Assignment task:
According to Slavery and the SlaveTrade in the Kingdom of Kongo 17 correSPondence BeTWeen nzInga MBeMBa (afonSo I), kIng of kongo, and JoA~o III, kIng of PorTugal Interactions between Portugal and Kongo, a kingdom south of the Congo River on Africa's west coast, began in the 1480s when the Portuguese explorer Diogo Ca~o, in his efforts to circumnavigate Africa, twice dropped anchor at the mouth of the Congo River and made contact with Nzinga a Nkuwa, the king of Kongo. Their dealings were cordial at first. A number of Kongolese, including the king's son, accompanied Ca~o on his return trips to Portugal, where they learned Euro- pean ways; the Portuguese soldiers who remained in Kongo fought for the king against rebellious nobles.The king and his nobility were intrigued by Christianity, and the Portuguese, of course, were eager to make converts. Both sides hoped to profit from trade. In 1491 King Joa~o II of Portugal dispatched to Kongo a con- tingent of priests, artisans, women (who were to teach "housekeeping"), soldiers, and officials, who brought with them gunpowder weapons and various European goods they hoped to exchange for ivory, copper, and slaves. In response the king agreed to an alliance with the Portuguese, and he, his son, and a number of prominent nobles took Portuguese names and were baptized as Catholics. The king's son, Nzinga Mbemba, who took the name Afonso after his baptism, became king in 1506, and like his father promoted cooperation with the Portuguese. He proclaimed Christianity the state religion and imitated the trappings of Portu- guese royalty. European firearms, horses, and cattle were introduced, regular trade began, and Afonso dreamed of achieving a powerful and prosperous kingdom with Portuguese help. By the mid-1520s, however, the slave trade threatened the Portu- guese-Kongo alliance. Slaves, most of whom were captured in slave raids in surround- ing regions, were widely owned in Kongo, and the king at first had no reservations about selling such slaves to the Portuguese in exchange for money and European goods.These goods, in turn, were distributed to nobles to ensure their loyalty to the king. This system broke down, however, in the 1510s and 1520s when Portuguese demand for slaves sharply increased. In Afonso's view, this had a number of harmful results, not the least of which was the loss of his monopoly on the sale of slaves. He expressed his concerns in two letters to King Joa~o III of Portugal in July and October 1526. Later, perhaps not until 1529, the king responded. At some point the two sides reached an agreement on how the slave markets should be organized and run, and in the 1530s, 4,000 to 5,000 slaves were deported from Kongo every year.
Please answer the next questions:
Assignment task: Questions for Analysis
1. According to Afonso, how has the Portuguese presence damaged his kingdom?
2. What do the letters reveal about the workings of the slave trade in the kingdom? Who participated in it?
3. What do the letters reveal about Afonso's attitude toward slavery?
4. What steps does Afonso propose to deal with the problems related to the slave trade?
5. How would you characterize Afonso's attitude toward the power and authority of the king of Portugal? Does he consider himself inferior to the Portuguese king or his equal?
6. What arguments does Joa~o III make to dissuade Afonso from ending the slave trade?
7. How would you characterize Joa~o III's attitude toward Afonso?