The Congo Reform Association exposed gross and rampant abuses of labor and by public servants in King Leopold II of Belgium's Congo Free State, leading to the annexation of Congo by Belgium in 1908. Congo reform association. 1-22. The Congo Reform Association (CRA) was a political and humanitarian activist group that sought to promote reform of the Congo Free State, a private territory in Central Africa under the absolute sovereignty of King Leopold II. Books from the extended shelves: Congo reform association: Evidence laid before the Congo Commission of Inquiry at Bwembu, Bolobo, Lulanga, Baringa, Bongandanga, Ikau, Bonginda, and Monsembe.Together with a summary of events (and documents connected therewith) on the A.B.I.R. Alexander, N.G. Morel was a bulldog of a human rights activist and passionate force against Leopold II of Belgium who enslaved the entire Congo region for the rubber and ivory trades. Anstey, R (1966). The King Incorporated: Leopold the Second and the Congo. [2] The group carried out a global publicity campaign across the Western world, using a range of strategies including displays of atrocity photographs; public seminars; mass rallies; celebrity endorsements; and extensive press coverage to lobby the Great Powers into pressuring reform in the Congo. [27], Morel enlisted fellow journalists in Britain, the United States and sympathetic newspapers in Belgium as agents of the CRA and established regional branches with local activists throughout Britain to promote grassroots movements. The Congo Reform Association considered that its aims was accomplished and it dissolved itself in 1912. 171-197. Ascherson, N (1999). In March, 1904, Dr. Henry Grattan Guinness… Hasian, M, (2013). Tell the world about the most overlooked humanitarian crisis since WWII. [39] The publication of the findings of Leopold’s Commission of Inquiry, confirming those of the Casement Report, cemented Belgian formal opposition to the CFS and sparked legitimate discussions of government annexation. [14] Sir Charles Dilke MP was another high-profile figure in the British anti-Leopold movement, advocating in parliament in 1897 for the revival of the Berlin Conference to ensure all signatories were adhering to the Berlin Act. Mark Twain wrote a political satire named "King Leopold's Soliloquy", and Arthur Conan Doyle wrote The Crime of the Congo. Letters kept their love alive, but Sheppard has to know if the distance made their love stronger and would she still go to the Congo to serve beside him? English Studies in Africa. [11] Morel believed the ’Leopoldian system’ was the catalyst for the scale of atrocities in the Congo, and that the state‘s creation of what was in effect a slave-labour force to fuel Leopold’s monopolistic enterprise demonstrated he had broken the articles of the Berlin Act in every regard. We use cookies to understand how you use our site and to improve your experience. 1:41. William Morrison, American missionary to the Congo. Kevin Knight. The Registered Agent on file for this company is United States Corporation Agents Inc. and is located at 700 12th St Nw Suite 700, Washington, District Of Columbia 20005. A number of recent works have described the Congo Reform Association (CRA), formed in 1904 to protest the abuses in the Congo Free State, as a human rights organisation. [12] In Morel’s own words, the “King's native policy was the inevitable sequel to his commercial policy“, unifying the humanitarians with commercial and political elites in the common cause of reform. 30 (3), 224-240. Returning to the Congo mission with Lucy, the stakes are raised when Sheppard makes a shocking discovery: Leopold has enslaved the entire Congo for the rubber trade and his own profit. The Congo Reform Association was first formed in 1904 by Edmund D. Morel. De Congo Reform Association was een humanitaire beweging die zich tot doel stelde de uitgebuite werkkrachten van de Onafhankelijke Congostaat te helpen door aandacht te trekken voor hun lot. Copyright © 2020 Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. All rights reserved. The Online Books Page. Transatlantic Dimensions of the Congo Reform Movement, 1904–1908. The movement was formed to aid the exploited and … (1904). Continuing to use this site, you agree with this. Branches of the association were established in Europe and the United States. The Congo Reform Association exposed gross and rampant abuses of labor and by public servants in King Leopold II of Belgium's Congo Free State, leading to the annexation of Congo by Belgium in 1908. You decide. [20] Throughout his journey Casement recorded oral testimony from victims of the CFS, seeing first-hand the mutilations and brutalities of the administration and later the systemic use of coercive techniques by state and company officials. Unbeknownst to the outside world, slavery and oppression had fallen like a darkness over the Congo. [15] In 1903 the collective efforts of Morel and these other actors generated enough public agitation over the Congo Question to produce an impassioned debate in parliament, leading to a resolution forcing government action. 