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often considered a precursor of Belgian interest in central Africa and therefore the Congo. It is of interest here because it represented yet another significant failed colonial effort by Belgium and Leopold I. Rio Nunez was different from a colonial perspective because its roots were not directly with the imperial and colonial interests of Leopold, instead it was a commercial opportunity by ambitious merchants in Belgium. Unlike the effort at Santo Tomas, it began its effort and became somewhat successful, at least initially, without any royal or governmental help. There never were any colonists at Rio Nunez; in fact, it is hard to even argue that there was a colony. There were entrepreneurs, perhaps never any more than a dozen individuals at any given time, excluding ship’s crew, who attempted to take advantage of the European desire for peanut oil and Belgium’s desire to export its industrial output. What this colonial adventure had in common with other efforts was the need for capital which invariably resulted in requests for financial aid and protection from the government, preferably through Leopold. Rio Nunez was also distinguishable in that there were two transfers to the Belgian government of land that included sovereignty and yet Belgium, more specifically Leopold, did not or was not able to take advantage of those two opportunities. Rio Nunez is a story of Belgian commercial adventurers and the tiny Belgian navy. 157
A general consensus among historians prior to the 1960s was that the earliest identifiable Belgian contacts along the Rio Nunez 328 were in 1845 when Captain Frederick Knudsen, under contract with the Antwerp merchant, Henri Serigiers, traded along the West African coast. 329 Abraham Cohen, another trader, was then involved in commercial transactions on the west coast of Africa, and his significant influence and impact on the Rio Nunez for Belgium has been extensively researched. 330 Research in the last three or four decades, however, has shown there were previous significant Belgian trading efforts prior to those of Serigiers and Cohen, thus expanding the extent and breadth of Belgian involvement. 331 These earlier voyages, 332 arranged and funded in their individual capacity by Pierre Vincent and Madame Valcke-Deknuyt for example, show that the rapidly industrializing Belgian economy was already aware of the potential of trade and specifically the peanut oil of the region. 333 From a colonial perspective, however, the voyage of Knudsen in 1846 was far more significant. Knudsen was offered a grant for a 328 Rio Nunez refers to both the river and the region adjacent to the river and is correctly written as Rio Núñez. The use of Rio Nunez, however is to keep consistency with the Belgian use and documents. 329 For purposes of this section Belgium is to be understood as post 1830 and does not consider the actions of either the Netherlands or Belgium as part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands (1815- 30), thus discounting the considerable Dutch contact of the previous three hundred years. 330 R Massinon, L'entreprise du Rio-Nunez (Bujumbura: University Press, 1965) and Charles Maroy, La Colonie Belge du Rio Nunez et L'expédition Franco-Belge De Boké En 1849 (Anvers: Secrétariat de l'Association des licenciés de St. Ignace, 1930). 331 Everaert and De Wilde, 315. 332 Ibid., 317-9. 333 The need was developing for oil for industrial machinery, but there was a very heavy trade imbalance in favor of the Rio Nunez. Maselis, 148 and Massinon, 8. 158
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EARLY BELGIAN COLONIAL EFFORTS: THE
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Acknowledgements m
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Archive at Windsor proved to be suc
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even during tax season. Some things
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truths that merit, no demand, their
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TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.
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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AMAE Archives
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we are to understand the non-Wester
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insight into the nature of Belgian
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ackground, demand, or other compell
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Santa Catarina in Brazil is a signi
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oth the original script document an
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man many consider the most influent
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Palmerston are nonexistent. Lastly,
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Nunez Affair; Competition, Diplomac
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CHAPTER 2 BELGIUM AND NINETEENTH CE
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more difficult issues of a study of
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Johnson. This was the same whether
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imperialism were generally thought
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of iron into steel; and massive cor
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in the overcrowded cities and facto
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cultural superiority, along with th
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Sahara Desert was simply the “Dar
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asis of wealth, now gave way to the
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What did Belgium look like in the p
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ecstatic; his kingdom would double
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that settled and secured Belgian in
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of the monarchy under the protestan
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Given the limitations and inherent
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As the members of the chambers bega
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markets and there was a series of d
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government. Leopold’s position as
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Leopold made a great effort to incr
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connection to soften his opposition
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that the potential for harm from Le
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modern states of Thuringia and Bava
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During this first period, from his
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first, but the time will come when
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After the diplomatic battles in 184
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continuing through the end of the 1
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Henry John Temple, the third Viscou
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ellicose, and sometimes treasonous.
