africa, or Australia, and lose myself in all the glories of exploration. At that time there were many blank spaces on the earth, and when I saw one that looked particularly inviting on a map (but they all look that) I would put my finger on it and say, When I grow up I will go there. - Marlow in Joseph Conrads Heart of Darkness Africa, according to Mr. D'Anville with several additions and improvements in Kitchen, A General Atlas Describing the Whole Universe (1773) Document Literacy: Kingdom of Congo AUSL Document Literacy Standards Analysis: Main Idea Identify the central question(s) the document addresses (2C)2C Analysis: Bucketing Differentiate between historical facts and historical interpretations (2D)2D In class, students will read the text of and examine the map that accompanies A report of the Kingdome of Congo individually and in pairsA report of the Kingdome of Congo We will discuss the native place names of the 1625 map and use of blank spaces as imperial invitations But there was one yet the biggest, the blankest so to speak that I had a hankering over. - Marlow in Joseph Conrads Heart of Darkness Google Earth: Historical Map of Congo College Readiness Standards Reading: Supporting Details Locate important details in uncomplicated passages (20A) Illinois Learning Standards Geography Use maps and other geographic instruments and technologies to analyze spatial patterns and distributions on earth (17A4b) Students will read E.D. Morels Great Britain and the Congo: The Pillage of the Congo Basin and use Google Earth to map three historical events from the textE.D. Morels Great Britain and the Congo: The Pillage of the Congo Basin Google Earth: Historical Map of Congo Based on events from E.D. Morels Great Britain and the Congo: The Pillage of the Congo Basin (1909) True, by this time it was not a blank space any more. It had got filled since my boyhood with rivers and lakes and names. It had ceased to be a blank space of delightful mystery a white patch for a boy to dream gloriously over. It had become a place of darkness. - Marlow in Joseph Conrads Heart of Darkness Bartholomew, J.G., The Globe Hand Atlas (1891) Hondius his map of Congo in Purchas, Samuel, His Pilgrimes (1625) Do Now: Belgian Congo Illinois Learning Standards Geography Analyze trends in world demographics as they relate to physical systems (17B4b) Students will analyze the map by writing five observations of map details, two conclusions about the meanings of those details, the audience, and the purpose of the map* * Henceforth, analyze the map will refer to this process Congo and King Leopold II AUSL Document Literacy Standards Evaluation: Inference Analyze cause-and-effect relationships and multiple causation, including the importance of the individual, the influence of ideas (3C)3C After analyzing and discussing the 1884 Belgian Congo map, students will read Congo and King Leopold II and create a cause-and-effect flow chart based on the textCongo and King Leopold II Students will then, in a paragraph, use evidence from the text to explain how the demand for bicycles in Europe led to exploitation of Congo. Rubber Exploitation Illinois Learning Standards Geography Explain how processes of spatial change have affected human history (e.g., resource development and use, natural disasters) (17D4) Students will analyze the map and use it to take the perspective of an educated Congolese and write a letter to E.D. Morels Congo Reform Association explaining how European economic maps are used for rubber exploitation We will discuss the location of various resources listed on this map and corresponding European interests Commercial Cultivation Map in Bartholomew, Atlas of Economic Geography (1914) Scramble for Africa Students will conduct the Teachers Curriculum Institutes Scramble for Africa activity Afterwards, students will compare the classroom map they created to this map and take notes on an interactive lecture about the Berlin Conference ( ), Congo Free State, Leopold II, and Belgian Congo Political Map of Africa in Bartholomew, Atlas of Economic Geography (1914) Congo Document-Based Question AUSL Document Literacy Standards Analysis: Bucketing Draw comparisons across eras and regions in order to define enduring issues (3D)3D Evaluation Frame of Reference Consider multiple perspectives (3B)3B College Readiness Standards Writing: Make & Articulate Judgments Take a position on an issue Writing: Sustain Focus Focus clearly on a specific issue and use supporting details to support writers stance Illinois Learning Standards Geography Analyze the historical development of a current issue involving the interaction of people and geographic factors (e.g., mass transportation, changes in agricultural subsidies, flood control) (17D5) Congo Document-Based Question Use the accompanying documents as evidence to construct a five-paragraph essay that agrees or disagrees with the following statement: The exploitation of the Democratic Republic of the Congo since 1996 is no different than Leopold IIs exploitation of the Congo from 1885 to Consider the perspectives and attitudes of each time period in your answer. New York American, December 10, 1904 Coqury-Vidrovitchs, Elisabth, Le Congo au temps des Grands Compagnies Concessionaires (1974) The graphs show the correlation between number of bullets used (top) and the amount of rubber produced (bottom) at the Salanga post from Sambourne, Linley, In The Rubber Coils. Scene The Congo Free State (1906) The problem of White settlement and White labour in the tropics has been revolutionized by the recent advance in our knowledge of the microscopic fauna and flora of diseasemost deadly tropical diseasescan be fought with certain success and even exterminated by the destruction of the parasite in its intermediary host (Man), by segregation, and by the abolition of appropriate breeding-places for the particular parasite. This will revolutionize the problem of Coloured Labour. The average native seems to be more liable to such diseases than the average White man, and the White man more so than the Yellow man, though the death-rate from malaria in Formosa shows that even the Yellow Man the only human type that is climatically naturalized in all climates from arctic to equatorial has no racial immunity. But the Black man, who is more suited than any other to tropical labour, has been the curse of the world from the hygienic standpoint, for from him all the most deadly and disgusting diseases (e.g. smallpox, cholera, typhus) seem to have