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The Belgians of the Congo Free State in Africa obtained a vast amount of riches; however, much of it was taken out and brought back to Europe. Belgian ruler King Leopold made himself the dictator of the Congo and spent the riches to form what was nearly his own private colony, the Congo Free State. As we look at how Belgium profited from the colonization of Congo, I am going to refer to the books and films we used in class to help explore and define this topic more proficiently.
Belgium discovered many natural materials that were very valuable for the times and could potentially benefit Africa and the western world. These materials, such as rubber and ivory were so valuable that many extremes were taken in order to receive as much as possible. One of the extremes being the cutting off of laborers hands that didn't gather enough rubber. Belgium also received a majority of their money from the taxes they were able to issue when in control of the Congo (Leopold's Ghost, 168).......

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Approximate Word Count: 1219
Approximate Pages: 5 (250 words per double-spaced page)

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