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pledged his loyalty for life to the
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control or domination of one nation
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minister (probably)? Did it reach t
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information, however, to allow a di
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with Belgium, Hamilton was successf
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time, Pirson traveled to Galveston,
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Specifically in his letter of Febru
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something of a disadvantage in view
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announcement of the boat for New Or
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location, as those the Republic had
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advertisement rates, and the availa
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in cotton, but also including major
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political instability evidenced by
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Secondly, it is surprising that Pir
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seeking a commercial treaty and loa
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Leopold was either reacting to the
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further than it did. 210 The much l
Page 119 and 120: Similarly, there was no religious f
Page 121 and 122: CHAPTER 4 SANTO TOMAS 214 The colon
Page 123 and 124: In the late 1830s, as a result of i
Page 125 and 126: an English company, and others may
Page 127 and 128: 4.1 Illustration of Guatemala City
Page 129 and 130: 4.2 Illustration of Santo Tomas gov
Page 131 and 132: The second report, by Dr. Dechange,
Page 133 and 134: health and climate issues, but rath
Page 135 and 136: Finally shaken out of its complacen
Page 137 and 138: It may seem strange to ask why Sant
Page 139 and 140: a new treaty with Guatemala. Blonde
Page 141 and 142: 1854, verified the absolute foolish
Page 143 and 144: expand them. There was a strong cal
Page 145 and 146: position. 274 Simultaneously with t
Page 147 and 148: withdraw as an active political lea
Page 149 and 150: Early maps had been somewhat genera
Page 151 and 152: CHAPTER 5 SANTA CATARINA The Belgia
Page 153 and 154: Van Lede’s initial contact with t
Page 155 and 156: equirement for minimum capitalizati
Page 157 and 158: were not in the Company’s name bu
Page 159 and 160: Under Fontaine the colony deteriora
Page 161 and 162: have much broader support in the ch
Page 163 and 164: outcasts and convicts. 315 What is
Page 165 and 166: A more interesting aspect of any at
Page 167 and 168: 5.1 Map of Santa Catarina Province
Page 169: CHAPTER 6 RIO NUNEZ Any discussion
Page 173 and 174: Van Haverbeke’s voyage which bega
Page 175 and 176: These main two ethnic groups, the L
Page 177 and 178: Cohen was also in the forefront of
Page 179 and 180: several changes to its contents, va
Page 181 and 182: the treaty, thus ending the Belgian
Page 183 and 184: Belgian navy. A total of three diff
Page 185 and 186: Durant observed that it was the dri
Page 187 and 188: The third trip to the Nunez took pl
Page 189 and 190: There is no way to know if Leopold
Page 191 and 192: minister Otto von Bismarck. It also
Page 193 and 194: Rogier to relocate funds and make t
Page 195 and 196: As was the case with Santo Tomas, t
Page 197 and 198: the cessation of the yearly appeara
Page 199 and 200: vessels is highly commendable. The
Page 201 and 202: observations, the primitive medicin
Page 203 and 204: 6.3 Boké Sketch 399 This was a ske
Page 205 and 206: The examination of the four colonia
Page 207 and 208: Britain he had always envisioned be
Page 209 and 210: attempt in Rio Nunez are good examp
Page 211 and 212: to deal with a constant stream of p
Page 213 and 214: The Belgian people responded to the
Page 215 and 216: almost impossible for a white man t
Page 217 and 218: We are told that the personal relat
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historiography is lagging behind. T
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Center for American History, Univer
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Lede, Charles Maximilien Louis van.
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Bayly, C. A. The Birth of the Moder
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________. The World and the West: T
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Feys, Torsten. "The Emigration Poli
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Janssens, G., and Jean Stengers. No
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Maselis, Patrick. From the Azores t
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Richardson, Joanna. My Dearest Uncl
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Watelet, Marcel. Cartographie et po
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