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Revision as of 16:39, 8 July 2023 by Bobrayner (talk | contribs) (→Goals: Quote from Leopold II)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)The Committee for Studies of the Upper Congo, or in French the Comité d'études du Haut-Congo, was formed in 1878 by Leopold II, King of the Belgians, as part of the Scramble for Africa.
At Leopold's request, the Committee was formed by a number of bankers and traders in Belgium and abroad, who contributed funds. The King had initially wanted to recruit Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza as an explorer, but he was hired by the French. Henry Morton Stanley was approached instead; in January 1879, he presented to the Committee a proposal for further exploring the Congo. The Committee supported this mission, and Stanley left Antwerp on a freighter in June 1879, arriving in July at the mouth of the Congo River. Stanley was given orders to get territorial concessions from local tribal rulers.
Goals
The committee was founded, ostensibly, with the goals of:
- Assess the navigability of the Congo River;
- Assess the potential for European trade with the inhabitants of the region;
- Discover what entrance costs might be charged by the tribes;
- Learn the nature of local trade goods;
- Investigate the possibility of creating a railway in the area of the waterfalls (now known as Livingstone Falls), and the goods to be transported.
However, the King privately instructed Stanley that: "It is not about Belgian colonies. It is about establishing a new state that is as large as possible and about its governance. It should be clear that in this project there can be no question of granting the Negroes the slightest form of political power. That would be ridiculous. The whites, who lead the posts, have all the power."
Fate
King Leopold II had the Committee dissolved in 1879. It was replaced by the International Association of the Congo, which was in turn replaced by the Congo Free State in 1885.
See Also
- Congo Reform Association
- International African Association
- Brussels Anti-Slavery Conference 1889–90
- Brussels Conference Act of 1890
Further Reading
References
- https://archives.africamuseum.be/agents/corporate_entities/170 African Museum: Comité d'études du Haut-Congo
- Op de Beeck, Johan (2020). Leopold II, the whole story. Horizon. ISBN 9789463962094.
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- International Association of the Congo
- Congo Free State
- Belgian colonisation in Africa
- Former Belgian colonies
- Former colonies in Africa
- History of Central Africa
- History of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
- 1878 establishments in Africa
- Leopold II of Belgium
- Belgium–Democratic Republic of the Congo relations