Europeans were driven since the fifteenth century to explore, trade, conquer, and colonize the exotic lands they considered empty and up for grabs by westerners. The book succeeded in increasing public awareness of these belgian colonial crimes. King leopold did not attend the conference, because, officially, the congo was under the control of the iac, which was a private society. William sheppard, wrote of the toll leopolds congo had taken on the kuba people. Outbound ships carried little more than soldiers and firearms. King s leopolds ghost was published in september 1998, by adam hochschild. Mar 29, 2020 introduction king leopolds ghost chronicles the horrifying and nearly forgotten crimes that took place in the congo in the 1800s. Williams then wrote an open letter to leopold laying out all of his grievances for these crimes against humanity. King leopolds ghost book saint paul public library. When newspapers published some of his letter, some of the public started to question leopolds intentions. Kings leopolds ghost was published in september 1998, by adam hochschild. Listen to king leopold s ghost audiobook by adam hochschild.
King leopolds ghost made me embarrassed to be human. King leopold ii of belgium, with all his austere regalia and severe beard, painted himself as the picture of beneficence for the little heard of territory along the congo river, setting up societies and companies dedicated to the elimination of the arab slave trade. Hochschilds short book is simply one of the most powerful indictments of mass murder ever written, as well as a testament. Example essay on king leopold s ghost book summary will inspire you. But william sheppard seldom shows up in the annals of. Leopold, a king of a small country and a man with very limited powers, decides that he desperately needs to find a colony where he can reign supreme. I first learned about william sheppard while reading king leopold s ghost, sheppard is one of the heroes of that story for his work in exposing the autocracies committed by the belgians. With an introduction by awardwinning novelist barbara kingsolver in the late nineteenth century, when the great powers in europe were tearing africa apart and seizing ownership of land for themselves, king leopold of belgium took hold of the vast and mostly unexplored territory surrounding the congo river. Sheppard was born in 1865, and distinguished himself as a theological student and a minister. Sheppard s article from a decade earlier, about his discovering eightyone severed hands being smoked over a fire, had been one of the most widely quoted pieces of testimony about the congo.
Lapsley and sheppard arrived in the congo, along the kasai river, in may of 1890, and immediately began plans to build a mission station. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one. The book details the genocidean estimated ten million lives were lost. A tale far richer than any novelist could invent, king leopolds ghost is the horrifying account of a megalomaniac of monstrous proportions. Morel, sheppard, williams, casement, and others boldly spoke out against the.
Two courageous black americans, george washington williams and william sheppard, risked much to bring evidence of the congo atrocities to the outside. Other individuals like william sheppard and roger casement followed the steps of williams. Sheppard, presbyterian missionary, explorer, and the first outsider to visit. He spent 20 years in africa, primarily in and around the congo free state, and is best known for his efforts to publicize the atrocities committed against the kuba and other congolese peoples by king leopold iis force publique. Belgium, as a small, relatively new european country, lagged far behind its rivals as an. Reverend william sheppard sounds like an amazing man, so too with e. At center stage was the black american missionary william sheppard. Roger casement, later hanged by britain as a traitor, conducted an. Sheppard s book is discussed in king leopold s ghost.
I have just read king leopolds ghost and it is approximately 318 pages long, but extends to 376 with notes and works cited. As adam hochschild, author of the novel king leopold s ghost points out, leopold was a master of spin control. Carrying out a genocidal plundering of the congo, he looted its rubber, brutalized its people, and ultimately. Library of congress cataloginginpublication data hochschild, adam. Michiko kakutani of the new york times called it an extraordinarily moving portrait of the complexities and confusions of familial love. The titular figure of the book and arguably its villain, king leopold ii was the longestreigning monarch in belgian history. George washington williams, a black american journalist and historian who interviewed africans, and william sheppard, a black american missionary who recorded scenes he witnessed in the congo. One of the best indictments of colonialism that i have ever read, king leopolds ghost is obsensively a book about power and greed. Morel is joined by a rich cast of human rights activists, among them william sheppard and roger casement. Stream and download audiobooks to your computer, tablet or mobile phone.
One of the things i liked most about this book is that it deflates the hero status of people like. Incoming ships were crammed with valuable ivory and rubber. William sheppard character analysis in king leopolds. An estimated ten million congolese died during that time. In the late 1880s, he started a petition to travel to africa as a missionary. King leopold s ghost was also awarded the 1998 california book awards gold medal for nonfiction. King leopolds ghost is the book that reexposed the atrocities leopold committed against the congo between 1880 and 1910 atrocities that sank out of sight after they were finally stopped.
