The period between 1870 and 1900 marked a duration when Africa underwent European diplomatic pressures, imperialist aggression, military annexations and the ultimate conquest and colonization. At that time, African communities did erect and placed various forms of resistant movements against colonization and execute foreign dominance. By the first quarter of the twentieth century, notwithstanding, a significant portion of Africa, with the exception of Liberia and Ethiopia, had achieved colonization by the European powers. To date, the effects of colonialism are evident in the current generation. The long-lasting effects of slavery in Africa still haunt to this very date.
The democratic republic of Congo remains one of the African countries that faced European colonization. King Leopold and European nation colonized the Democratic republic of Congo in 1877, and it did achieve its independence in 1960 ( Kodila-Tedika & Kabange, 2016). That implied approximately over 83 years under colonial rule and slavery. Congo has colonized the rulers required resources, for instance, rubber for manufacturing goods. The colonial power traded on slaves where they sold it at very high cost and thus making a considerable profit. According Kodila-Tedika and Kabange (2016), Belgium solely colonized Congo to serve their selfish interest and at such brutally treated the natives. Collection of resources was physically not easy to gather, for instance, rubber and that necessitates King Leopold to send his soldiers to kidnap the Congolese daughters, wives and men. They would be compensated only a little ransom of a few kilograms of rubber and few animals. Due to such arrangements, King Leopold made vast chunks of money.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Depopulation and fractured familial relationships were profoundly inherent in Congolese slave trade menace. That adversely affected the country and the repercussions of the same are still felt generations later. During the period that Congo was colonized, an upsurge in diseases and famine was experienced. Before colonization, a majority of Congolese citizens had an apparent mastery of the environment, and disease spread was unequivocally under control. The prowess of systems of Agriculture until that point ensured that famine was not of any concern and residents could feed on such proceeds ( Kodila-Tedika & Kabange, 2016) . The lands were exceptionally fertile and produced high volumes of harvest. Diseases were vehemently under control. They had robust cultural norms that revered a great deal, environmental preservation and conservation. The initial contact with European missioners, soldiers, and traders was more likened to contact and the introduction of diseases to the devastation of a majority of the Congolese families. With the introduction of new diseases, that they knew no cure to, death was imminent. A number of people died leaving lots of families desolate, broken and separated. They could curse there but that either could not work ( Shelley, 2017) . As their new European masters recruited more people into the farmlands to crop and perform hard labor, they continued to languish. The European masters created many diseases and now cure availed. When diseases and famine become the order of the day in the populace, then death becomes a lifestyle and as a result, depopulation sets.
The forced labor and pathetic treatment of the Congolese people led to more than half the population feared dead. A majority of the people of Congo were given to slavery while some of them had their right hands chopped off while still alive. King Leopold through his soldiers highly maltreated the native persons all in the name of making profits ( Shelley, 2017) . The Congolese people were treated and seen as material objects and profoundly dehumanized. Some of the people who were taken on long distance slave trade were forced to leave their families and never to return. That led to high separation and breaking of family ties.
The effects of the slave trade are still felt today. Many of the ethnic societies within Congo abandoned their traditional productive activities, for instance, farming and fishing and they devoted their lives to the slave trade. Next, many captives died while being transported overseas. That led to family separation and suffering. Some communities lost their cultural heritage.
In conclusion, it can be censoriously realized that the effects of the slave trade are devastating and inhuman. Socially, it had an adverse impact on the population. It led to an overwhelming decrease in the population. The forced migration of people led to great depopulation and breaking of family ties. Political sustenance in the country almost collapsed due to the trans-Atlantic trade ( Shelley, 2017) . The slave trade led to the extra destruction of civilizations and empires. The African rulers competing over the capture and control of slaves caused that. Economically, it was beneficial to the European rulers and very disastrous for the native Congolese.
Slave trade was a raw ordeal that cannot be easy. Some of the effects are still present with us, for instance, the diseases and issues to do with cultural erosion. It is therefore imperative to recommend a few ways to drift away from heinous past. Our culture defines our identity as Africans. Africans should continue to practice their beneficial cultural activities that were beneficial to their growth for example fishing. There are particular ways they used to control diseases that were more effective. More research, far forward, should be encouraged to utilize our forest resource to manufacture medicinal products efficiently. Smith (2018) recommended that t he country should assure political stability and desist from acts that can cause discrimination. Inhuman activities that remind citizens of the slave trade menaces should be avoided. Peace and cohesion should between be enhanced between the people and the colonial rulers.
Slave trade introduction in Congo developed new settlement patterns; a majority of persons began to stay in proximity for safety purposes. The earlier inhabited areas developed into a vast forest as more people started living nearer to each other. That became breeding grounds for tsetse flies. Due to this, more than 200, 000 people died because of sleeping sickness. The disease did spread to other neighboring regions even became more disastrous and killed more persons ( Smith, 2018)
Further contact with the European slave traders and settlers steered smallpox and jigger’s introduction. Jiggers are sand fleas that are painful and can undoubtedly lead to the loss of limbs if not adequately treated. Cholera, meningitis and yellow fever were also introduced to Congo during this period of slave trade. Arguably, Smith (2018) mentioned that one could tend to believe that the white traders to subdue the local Congolese men, women and children quickly unapologetically introduced the diseases.
Some of the deliberate attempts at colonization had calamitous effects on the people and land. The colonial warfare that incorporated scotched land innuendos that resulted in large-scale destruction of villages and imminent famine. It is further, ironical to mention that the lords saw all this as a process required for the civilization. Diseases and hunger became the governing stereotypes in the mindset of the Europeans. Smith (2018) confirmed that Population in most sections of Africa dropped in a dramatic manner in the period between the 1800s and 1900s. For instance, in Belgian Congo, the population realized a drop of approximately 50 percent between 1881 and 1920. That left, vulnerable and divided.
References
Kodila-Tedika, O., & Kabange, M. M. (2016). Slave trade and Human Trafficking (No. WP/16/002). AGDI Working Paper.
Shelley, L. (2017). Human Trafficking at Sea. WSQ: Women's Studies Quarterly , 45 (1), 305-309.
Smith, R. (2018). International Human Rights Law . Oxford University Press.
