Congo Free State

De **Congo Free State**, dem san know am as de **Independent State of the Congo** (French: *État indépendant du Congo*), be de  largest state den absolute monarchy for Central Africa from 1885 to 1908. Na ebe privately owned by den sam personal union with King Leopold II. Na eno dey part of, nor na e dey belong to am, de Kingdom of Belgium, wey be de constitutional monarch. Leopold be able to seize de region wey na he dey convince sam European states for de Berlin Conference for Africa wey na he involve ein body for humanitarian den philanthropic work den no dey tax trade. Via de International Association of de Congo, he fit lay claim to most of de Congo Basin. For 29 May 1885, after de closure of de Berlin Conference, de king cam talk say he plan make he name ein possessions "the Congo Free State", sam appellation wey dem no yet use for de Berlin Conference den wey dem officially replace "International Association of de Congo" For 1 August 1885. De Congo Free State operate as separate nation from Belgium, for sam personal union plus ein King. Na de Free State be privately controlled by Leopold II, although he neva personally visit de state.

## References


## Sources

* Ascherson, Neal (1999). *[[:en:The_King_Incorporated|The King Incorporated: Leopold the Second and the Congo]]* (new ed.). London: Granta. ISBN 1-86207-290-6.
* Forbath, Peter (1977). **'. Harper & Row. ISBN <bdi>[[:en:Special:BookSources/978-0-06-122490-4|978-0-06-122490-4]]</bdi>.
* Gann, Lewis H.; Duignan, Peter (1979). ''The Rulers of Belgian Africa, 1884–1914''. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. ISBN <bdi>[[:en:Special:BookSources/978-0-691-63181-3|978-0-691-63181-3]]</bdi>.
* Hochschild, Adam (2006). ''[[:en:King_Leopold's_Ghost|King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa]]''. ISBN <bdi>[[:en:Special:BookSources/978-1-74329-160-3|978-1-74329-160-3]]</bdi>.
* Pakenham, Thomas (1991). ''The Scramble for Africa''. Abacus. ISBN <bdi>[[:en:Special:BookSources/0-349-10449-2|0-349-10449-2]]</bdi>.
* Siefkes, Christian (2022). ''[https://www.berghahnbooks.com/title/SiefkesEdible Edible People: The Historical Consumption of Slaves and Foreigners and the Cannibalistic Trade in Human Flesh]''. New York: Berghahn. ISBN <bdi>[[:en:Special:BookSources/978-1-80073-613-9|978-1-80073-613-9]]</bdi>.
* Slade, Ruth M. (1962). ''King Leopold's Congo: Aspects of the Development of Race Relations in the Congo Independent State''. OCLC [https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/655811695 655811695].
* Van Reybrouck, David (2014). ''[[:en:Congo:_The_Epic_History_of_a_People|Congo: The Epic History of a People]]''. London: Fourth Estate. ISBN <bdi>[[:en:Special:BookSources/978-0-00-756290-9|978-0-00-756290-9]]</bdi>.

=== Primary sources ===

* Bourne, Henry Richard Fox (1903). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=jWccAAAAMAAJ Civilisation in Congoland: A Story of International Wrong-Doing]''. P. S. King & Son.
* Burrows, Guy; Canisius, Edgar (1903). **'. London: R. A. Everett.
* Hinde, Sidney Langford (1897). **'. London: Methuen.

