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General
Act of Berlin 1885
This
was an international agreement on February 26, 1885,
arrived at a conference in Berlin attended by
representatives of the USA, the United Kingdom, the
French Republic, the Russian Empire, the German Reich,
the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Ottoman Empire and the Kingdoms of Belgium, Denmark, Italy, the
Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Sweden. It effectively carved up parts of central
Africa between colonial powers (what later became known
as "the scramble for Africa") and gave what is now the
Congo to Leopold II
of the Belgians, not in that capacity, but in his
personal capacity.
The
British Foreign Office wanted the agreement to include
the issue of the slave trade and, in addition, to make
the slave trade a crime in international law. If
it had been successful, it would have been the first
international instrument to do so. However, the
British proposals were opposed by the French Republic
and Prince von Bismarck, the Imperial Chancellor of the
German Reich. The final version was very much
watered-down.
The General Act of Berlin imposed the following
obligations:
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"All the powers exercising sovereign rights
or influence in the aforesaid territories bind
themselves [...] to help in suppressing slavery,
and especially the Slave Trade."
the Powers which [...] exercise sovereign rights
or influence in the territories forming the [Congo
basin] declare that these territories may not
serve as a market or means of transit for the
trade in slaves, of whatever race they may be.
Each of the Powers binds itself to employ all the
means at its disposal for putting an end to this
trade and for punishing those who engage in it.
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The
USA signed the General Act but did not ratify it.
The Congo became the Independent State of the Congo (État
indépendant du Congo). As the global demand for
rubber soared, his wealth increased, but his methods in
extracting the rubber are amongst some of the worst
atrocities of the last century.
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Links
to other pages dealing with slavery:
Does
slavery still exist?
What
is slavery?
Traditional
slavery in West Africa
West
African slave trade
Child
slavery in South Asia
Hierodulic
servitude in South Asia
Odalisques
Rescuing
slaves
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Society is not responsible for the content of
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