The character of william sheppard in king leopolds ghost from. Two courageous black americansgeorge washington williams and william sheppard risked much to bring evidence to the outside world. William henry sheppard and king leopolds congo free state. King leopolds belgium study guides and book summaries. King leopold s ghost a story of greed, terror, and heroism in colonial africa book. Besides morel, there were others who helped to uncover leopolds terrorism in the congo. Sheppard excerpted from king leopolds ghost by adam hochschild only two years after henry morton stanley hobbled down the cathedral aisle, another man accomplished a remarkable feat of exploration in the congo. One of the earliest to attempt to bring attention to leopold s personal colony of what he termed the congo free state an ironic name considering that forced labor was the rule, rather than the exception in the colony was a presbyterian missionary from the united states, william henry sheppard. Sep 21, 1998 the story in king leopold s ghost is a powerful one colonization taken to its extreme but the book is rendered mediocre by the author s trite moralizing, lack of historical rigor, and tiresome reliance on depicting every actor with either a halo or horns. King leopolds ghost by adam hochschild plot summary litcharts. Adam hochschilds king leopolds ghost is a historical account of colonial exploitation of the congo region of africa. Historian adam hochschild developed the story using an abundance of sources that take up eleven pages in the book s bibliography, with much reliance on the scramble for africa, by thomas pakenham, and the fourvolume history of the congo, by jules marchal. In the late 1890s, edmund dene morel, a young british shipping company agent, noticed something strange about the cargoes of his companys ships as they arrived from and departed for the congo, leopold iis vast new african colony. One night in 2004, some anarchists sawed the hand off one of the africans to make the statue better represent, they said in an.
For the book i wrote after king leopolds ghost, i spent several years living, intellectually, in the company of the protestant evangelicals who played a crucial role in the british antislavery movement of 17871833. Morel, george washington williams, william henry sheppard and others, who worked tirelessly to bring about its end. King leopold s ghost is the haunting account of a megalomaniac of monstrous proportions, a man as cunning, charming, and cruel as any of the great shakespearean villains. The king was angry, and began trying to undermine williams message. Hochschild begins the story of king leopolds greed for the congo by sketching the earliest colonial history of africa. William sheppard was african american, and joined with samuel lapsley, a white man, as equal partners in the foundation of the mission work of the presbyterians in congo, today one of the largest denominations in that vast nation. He was a presbyterian missionary from virginia who had a passionate desire to go to africa and help out, in a sense to return home. Overlooking the beach at leopold s favorite resort at ostend, belgium, has long stood a grand equestrian statue of the king in bronze, surrounded by smaller figures of grateful africans and local fishermen. Morel, if it wasnt for this book i would know nothing of their stories. King leopolds ghost by adam hochschild book resume. Adam hochschilds king leopolds ghost offers a substantial overview of the period from 1895 until 1908 when king leopold ii of belgium ruled the congoor at least the very large territory around the congo river basin that he claimed as his own. These great stalwart men and women, who have from time immemorial been free had changed into starving slaves within three years of the rubber companys invasion. A story of greed, terror and heroism in colonial africa 1998 is a.
That experience made me think i had understated, in this book, the importance of the evangelical tradition in the appeal of congo reform to the british public. William sheppard character analysis in king leopolds ghost. The king leopolds ghost community note includes chapterbychapter summary and analysis, character list, theme list, historical context, author biography and quizzes written by community members like you. It s a highly readable account of king leopold s brutal reign in the congo and the human rights advocates, roger casement, e. Unlike stanleys journeys, his was respectful and nonviolent. The right hands, i counted 81 in all, william henry sheppard reported, after seeing the hands of africans that. I heard adam hochschild s interview on cbc and ordered the book.
Listen to king leopolds ghost by adam hochschild at. Leopold was an intelligent and ruthless man who wasnt afraid to lie or kill in order to expand belgiums power. He spent 20 years in africa, primarily in and around the congo free state, and is best known for his efforts to publicize the atrocities committed against the kuba and other congolese peoples by king leopold ii s force publique. In the centuries following the discovery of the new world, the countries of europe became very wealthy and powerful. I have just read king leopolds ghost and it is approximately 318 pages long, but extends to 376 with notes. William sheppard character analysis william sheppard quotes in king leopolds ghost due to the missionaries, from the mid1890s on leopold had to deal with scattered protests, like sheppards articles, about severed hands and slaughtered africans. Presbyterian pioneers in congo by william henry sheppard stbalbach. Hochschilds short book is simply one of the most powerful indictments of mass murder ever written, as well as a testament to how much influence even a single person acting on moral outrage over such an event can have. George washington williams and william sheppard, risked much to bring evidence of the congo atrocities to the outside world.
