Hi. I'm Daniel. I study, teach, and write history.
In the fall of 2010 at San Jose State University I was assigned to read Adam Hochschild's King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa for a course on 19th and 20th century African history. This book details the atrocities commited by King Leopold II of Belgium's personal empire in the Congo and the humanitarian effort organized to bring it down. This work had a profound impact on me for a number of reasons and, in many ways, is the reason why I am a historian.
First, the book showed me early in my career the complexities and mutually constitutive nature of global empires. Empires were not something that merely happened "out there", rather their impact was felt throughout European and American cities, in addition to the places that came under European rule, and had global social, economic, and political ramifications. Leopold (and other European powers), in a quest for profit and cheap natural resources, exacted a staggering human toll on places throughout Africa and Asia. Likewise Britain, for example, had a roll in bringing down Leopold's regime, but their hands were far from clean and their administrative practices in Africa were just as brutal. This is an inconsistency that fascinates me. Empires did not follow a uniform practice. They were organic entities that changed based on conditions on the ground and were bound up in these inherent contradictions.
Secondly, King Leopold's Ghost demonstrated to me that histories can be both meticulously researched and contruct an engaging narrative. Hochschild, a journalist by trade and Professor of Journalism at UC Berkeley, spent countless hours in archives in Europe, Africa, and America and used that information to craft a story that contributed to academic historical scholarship while at the same time being both compelling and accessible to a popular audience.
In the fall of 2010 at San Jose State University I was assigned to read Adam Hochschild's King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa for a course on 19th and 20th century African history. This book details the atrocities commited by King Leopold II of Belgium's personal empire in the Congo and the humanitarian effort organized to bring it down. This work had a profound impact on me for a number of reasons and, in many ways, is the reason why I am a historian.
First, the book showed me early in my career the complexities and mutually constitutive nature of global empires. Empires were not something that merely happened "out there", rather their impact was felt throughout European and American cities, in addition to the places that came under European rule, and had global social, economic, and political ramifications. Leopold (and other European powers), in a quest for profit and cheap natural resources, exacted a staggering human toll on places throughout Africa and Asia. Likewise Britain, for example, had a roll in bringing down Leopold's regime, but their hands were far from clean and their administrative practices in Africa were just as brutal. This is an inconsistency that fascinates me. Empires did not follow a uniform practice. They were organic entities that changed based on conditions on the ground and were bound up in these inherent contradictions.
Secondly, King Leopold's Ghost demonstrated to me that histories can be both meticulously researched and contruct an engaging narrative. Hochschild, a journalist by trade and Professor of Journalism at UC Berkeley, spent countless hours in archives in Europe, Africa, and America and used that information to craft a story that contributed to academic historical scholarship while at the same time being both compelling and accessible to a popular audience.
Finally, this book introduced me to Sir Roger Casement, a figure who I would spend the early part of my career writing about in seminar papers and publications. Casement was an interesting subject. He was an Irish national who worked for decades as a consul for the British Empire. He was charged with investigating the atrocities in the the Congo and his 1906 report was instrumental in taking down Leopold's rule. In the process, however, Casement began to equate the brutal oppression of empire with the subjugation of his native Ireland by the British. He spent the last years of his life organizing against his former employer and was subsequently arrested and charged with treason. He was executed in August of 1916 in London.
Casement's story is both exceptional and familiar. He had an extraordinary career with the Foreign Office and his unique skills and familiarity with Africa made him a great choice to lead the investigation of Leopold's Congo. Yet he and countless others occupied a position of duality within the Britain as both fascilitators of Empire and victims of its many injustices. His story is yet another of example of how empires create internal conflicts and demonstrates that there were some who challenged and made claims for sovereignty and self-determination from within. These are the stories that fascinate me.
Casement's story is both exceptional and familiar. He had an extraordinary career with the Foreign Office and his unique skills and familiarity with Africa made him a great choice to lead the investigation of Leopold's Congo. Yet he and countless others occupied a position of duality within the Britain as both fascilitators of Empire and victims of its many injustices. His story is yet another of example of how empires create internal conflicts and demonstrates that there were some who challenged and made claims for sovereignty and self-determination from within. These are the stories that fascinate me.
