EARLY BELGIAN COLONIAL EFFORTS - The University of Texas at ...

Texas would not have met criteria number one. Only Santa Catarina met number
two, the government simply paid no attention. None of the colonial attempts in Santo
Tomas, Texas, Santa Catarina, or Rio Nunez met number three. Belgium could never
really decide what the best colonial system was for any of the four. The choices left to
Belgium and Leopold were in many cases what was left over from the major colonial
efforts of the other powers in Europe. The pickings were indeed slim. The Dark
Continent was at that time simply inaccessible.
The Congo Free State, however, was not only useful but immensely profitable.
It only became a burden after thirty years, when much of its easy wealth had been
extracted. Leopold II bypassed Belgium and thus rendered the second point moot. The
status of the Congo Free State as a personal reserve of Leopold bypassed both issues
three and four. The question of location was perfect, it was between the other European
African colonies and was Leopold’s by agreement.
Most likely, neither Leopold I nor Leopold II read Drouet's work. Leopold II,
however, had done his homework, watched the failures of his father, and succeeded
beyond his wildest dreams. It was the Congolese under Leopold II who suffered under
the long and fateful shadow of Leopold I.
This study of the overall colonial attempts of Leopold I has attempted to bring
greater focus to this area of nineteenth century colonialism. On the other hand, it has
done so with a broad stroke requiring much additional work in both these areas and
focusing on the other colonial efforts of Belgium. It is hoped that it has perhaps
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