Brussels Anti-Slavery Conference 1889–90

Leopold II, the power-thirsty[3] King of the Belgians, had always regretted the restrictions of power imposed on him by his position as a constitutional monarch.[4] He therefore embarked on the project of carving out an absolute monarchy of his own in Africa, which led to the creation of the Congo Free State.[3] Leopold was able to seize the region by convincing other European states at the Berlin Conference on Africa that he was involved in humanitarian and philanthropic work and would not tax trade.[5] Via the International Association of the Congo, he was able to lay claim to most of the Congo Basin. The Congo Free State operated as a separate nation from Belgium, in a personal union with its King. It was privately controlled by Leopold II, although he never personally visited the state.[6]

Arab-Swahili slave traders and their captives along the Ruvuma River in Mozambique

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Cardinal Charles Lavigerie, founder of the Missionaries of Africa

During the Scramble for Africa in the mid-1880s, despite the humanitarian promises of the Berlin Colonial Conference, the colonial powers' primary concerns were territorial and economic. This was to change in 1888. In major speeches in Paris and London, Cardinal Charles Lavigerie, who had launched a crusade against slavery, denounced the horrors of the Arab slave trade. He urged immediate action in the form of an international militia of volunteers to combat the slave trade in East Africa.[1]

Leopold II followed Lavigerie's preaching tour intently. He was particularly concerned by the plans to send out a private international militia. After all, this could mean the conquest of his Congo. Such an army corps, he felt, could only be justified if it was under the leadership of the Congolese government. Leopold also feared that Lavigerie, who in his previous speeches had accused Tippu Tip of slave trading, might harm the Arab policy of his Congo Free State.

After meeting Leopold, however, Lavigerie renounced an international volunteer corps. An anti-slavery expedition was now to be organised by an exclusively national anti-slavery association in consultation with the colonial authorities concerned. In his Brussels speech, although Lavigerie pointed sharply to the rampant slave trade in Congo Free State, he attributed this to a lack of resources.[1]

Lavigerie's preaching tour did not only "breath[e] new life into the antislavery movement",[7]^: 707 but also the Anti-Slavery Conference was a result. European colonisation of East and Central Africa posed a number of problems, especially with the Arabo-Swahili power. A clear example was the Arabo-Swahili rebellion that led to the blockade of the east coast of Africa by Germany and Britain.[1][8]

Leopold II, King of the Belgians hosted the Conference.

1904 cartoon about the inactivity of international humanitarian politics in the face of the Congo atrocities

Import duties were Leopold's primary concern. The Berlin Act had banned the levying of import duties in the Congo Basin for a period of 20 years. Now he wanted to undo this after only five years.[1]

In a prior correspondence with England, Leopold had requested that all countries that had to incur expenses in the fight against the slave trade be allowed to levy a moderate import duty; there was no objection to this. Leopold therefore wanted this to be included in the conference programme, but Lambermont believed caution was needed. On 10 May Lambermont submitted the proposal to the conference. He requested the abolition of Article 4 of the Berlin Act and asked that the countries of the conventional Congo basin be allowed to levy an import duty of up to 10 per cent ad valorem, a ban or tax on alcohol was also considered, as it was closely linked to the slave trade.[13] The development of public services to support trade required new revenues. Moreover, the countries, which were on the front line against the slave trade, had to be somewhat accommodated. After all, their humanitarian task cost a lot of money.[1]

Initially, the Netherlands and the United States opposed the proposal. but after long arduous negotiations and great diplomatic skill on the part of Leopold II, both sides came to an agreement, Leopold II struck home and on 2 July, the general act and declaration of the Brussels Anti-Slavery Conference could finally be signed.[1][14]