Have you ever heard the name George Washington Williams?

I'll be honest with you.

Before I started researching the story of the Congo free state, I hadn't heard of them

either.

But George Washington Williams might have been one of the most important black Americans

to live in the late 19th century.

He was one of those steam age renaissance men whose impressive biography seems impossible

by modern standards.

Before his death, he would emerge as the first real critic of King Leopold's regime

in the Congo free state.

But it was a strange road that brought him there.

So who was this guy?

He was an African American born in Pennsylvania in 1849.

Being born in a free state, he never personally experienced slavery.

However, from a young age, he was a passionate enemy of the institution.

When the Civil War broke out, he was only 14 years old.

But that didn't stop him from lying about his age and enlisting in the Union Army.

He fought in a handful of battles near the war's conclusion and was honorably discharged

only to head to Mexico to fight alongside rebels trying to overthrow their French

installed King.

After that, he re-enlisted in the American Army as a cavalryman and fought as one of

the so-called Buffalo soldiers.

...