Question

Read the following passage from a book by modern-day author Adam Hochschild describing King Leopold’s treatment of the Congo.

“Talk of the lazy native accompanied the entire European land grab in Africa, just as it had been used to justify the conquest of the Americas. To an American reporter Leopold once declared, ‘In dealing with a race composed of cannibals for thousands of years it is necessary to use methods which will best shake their idleness and make them realize the sanctity of work’.”

According to this passage, how did King Leopold justify his treatment of the Congolese people?

A. The Congolese were not treated harshly, compared to the American Indians.

B. The Congolese people understood the sanctity of work and needed to be punished.

C. The Congolese had too many resources and had become lazy because of their wealth.

D. The Congolese were an inferior people who needed harsh treatment for them to learn how to work.

Answer 1

The Congolese were an inferior race who needed harsh treatment to learn how to work. 

Answer 2

The correct answer is:

The Congolese were an inferior race who needed harsh treatment to learn how to work.

King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa (1998) investigates the exploitation of the Congo Free State by King Leopold II of Belgium between 1885 and 1908.

Leopold used his personal control to strip the county of wide amounts of wealth, mostly in the form of ivory and rubber. These labor-intensive industries were serviced by slave labor. The locals were forced to work through various means, including torture, imprisonment, and terror.