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The story of the Congo Free State

Henry Wellington Wack · Public domain text

203,684 words · about 14 h 16 min to read

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About this edition

The text of The story of the Congo Free State comes from Project Gutenberg e-text #70280. It is in English and public domain in the United States. Project Gutenberg’s header and license text are removed, and RedLectern sets the text out for reading on screen; no words of the book are rewritten or summarized. More formats (EPUB, Kindle) · How RedLectern is built

This text-only edition leaves out 128 illustrations. See the illustrated edition at Project Gutenberg.

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About this book

Author
Henry Wellington Wack (1869–1954)
Language
English
Subjects
Belgium › Colonies › Africa › Administration, Congo (Democratic Republic) › History › To 1908
Length
203,684 words · about 14 h 16 min
Sections
47 reader sections · Table of contents

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Contents (47)
  1. Opening under 1 min
  2. Preface about 4 min
  3. Appendix about 6 min
  4. I. GENESIS OF MID-AFRICAN CIVILISATION about 14 min
  5. Chapter II about 9 min
  6. III. FOUNDING OF THE CONGO FREE STATE about 9 min
  7. IV. EARLY BELGIAN EXPEDITIONS about 11 min
  8. V. THE WATERWAYS OF THE CONGO about 23 min
  9. VI. THE STATE AND INTERNATIONAL LAW about 21 min
  10. VII. HORRORS OF THE ARAB SLAVE TRADE about 10 min
  11. VIII. THE BERLIN CONFERENCE about 13 min
  12. IX. THE ECONOMIC RÉGIME OF THE BERLIN ACT about 27 min
  13. X. AN APPEAL TO BELGIUM TO SUPPRESS THE SLAVE TRADE about 8 min
  14. XI. THE SECOND BRUSSELS CONFERENCE about 11 min
  15. XII. THE CONGO BEQUEATHED TO BELGIUM about 7 min
  16. XIII. TRIBES OF THE CONGO STATE about 14 min
  17. XIV. THE CONGO PUBLIC FORCE about 19 min
  18. XV. BELGIAN CAMPAIGNS AGAINST THE ARABS about 13 min
  19. XVI. BELGIAN CAMPAIGNS AGAINST THE ARABS (Concluded) about 9 min
  20. XVII. THE SUPPRESSION OF SLAVERY about 11 min
  21. XVIII. FRONTIERS AND DIPLOMATIC SETTLEMENTS about 5 min
  22. XIX. THE BAHR-EL-GHAZAL AND THE NILE about 4 min
  23. XX. MUTINIES OF THE BATETELA TRIBE about 7 min
  24. XXI. DISPLACEMENT OF THE POPULATION about 5 min
  25. XXII. THE STATE’S ADMINISTRATION about 19 min
  26. XXIII. THE POSTAL, TELEGRAPH, AND TELEPHONE SERVICE about 6 min
  27. XXIV. NAVIGATION, RAILWAYS, ROADS about 20 min
  28. XXV. SCIENCE, AGRICULTURE, CIVILISING MEASURES about 10 min
  29. XXVI. TRADE, REVENUE, AND TAXES about 26 min
  30. XXVII. MISSIONS AND SCHOOLS about 12 min
  31. XXVIII. STATE LANDS AND CONCESSIONS about 38 min
  32. XXIX. THE NEMESIS OF LIBEL about 40 min
  33. XXX. THE CONGO CAMPAIGN IN ENGLAND about 26 min
  34. XXXI. THE CONGO CAMPAIGN IN AMERICA about 14 min
  35. XXXII. TESTIMONY OF TRAVELLERS AND THINKERS about 20 min
  36. XXXIII. TESTIMONY OF TRAVELLERS AND THINKERS about 9 min
  37. XXXIV. TESTIMONY OF TRAVELLERS AND THINKERS about 7 min
  38. XXXV. TESTIMONY OF TRAVELLERS AND THINKERS about 30 min
  39. XXXVI. THE ATTITUDE OF EUROPE AND THE UNITED STATES about 29 min
  40. XXXVII. SUMMARY, RETROSPECT, AND PROPHECY about 13 min
  41. Appendix about 1 h 33 min
  42. II. Declaration relative to the Slave Trade about 1 min
  43. III. Declaration relative to the Neutrality of the Territories comprised in the Conventional Basin of the Congo about 1 min
  44. IV. Act of Navigation for the Congo about 9 min
  45. V. Act of Navigation for the Niger about 4 min
  46. VI. Declaration relative to the essential Conditions to be observed in order that new Occupations on the Coasts of the African Continent may be held to be effective about 1 min
  47. VII. General Dispositions about 2 h 47 min

The opening of Preface

As a student of Mid-African affairs for the past seven years, and a close observer of the rapid progress toward complete civilisation now being made in that part of the world, I have felt it my duty to lay before my countrymen the true and complete story of the conception, formation, and development of the Congo Free State.

At a period of such bitter controversy concerning the government of the Congo Free State as the present, it is necessary that I should explain the circumstances under which I add this volume to the literature of that subject.

During a residence of several years in the United Kingdom, I could not fail to observe the growth there of an organised campaign against the Congo Free State. That a small section of the British public, interested in the rubber trade, should by subtle means seek to delude or should even succeed in deluding, the great British nation so completely as to obtain general credence for its stories of cruelty and oppression alleged against King Leopold’s government failed to move me.

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