The Butcher Of Congo: King Leopold The Second Of Belgium

A long time ago, a king named Leopold II from a place called Belgium did something very bad to many people in Africa, in a place called Congo. He wanted to make a lot of money from rubber trees there, so he made the people there work very hard and treated them very badly. He hurt many people and didn't even go there himself.

Leopold pretended he was helping by saying he was teaching the people new things and spreading kindness, but he was actually being very mean and just wanted to be more powerful and rich. This made him very wealthy, but it was very sad for the people in Congo.

Other places in the world were also being unkind to people at the same time: Britain on the Aborigines in Australia, the United States on Native Americans and Filipinos , French on Northwest Congolese, Spanish on the north and central Native Americans, Portuguese on the Angolans and Amazonians and Germans on Southwest Africans. but what Leopold did in Congo was so bad that many people talked about it and tried to help.

Even the leaders in Congo were tricked into agreeing to this because they didn't understand what they were signing. If the people in Congo didn't work fast enough or get enough rubber, they were punished very harshly.

After Leopold died, the country of Congo eventually became free, but they had more troubles with different leaders. Congo is a place with many valuable minerals, and it's very important today.

So, it's a story about how being greedy and wanting power can hurt a lot of people, and why it's important to treat everyone kindly and fairly.