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?

Answer 1

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

Step-by-step explanation:

Answer 2

According to King Leopold, the Congolese were an inferior race/ people and needed to be treated harshly for them to understand the importance of hard work.

Step-by-step explanation:

When Europeans first began explorations in the African continent, Africa was deemed an "uncivilized" world. Thus, the need to "civilize" and change them to be 'normal' people were the work put out for the new arrivals by themselves.

In the given passage provided, King Leopold termed the people of Congo as "lazy native[s] . . . composed of cannibals". He even stressed the need for "methods which will best shake their idleness and make them realize the sanctity of work", hinting at a harsh treatment as the only means to make the native people learn. He, therefore, justifies the treatment meted out to the Congolese so as to make them learn about the sanctity and need for hard work.