== You fi read further ==

* Alexander, Nathan G. (2016). [https://www.euppublishing.com/doi/abs/10.3366/brw.2016.0238 "E. D. Morel (1873–1924), the Congo Reform Association, and the History of Human Rights"]. ''Britain and the World'' **9** (2): 213–235.
* De Roo, Bas (2017). [https://web.archive.org/web/20231013181438/https://www.academia.edu/33602274/Taxation_in_the_Congo_Free_State_an_Exceptional_Case_1885_1908_ "Taxation in the Congo Free State, an Exceptional Case?"] ''Economic History of Developing Regions'' **32** (2): 97–126.
* Grant, Kevin (2005). ''A Civilised Savagery: Britain and the New Slaveries in Africa, 1884–1926''. London: Routledge. ISBN [[:en:Special:BookSources/0-415-94901-7|0-415-94901-7]].
* Morel, E. D. [Edmund Dene] (1968). ''E. D. Morel's History of the Congo Reform Movement''. Edited by Wm. Roger Louis and Jean Stengers. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
* Ó Síocháin, Séamas (2008). ''Roger Casement: Imperialist, Rebel, Revolutionary''. Dublin: Lilliput Press.
* Petringa, Maria (2006) ''Brazza: A Life for Africa''. AuthorHouse. ISBN [[:en:Special:BookSources/978-1-4259-1198-0|978-1-4259-1198-0]].
* Rodney, Walter (1974). ''How Europe Underdeveloped Africa''. Howard University Press. ISBN [[:en:Special:BookSources/0-88258-013-2|0-88258-013-2]].
* Roes, Aldwin (2010). [http://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/74340/2/roesAW2.pdf "Towards a History of Mass Violence in the Etat Indépendant du Congo, 1885-1908"] (PDF). ''South African Historical Journal''. **62** (4): 634–670. doi:. S2CID [https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:144843155 144843155].
* Stanard, Matthew G. (2012). ''Selling the Congo: A History of European Pro-Empire Propaganda and the Making of Belgian Imperialism.'' University of Nebraska Press.
* Vandersmissen, Jan (2011). [http://www.journalbelgianhistory.be/en/node/1099 "The King's Most Eloquent Campaigner... Emile de Laveleye, Leopold II and the Creation of the Congo Free State"]. ''Belgisch tijdschrift voor nieuwste geschiedenis'', pp. 7–57.
* Vanthemsche, Guy (2012). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=ImNjdlBHzukC&pg=PA10 Belgium and the Congo], 1885–1980''. Cambridge University Press. ISBN <bdi>[[:en:Special:BookSources/978-0-521-19421-1|978-0-521-19421-1]]</bdi>.
* Wesseling, Henk L.; Pomerans, Arnold J. (1996). ''Divide and Rule: The Partition of Africa, 1880–1914''. Westport, Connecticut: Praeger Publishing. ISBN <bdi>[[:en:Special:BookSources/978-0-275-95137-5|978-0-275-95137-5]]</bdi>.

=== Additional primary sources ===

* [http://www.kaowarsom.be/en/BOCB ''Bulletin officiel / État indépendant du Congo''] (insyd French), Brussels, 1885–1907, OCLC [https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/7625261 7625261] – via Académie royale des sciences d'outre-mer; also via [https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/006922021 HathiTrust].
* Casement, Roger. ''Report of the British Consul, Roger Casement, on the Administration of the Congo Free State.'' Reprinted in full in Ó Síocháin, Séamas and Michael O'Sullivan, eds. (2004). ''The Eyes of Another Race: Roger Casement's Congo Report and 1903 Diary''. University College Dublin Press. ISBN [[:en:Special:BookSources/1-900621-99-1|1-900621-99-1]].
* ''The Congo Report of Commission of Inquiry'' (1906). New York.
* Johnston, Harry (1908). ''George Grenfell and the Congo.'' 2 vols. London.
* The reports of the Congo Reform Association, particularly the ''Memorial on the Present Phase of the Congo Question'' (1912). London.
* Stanley, Henry Morton (1885). ''The Congo and the Founding of the Congo Free State.'' London.

== External links ==

* ''[https://www.consciencebibliotheek.be/en/page/antwerp-colonial-city Antwerp is a colonial city]'', by Bas De Roo
* **', the novel
* ''The Crime of the Congo'', by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle at Google Books
* ''A Journal of a Tour in the Congo Free State'', 1905, by Marcus Dorman, from Project Gutenberg
* Catalogue of the Edmund Morel papers at the Archives Division of the London School of Economics.
* Cana, Frank Richardson (1911). . In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). *Encyclopædia Britannica*. Vol. 6 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 917–928.
* Cana, Frank Richardson (1922). . *Encyclopædia Britannica*. Vol. 30 (12th ed.). pp. 428–429.
* Archive Congo Free State, Royal Museum of Central Africa