5 (1), 99-120. This page was last edited on 19 September 2020, at 23:11. Through their treatment at the hands of the regime, involvement in public campaigns against Leopold, and a sex scandal, women in the both the Congo and in Europe encouraged opposition to King Leopold II’s draconian rule of the État Indépendant du Congo. Despite their efforts the initial public success of the campaign had started to wane. The Congo Reform Association partners with like-minded organizations committed to ending genocide Congo Reform Association. [31] The international message of the movement birthed chapters or affiliates across Europe and North America. Laderman, C. (2013). The Congo Question and the "Belgian Solution". Has India failed to cash in on its expertise in low-skilled goods manufacturing? Slave Cocoa and Red Rubber: E. D. Morel and the Problem of Ethical Consumption. The two agreed a more holistic approach was needed to effect genuine change in the Congo, with the British government having reduced diplomatic pressure on the CFS following Leopold’s announcement that he had set up a commission of inquiry to address Casement’s findings. Here’s how…. London: Pan Books. Congo reform association Title ; Close. Bourne, H.R.F. (1967). Though Morel helped found the ACRA, they sought to distance themselves as an independent American movement due to widespread Anglophobic sentiments among sections of the American populace, particularly German and Irish Americans. Read, watch, tweet, share, link, post and pin stories of hope in the Congo. Active from 1904-1913, the association formed in opposition to the institutionalised practices of Congo Free State's ‘rubber policy’, which encouraged the need to minimise expenditure and maximise profit with no political constraints – fostering a system of coercion and terrorunparalleled in c… The North American Review. 39 (2), 126-137. [40], What became known as the Belgian Solution - the annexation of the CFS by the Belgian government -  was viewed by both Britain and the USA to be the optimal answer to the Congo Question. Learn more about the DR Congo with this USAID Emergency Fact Sheet! Die kongolesische Bevölkerung wurde zwischen 1888 und 1908 … Who will win? (1908). [17], Roger Casement was the resident British consul in Boma when he was directed by the FO to investigate the allegations against the CFS. The Congo Reform Association was founded in 1904 by Edmund Dene Morel and Roger Casement to highlight the issue of exploitation in the Congo Free State. The Congo Reform Association (CRA) was a political and humanitarian activist group that sought to promote reform of the Congo Free State, a private territory in Central Africa under the absolute sovereignty of King Leopold II. Watch him mark his territory and head off into the sunset. An accumulated wrong: Roger Casement and the anticolonial moments within imperial governance. Against all odds, his discoveries bring him global fame where he is celebrated among kings, queens, and presidents. FROM PERPETRATORS TO PROTECTORS: THE SONS OF CONGO - A FILM & PHOTOGRAPHIC JOURNEYCLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FREE PDF. Morel (1873–1924), the Congo Reform Association, and the History of Human Rights Roger Casement and the Congo. Fortnightly review, May 1865-June 1934. [22] Published in 1904, The Casement Report confirmed the scale of atrocities taking place in the CFS, yet FO officials' interference and lobbying by agents of the CFS led to softening the graphic nature of the report, with the removal of witnesses and perpetrators names undermining its legitimacy. When he returns to America, he’s shocked by new Jim Crow laws, virulent racism, and the rising oppression of black American civil rights. J. Murphy of the American Baptist Mission had reported on the abuses to Dr. Guinness in 1895, and they sent out the Congo-Balolo Mission to assist and gather information and photographs. (2012). John Harris and his wife Alice. Demand for oriental goods remained the driving force behind European imperialism, and (with the important exception of… …   Wikipedia, congo — /kong goh/, n. congou. You can bring hope to the Congo. 2nd ed.