Ulteriori informazioni
Informationen zum Autor Megan Stine has written several books for young readers, including Where Is the White House? , What Was the Age of the Dinosaurs? , Who Was Ulysses S. Grant? , Who Is Michelle Obama? , and Who Was Sally Ride? She lives in Clinton, Connecticut. Klappentext Discover what lives and grows in the Congo Basin in Central Africa, one of the planet's most remarkable regions. Running through six countries in the middle of Africa, the Congo Basin contains some of the largest tropical rainforests in the world. Dealing with present-day issues of climate change, it is home to bonobo apes, mountain gorillas, forest elephants, and more. With details about the exploration (and exploitation) by the European colonialists and the aftermath of their arrival in the Congo, this book will give readers a better understanding of the second largest rainforest in the world.Where Is the Congo? In 1871, Henry Morton Stanley was a reporter, roaming the world and reporting back to a newspaper in the United States. Like a lot of adventurous young men, he wanted to go exploring. He also wanted to become famous. Back then, where was the best place to go to make a name for himself? Africa! Africa was a huge continent with many different tribes and cultures. But very few Americans or Europeans had been there yet. Mistakenly, they thought it was a vast empty territory waiting to be “discovered.” Europeans didn’t appreciate that native peoples were already living in Africa. They didn’t know—-or care—-that Africans had a rich way of life with their own customs, laws, arts, and governments. England, France, Spain, and other countries were looking for land to grab and call their own. This hunger for new land was called the “Scramble for Africa.” One British explorer had already been to Africa, though. His name was David Livingstone. He spent fifteen years there. Livingstone crossed the huge continent from coast to coast. At one point, he was attacked by a lion. When he came back to London, he was a hero. In 1866, Livingstone returned to Africa to search for the source of the Nile River. This time, he was gone so long, people began to wonder about him. Was he still alive? So the New York Herald newspaper decided to find out. They sent Henry Morton Stanley, their best young reporter, to Africa to find Livingstone. Although the trip would be incredibly hard, Stanley wanted fame and glory. He hired 190 African men to help him on the trip. They carried his supplies, cooked his food, guided him through the jungle, and protected him from many dangers. But Stanley wasn’t grateful. He was awful to them. Stanley whipped the Africans to make them work harder. He forced them to walk uphill, carrying heavy loads. If they tried to run away, he chained them up like slaves. Stanley thought the Africans should be grateful to him! For nearly eight months, Stanley marched toward the center of Africa. He covered seven hundred miles, mostly on foot. He nearly died from illness along the way. Finally, on November 10, 1871, Stanley found Livingstone by Lake Tanganyika. Livingstone was ill but refused to leave because his work was not done. He died in Africa two years later. But Stanley’s eyes had been opened to the riches available in Africa. Just across from Lake Tanganyika was the enormous area that would come to be known as the Congo. Soon the Congo would become a prize jewel in the Scramble for Africa—-and Stanley would play a big role in the shameful events that happened next. Chapter 1: The Heart of Africa In Africa, the name Congo means many things. It is the name of a huge winding river, almost three thousand miles long. It is the name of the vast river basin—-the area around a river where rainfall collects and drains into th...
