Leopold II's Atrocities Inspired Condemnation

In 1890, American minister, politician, and historian George Washington Williams traveled to the Congo Free State after meeting Belgian King Leopold II and initially admiring him. Instead, he found Leopold's private militia enforcing rubber production through slavery-like conditions, physical mutilation, and widespread brutality against the Congolese. On July 18, Williams wrote an open letter from Stanley Falls condemning Leopold and later described the atrocities as "crimes against humanity" in a letter to the United States secretary of state. His writings helped generate international outrage against Leopold's regime.

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