The Butcher Of Congo: King Leopold The Second Of Belgium

A long time ago, King Leopold II from Belgium did very bad things to many people in Congo, Africa. He wanted to get rich from the rubber plants there. He pretended to help the people of Congo but instead, he hurt them a lot. He made them work very hard and was very mean to them if they didn't do what he wanted. He didn't even go to Congo but still caused a lot of harm.

Other countries were also being mean to people in different parts of the world 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 King Leopold II did in Congo was so bad that many people talked about it and wrote books to tell everyone how terrible it was.

The leaders in Congo didn't know how to read or write. They trusted King Leopold II and gave him control of their land without understanding what would happen. This made things very bad for the people who lived there.

King Leopold II had a lot of money because of what he did in Congo. After he died, he gave his money to the Belgian government. Congo is a place with a lot of valuable minerals, but even after Congo became free from Belgium, there were still a lot of problems and unfair leaders.

The first leader chosen by the people of Congo was hurt by others who wanted to control the country. The United States and Belgium were involved in this. Later, more leaders took over, but they also made bad choices that hurt the country.

Today, Congo is trying to do better, but it's had a tough history because of what happened a long time ago.