spread over the world. Indeed, the difficult problem is his incurable laziness is now being solved by the knowledge that it is the direct consequence of lifelong martyrdom to hookworm. Freedom from parasitic disease is going, then, to decrease enormously the mortality amongst Negroes and to increase their capacity for work. This has a double importance ; for it ought to remove both any need for White labour in the Tropics where at present it actually pays to employ it, e.g. in the Queensland sugar plantations. But there is the other side of the question that European nations are seeking homes for surplus population (amongst whom they hope to find also new markets), and these homes can only be found in the relatively unoccupied areas of the tropics unoccupied hitherto because too unhealthy. Bartholomew, Atlas of Economic Geography (1914) Bendib, Congos Holocaust (2008) Map of Africa in Kitchen, A General Atlas Describing the Whole Universe (1773) August 1, 1890 Chief came with a youth about 13 suffering from gun-shot wound in the head. Bullet entered about an inch above the right eyebrow, and came out a little inside the roots of the hair, fairly in the middle of the brow in a line with the bridge of the nose. Bone not damaged apparently. Gave him a little glycerine to put on the wound made by the bullet coming out. *Footnote: The African native can survive wounds which would kill a European; on the other hand, he easily succumbs to epidemics like influenza. Conrad, Joseph Conrads Diary of his journey up the Congo in 1890 (1926) 2008 marked the 100-year anniversary of the removal of the Congo from King Leopold II of Belgium as his own personal property. Global outrage at the Kings brutal rule resulted in his losing the Congo treasure trove on Nov. 15, Leopold II accumulated spectacular wealth for himself and the Belgian state during his 23-year dominion ( ) over the Congo. During this period, an estimated 10 million Congolese lost their lives while Leopold systematically looted the Congo of its rubber and ivory riches. Congo was then handed over to Belgium, which ruled as a colonial power from 1908 to Congo finally got its independence on June 30, 1960, when Patrice Emery Lumumba, its first democratically elected prime minister took office. Unfortunately, the Western powers, primarily the United States and Belgium, could not allow a fiercely independent African to consolidate his power over such a geo-strategic prize as the Congo. Lumumba was removed from power in a Western-backed coup within weeks and assassinated on Jan. 17, Belgium apologized for its role in Lumumbas assassination in 2002, yet the U.S. still downplays its role in murdering this great young leader. The U.S. replaced Lumumba with the dictator Mobutu Sese Seko and backed him until he was overthrown in The overthrow of Mobutu unleashed an ongoing resource war that has caused deep strife and unbearable suffering for the Congolese people, particularly the women and the children. It is estimated that nearly 6 million Congolese have been killed since the 1996 invasion by Rwanda and Uganda with support from the United States and other Western nations. A century later, Congo is at another crossroads. In spite of the advances in technology and the shrinking of the world, it is curious that there is such silence around the suffering of the Congolese people due to the exploitation of powerful corporate and foreign forces beyond its peoples immediate control. Unlike the early 1900s, remarkably, today there are few if any voices the likes of Mark Twain, who wrote King Leopolds Soliloquy, Joseph Conrad, The Heart of Darkness (often misread as Congo or Africa being dark, but he was referring to the dark hearts of the exploiters of the Congo), and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle of Sherlock Holmes fame, who wrote Crime in the Congo. The Congo Reform movement that drew from the work of African Americans such as William Sheppard and George Washington Williams and led by European figures such as Robert Casement and E.D. Morel gave birth to the modern international human rights movement. One hundred years later we are again calling on the global community to be at the side of the Congolese. This time, there is one fundamental difference: The Congolese are agents in this narrative and the call this time is not for a handover to a colonial power or neo-colonial institutions but rather to the people of the Congo. The clarion call is for combating the forces - local elites and rebels, foreign governments, foreign corporations and multi- lateral institutions - that have the Congolese people in a death trap. The charity prism of the humanitarian industry is not the answer. It only perpetuates dependency and dis- empowerment. Should Congo be truly liberated, the Darfurizaton (emptying of agency from the afflicted people) of the global movement in support of the Congo must be avoided at all costs. Congolese must be agents rather than objects in the pursuit of the control of their land and their lives. The sovereignty of the people and control and ownership of the riches of their land is the fundamental human right for which we must advocate. It is a call not only for the Congo but the entire African continent. Become a part of the global movement to Break the Silence as the Congolese pursue true sovereignty and liberty. Maurice Carney is executive director and Kambale Musavuli is student coordinator of Friends of the Congo, 1629 K St. NW, Suite 300, Washington, DC 20006, (202) ,Friends of the Congo is led by people of African ancestry and others of goodwill. With strong support from friends of the Congo throughout the globe, the vast human and natural resource potential of the Democratic Republic of Congo can serve as an instrument to meet the great needs of the people of Congo and Africa.Break the Silence Economic Map of Africa in Bartholomew, Atlas of Economic Geography (1914) Musavuli and Carney, San Francisco BayView, January 2, 2009 Other Document-Based Questions Why is the worlds most resource-rich country one of its poorest and most violent? Is an abundance of natural resources a disadvantage to a country? Why or why not? Agree or disagree with the following statement: Maps of Congo before and during the European colonial period did not just document exploitation, but also encouraged it. Explain the irony Congo Free State, the countrys name under the rule of Leopold II. How could Congolese maps of Congo have been used to subvert Europeans exploitation of the country?