DIscussion Comments

1) Idea or question that's lingering after your discussion.
           My group failed to discuss the child deaths in the Congo.  I thought that was a large part of the issues and maltreatment of the Congolese during Leopold's rule.  Additionally, it seemed that the group came to the conclusion that Leopold in the Congo was equivalent to the Americans and the Native Americans.  My opinion is that while faintly similar, there is no real equality between what happened in the Congo and what happened to the Native Americans.  While both used trickery in order to take the land from the people, the treatment of the Congolese was incredibly worse than the treatment of the Native Americans.  Additionally, the land that the Natives had was actually needed by the Americans, while the Congo was not needed by Belgium.

2) Evaluate your small group discussion.  What worked well? How can you improve?
              The discussion was alright.  There seemed to be a much better transition and smoothness to the conversation when the questions came directly from members of the group.  This way whoever had the question will have probably already formed an opinion on it, making it easier to discuss.  There was a huge lack of interest from half of the group, myself included.  The topics we were discussing were very straight forward to me.  It seemed like we were just talking to talk, not to gain a better understanding or to support opinions.  The questions needed to be easier to counter argue or have more than one right answer.  It was too easy to come to a conclusion.  The discussion was basically over 5 minutes in.

KLG 2

Leopold - "Indifferent to his schoolwork as a boy, with no interest whatever in art, music, or literature, Leopold was nonetheless a dedicatied scholar when it came to one subject, profits" (37).
I find this quote to sum up the priorities in King Leopold's life.

Stanley - "Leopold was now certain that this vast territory in the middle of Africa, miraculously still unclaimed by any European power, could become the colony he craved.  At last his long-dreamed-of production could reach the stage, and Stanley would be its star" (57).
This quote sets up what Stanley's use to King Leopold is.  He would be the poster child of colonization.

"As king of a small country with no public interest in colonies, he recognized that a colonial push of his own would require a strong humanitarian veneer.  Curbing the slave trade, moral uplift, and the advancement of science were the aims he would talk about, not profits" (42).
This quote supports the idea that Leopold would justify colonization with every other reason to colonize other than the real reason, being for profit.

KLG 1

"In other ways, African slavery was more flexible and benign than the system Europeans would soon establish in teh New WOrld.  Over a generation or two, slaves could often earn or be granted their freedom, and free people and slaves sometimes intermarried.  Nevertheless, the fact that trading in human beings existed in any form turned out to be catastrophic for Africa, for when Europeans showed up, ready to buy endless shiploads of slaves, they found African chiefs willing to sell" (10).
I find this quote interesting because it implies a sort of "they led to their own demise" aspect to Africa later being taken over.

1. Is Affonso a hypocrit or a protector?
2. Stanley; does he deserve the title of great explorer if he exaggerates what he finds?

What I Learned in School Today!

Imperialism
- There were more reasons to colonize than economy, resources, and land.
- Old Imperialism and New Imperialism are very different
- There are three types of colonies (Outright Colonies, Protectorates, and Sphere of Influence)
- The Berlin Conference was a meeting to split up Africa among the European powers