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Imperialism: The Scramble King Leopold Of Belgium

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The Industrial Revolution marked a major global change which sparked the second age of imperialism in the late 19th century. Imperialism is the act of colonizing a less powerful country through force. During this time, industrialized European countries became very powerful due to the manufactured goods they were able to produce. However, the factories’ demand for supplies were great and needed resources to sustain production for commerce. Consequently, European leaders would turn to imperialism as a way to get natural resources from materialistically wealthy African countries.
During the Berlin Conference of 1885, European rulers gathered to discuss how Africa will be split up among the European countries. This was known as the “Scramble …show more content…
In the cartoon, he is represented by the towering game show host wearing a crown. I chose to make him large to demonstrate the idea that he was superior in comparison to the other person in the image. King Leopold got Congo during the Berlin Conference and sent his troops to the country to colonize it. He renamed it the “Congo Free State” to convinced the other European rulers he was upholding the agreements made at the Berlin Conference while ruling over the Congolese people. The “spin the wheel” style element is presented at the center of the cartoon and it represents all the things King Leopold has to offer the small game show contestant; it is the main “attraction” that sparks interest. Often, game show prizes are scammed or the values are inflated more than they are really worth, which is what I intended to convey by placing Leopold’s “promises” in the different sections of the wheel. The game show contestant is portrayed as a small child in comparison to the host and represents the Congolese people to demonstrate the idea that they were inferior to the white race and were viewed as childish. His amused facial expression represents their naivety toward all the “amazing” things Leopold had to offer. The message my political cartoon is trying to convey is that Congolese people were fooled by the lies King Leopold told and accepted his authority with a lack of

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