In the 19th century King Leopold II was the king of Belgium and was looking for a way to expand his power and influence over the Belgian state. During this period imperialism was becoming very important, especially in European countries. Imperialism was a way for a country to easily gain wealth by implementing military force on another country or group of people. They would extract resources and goods from these places, and in its wake, imperialism destroyed these societies and their cultures. King Leopold II is a perfect example of European imperialism and in his book King Leopold's Ghost; Adam Hochschild details the effects King Leopold II had on the Congo in Africa. Hochschild also argues that Leopold's rule had an impact in the Congo. Williams was a journalist and had met Henry Shelton Sanford. Williams listened to Sanford explain the contributions Leopold was making to improving Africa and the slave trade. This interested Williams because he thought the Congo could potentially be a place where African Americans could return and rebuild their home. Once he got there, he was shocked by how Africans were mistreated and how the Congo was nothing like what Sanford had explained to him. “Instead of being the noble crusader against slavery, Leopold portrayed himself as: “Your Majesty's Government is engaged in the slave trade, wholesale and retail. Williams produced a pamphlet called the Open Letter which he reported to the International Commission. The pamphlet toured the Americas and Europe and spoke of the mistreatment of Africans. Williams saw Stanley's men killing Africans with muskets, kidnapping women, and there were no hospitals or schools as Leopold had claimed. Most people ignored it because George Washington Williams was black. I think Hochschild wrote a lot about Williams to show how much knowledge Leopold had of the Congo and how difficult it would be to abolish what had already been. Since slavery dominated the Congo for nearly a century, many Africans had no education, and those who did gained more power. The example Hochschild gives is that of Joseph Desire Mobutu, who became president in 1965. Mobutu was a corrupt ruler who embezzled billions of dollars and ruled Africa in an almost dictatorial manner. Hochschild chose to include the quote from the philosopher Ibn Khaldun. This quote said that “those who are conquered always want to imitate the victor in his main characteristics”. This demonstrated that the way Leopold ruled had an impact on subsequent African rulers who chose to imitate his ruling authority. Due to Leopold's rule many civil wars broke out between the tribes after the Congo gained independence. Many people lived in poverty as the main way to make money was to harvest rubber and there was little rubber left due to overexploitation. Hochschild demonstrated that the effects of Belgian rule in the Congo are still present