The Trial of King Leopold II for Crimes Against Humanity
George Washington Williams, a Black American historian and author, spent six months in Belgian King Leopold II’s Congo Free State (CFS) in 1890. Leopold’s personal African colony was nearly a million square miles and made him the largest private landholder in history.
Williams witnessed the brutal realities of Leopold’s rule. Africans were tricked into signing away their land, Leopold’s military stole food from locals at gunpoint, education and healthcare were absent, and officials generally did not speak African languages. Leopold’s government was heavily involved in slave labor, forcing indigenous people to work throughout the region. The King leased land to private companies that paid him a share of the profits from ivory and rubber extraction. These companies terrorized local communities to acquire resources, with Congolese people facing violent punishments, including mutilation and massacre. During Leopold’s reign the population of the CFS, originally 20 million, was estimated to have been reduced by half.
Upon his return from the Congo, George Washington Williams published his observations in the pamphlet “Open Letter,” which was distributed widely in the United States and Europe. In it Williams described what he witnessed as “crimes against humanity.” Joseph Conrad, author of The Heart of Darkness—the novel based upon his travels in central Africa—called the crimes in the Congo “the vilest scramble for loot that ever disfigured the history of human conscience.”
Leopold II died in 1909 as one of the wealthiest men in the world; he had never set foot in the CFS, and he was never tried for crimes committed in the CFS. The trial simulation provides an opportunity for students to put the monarch on trial for “crimes against humanity”; to hear testimonies from Congolese victims, humanitarians like George Washington Williams, Leopold’s collaborators, and Leopold himself; and to render a modern verdict.
Trial Materials:
Leopold’s trial simulation includes 18 witnesses (with four additional optional witnesses), representing Congolese survivors, Belgian soldiers and administrators, African soldiers, Arab slave traders, European explorers, American missionaries, British journalists, and King Leopold himself. Six exhibits are also included to be presented at trial.
The simulation includes roles for two prosecutors, two defense attorneys, and a panel of judges (the lead judge to be played by the teacher). Every student in the class will have a role as a witness, defendant, attorney, or judge. All witnesses are real historical figures who will testify to actual historical events.
The trial resources include a teacher’s guide explaining the historical significance of the trial, along with student background information on the historical context, time period, and circumstances in which the case is situated. Students are also provided with key terms, a timeline of significant events, and role sheets that give each student specific information their character can testify to.
Additional materials include information on the trial’s aftermath, discussion questions, and guidelines for effective student attorneys, witnesses, and jurors. Rubrics are also included to assess attorneys, witnesses, and jurors.
