poisonwood background notes

Please have paper out to take notes on today’s lecture.

Background Information

for Poisonwood

Bible

What you should know:1. Geography- Including location, natural

resources and natural features of the area2. Pre-Colonial History- Life before Europe’s

takeover3. The Congo Free State- What King Leopold

and his agents did to make his personal colony profitable

Congo River

Second largest river basin in the world

Congo River length: 2922 miles

• Kinshasa

• Kisangani

Second largest rainforest in the worldSecond largest rainforest in the world

Congo River + tributaries = 7,000 mile highway to the African interior

Congo River Village

GeographyGeography

The Kingdom of KongoAccording to

Portuguese explorers the kingdom was a sophisticated and well run state, an imperial federation

Known for advanced working in copper and iron

Rich in ivory and rubber

Ne Vunda, Kongolese ambassador to the Vatican, 1608

SlaverySlavery was part of the culture of the CongoOriginally slaves were captured during

warfare, were criminals, or were debtors who could earn back their freedom

Eventually, Muslim slave traders began to sell their slaves to European traders for export to the Americas

Leopold II (1835-1909), king of Belgium from 1865 to 1909, infamous founder of the Congo Free State

Use of river to gain access to ivory- and rubber-rich interior made the Congo a coveted area for colonization.

European nations negotiated and agreed to respect each others’ claims to African territory, Leopold made claim for Congo.

The Berlin Conference, 1884-1885

Leopold sent the famous explorer of Africa, Henry Morton Stanley, to negotiate treaties with the natives.

Native chiefs were offered trinkets or cloth if they would place an X on a document in foreign tongue.

European countries recognized Leopold’s claim to the territory in 1885 because of: Stanley’s treaties for Leopold Leopold’s assurances that he would end slavery Leopold’s promise that the Congo would remain a free

trade area.

The colony The colony “belonged” to “belonged” to Leopold personally.Leopold personally.

Colony not profitable in first few years.Soon the idea of free trade was abandoned;

natives could only trade with Leopold’s representatives, with 50% of profits going to Leopold himself.

Profit required cheap labor (gathering rubber is very labor intensive).

Leopold drove slave traders out and portrayed it as humanitarian act.

Reality: he did it to gain control of region.Leopold paid his ‘agents’ in the Congo a

percentage of profits, encouraging them to make the trade more and more profitable.

Also authorized the use of as much force as was deemed necessary.

The Congo Free StateThe Congo Free State : :“The Profit Imperative”“The Profit Imperative”

Agents ‘encouraged’ young men to work by holding their wives and children captive until each man’s quota was met.

Many who resisted were killed on the spot.Others were beaten with whips made from dried

hippo hide with sharp edges. 20 lashes resulted in unconsciousness 100 lashes resulted in death.

Revolt broke out. Leopold sent troops into villages to exterminate the young men.

To make sure bullets weren’t wasted, soldiers were expected to return with the severed right hands of those they killed.

Soldiers who couldn’t meet quotas or spent bullets hunting would cut hands off of living women and children.

Between 1895-1908Between 1895-1908 an estimated 8-10 million stimated 8-10 million people died due to people died due to murder, mistreatment and murder, mistreatment and starvation.starvation.

Public pressure eventually forced Leopold to sell the Congo Free State to the Belgian government. It became The Belgian Congo in 1908

The Belgian Government ended the worst of the atrocities, but still controlled the fate of the African natives “For their own good.”

The African natives were never consulted about their future

Colonize: To settle in a new land while remaining subject to the parent nation.

Colonial Literature: Literature written during the time of colonization. Can be either in support of colonization or in protest.

Post-Colonial Literature: Literature written after colonization has “officially” ended.

By Barbara Kingsolver

Nathan and Orleanna PriceBaptist missionaries from Georgia

Rachel (the oldest)LeahAdahRuth May (the youngest)

The story is told from each woman’s perspective, with the beginning being an apology from the mother for the fate of her family….but we don’t know what that apology is for until the end………

Commentary on colonizationRepresents the Belgian occupation of

AfricaEach daughter represents an outcome of

colonizationAcceptance (one becomes the other country)Resistance (one stays in the country but

continues with the old ways)One is completely destroyedReformation (secedes from the country and

becomes a stronger, better one on their own)

As you read, select one daughter to trace throughout the novel.

Mark passages that:Illustrate daughter’s identity Changes in thinkingPersonal growthConfessions

These passages should be highlighted or underlined and tabbed