Washington williams, and william henry sheppard began to circulate news. However, many of leopolds followers were present at the conference, including sanford acting as ambassador from america, and stanley. William sheppard s outspokenness would eventually bring down the wrath of the authorities and one day vandervelde, an attorney, would find himself defending sheppard in a congo courtroom. The book also addresses the years leading up to leopolds acquisition of the congo and those. In 1885, a megalomaniac king bought his own country. Get everything you need to know about william sheppard in king leopolds ghost. William henry sheppard march 8, 1865 november 25, 1927 was one of the earliest african americans to become a missionary for the presbyterian church.
During his reign, he amassed enormous landholdings in the african territory surrounding the congo river. It is also the deeply moving portrait of those who defied leopold. He wasnt a typical 19th century african explorer, for one thing he was black. King leopold s reign in the congo was so vicious that even the other colonial powers of the day had to condemn him. King leopolds ghost by adam hochschild penguin random. I picked up this book because i have always wanted to know what really went on in the congo with patrice lumumba back in the 50s, and why he was assassinatd in 1960. A story of greed, terror and heroism in colonial africa is a bestselling popular history book by adam hochschild that explores the exploitation of the congo free state by king leopold ii of belgium between 1885 and 1908, as well as the largescale atrocities committed during that period. The new york times king leopolds ghost is a remarkable achievement, hugely satisfying on many levels. Readers guide for king leopolds ghost published by houghton. With an introduction by awardwinning novelist barbara kingsolver in the late nineteenth century, when the great powers in europe were tearing africa apart and seizing ownership of land for themselves, king leopold of belgium took hold of the vast and mostly unexplored territory surrounding. Two courageous black americansgeorge washington williams and william sheppardrisked much to bring evidence to. I first learned about william sheppard while reading king leopold s ghost, sheppard is one of the heroes of that story for his work in exposing the autocracies. This book is the story of a man that was so greedy even the pretext of humanitarian aims were summarily ignored during his rule. Presbyterian pioneers in congo is a little known but fantastic book by an american missionary who traversed unexplored areas of the congo in the 1890s.
In the 1880s, as the european powers were carving up africa, king leopold ii of belgium seized for himself the vast and mostly unexplored territory surrounding the congo river. Exhibit and book justly celebrated william sheppard as a pioneer lay anthropologist, but said nothing about his role as a target of the legal case ive described on. King leopolds ghost was a finalist for the national book critics circle award. King leopolds ghost was a finalist for the national book critics circle award, as was to end all wars. Britain, portugal, spain, and france acquired new land and resources by colonizing parts of the americas, australia, asia, and africa. Adam hochschilds king leopolds ghost is a gripping account of a murder mystery a mystery made all the more horrific because it involves an estimated 10 million victims. King leopold s ghost by adam hochschild book resume. Two courageous black americans george washington williams and william sheppardrisked much to bring evidence to.
Introduction king leopolds ghost chronicles the horrifying and nearly forgotten crimes that took place in the congo in the 1800s. King leopolds ghost is the haunting account of a megalomaniac of monstrous proportions, a man as cunning, charming, and cruel as any of the great shakespearean villains. Adam was born in 1942 and is a historical writer known for king leopold s ghost along with slaves to fortune. The author does a truly great job summarizing, explaining and describing the crimes committed by king leopold ii and his supporters, both european and african, during his reign over the belgian congo from the late 1800s and the early 1900s. The king leopolds ghost quotes below are all either spoken by william sheppard or refer to william sheppard. Leopold instructed his allies to include belgium in a series of trade. Historian adam hochschild developed the story using an abundance of sources that take up eleven pages in the books bibliography, with much reliance on the scramble for africa, by thomas pakenham, and the fourvolume history of the congo, by jules marchal. Adam was born in 1942 and is a historical writer known for king leopolds ghost along with slaves to fortune. In the late 19th century, king leopold ii of belgium decided that he wanted to make belgium a major empire by acquiring territory in africa.