Question

You are a Congolese working 12 hours a day collecting rubber for King Leopold of Belgium's Congo Free State in 1900. You are separated miles away from your family working among the rubber trees with your crew, and see them just twice a month. Officers of the Congo Free State have been known to cut off the hands of workers who don't work hard enough in collecting rubber, and you have already been threatened twice when your collection did not meet designated quotas. Do you . . .
a. try to escape and flee with your family to another part of Africa?
b. appeal to local missionaries and even the King in letters requesting relief from work and return to your family? or
c. take up arms (machetes) with your work crew to take back the land that you believe is rightfully your people's?

Answer 1

I will answer the three options based on different kind of perspective of a person:
- I would chose the first option to escape and flee with my family to another part of Africa if my co-workers wouldn't agree with me in Options 2 or 3. It would be a personal option to escape because its for my own's best self-interest to survive in the world and avoid punishment.
- I would chose the second option to appeal to the missionaries or the authorities even the king if the work crew also agreed and have the same view of what's happening and in order to avoid a bloody and chaotic movement for reforms.
- I would only chose the last option to take arms if it is necessary and peaceful solution has failed. Also this is only possible if everyone in the work crew has the same views with me and lost hope for a peaceful reforms.