Africa.. essays

Africa.. essays Africas Resistance to the Portuguese The African history has been affected tremendously due to the influence of some European countries. Portugal, who probably had the greatest impact on the continent, was not shy in invading what they thought to be profitable circumstances. One of these areas that they profited from was the kingdom of Kongo. Kongo was a major Bantu-speaking kingdom astride the Congo River in west-central Africa, probably founded in the 14th century. It was governed by a king, the manikongo, whose economic power was based upon trade in ivory, hides, slaves, and a shell currency of western Africa. Within a few years after the Portuguese first encountered the kingdom in 1484, the sixth manikongo, Nzinga Mbemba, later Alfonso 1, converted to Christianity and extended diplomatic and economic relations with Portugal. The agreement soon collapsed, however, as the Portuguese extended their slave-raiding activities. By 1570 the power of the Kongo kingdom had begun to decline, and severe internal tensions had developed. Alfonso I knowing what was going on wrote a series of papers to King Joao III of Portugal. In these papers, Alfonso I pleaded with the king to take away all the corrupt Portuguese from his kingdom. With false assurance from the king of Portugal, he asked to have sent those people of religious and medical backgrounds to help modernize his kingdom. With the corruptness still noticeable in the Kongo, Alfonso I was forced to pass a law stating that ...any white man living in our Kingdoms and wanting to purchase goods in any way should first inform three of our noble men and officials of our court whom we rely upon in this matter... (57). These futile attempts of writing letters to the king were not making any significance. The king of Portugal was money hungry along with the majority of all his servants who worked for him down in Africa. ...