Essay: Letters to the King of Portugal

Sample Essay

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This essay is based on the letters to the king of Portugal. The letters under analysis were written by Nzinga Mbemba (Afonso I) the king of Kongo to the Portuguese King, the letters were written in 1526 the first one in July and the second one in October.

The letters under analysis were written by Nzinga Mbemba (Afonso I) the king of Kongo to the Portuguese King, the letters were written in 1526 the first one in July and the second one in October. To understand the context of the letters it is important to understand the historical background and the nature of Portuguese venture in Africa in general and Kongo what is now Angola and Former Zaire. In 1482 the mouth of the Congo River was discovered by the Portuguese shipman, Diogo Cao, and this was the start of a new chapter of the Portuguese in Africa. Open relations were set up with the Kongo kingdom of the interior and the voluntary conversion to Christianity began, with the king of Kongo and his family among the first converts. The kingdom ultimately became split over the relations with the Portuguese and by 1506 the pro-Portuguese faction was the champion in the civil war that resulted. The Kongo port of Mpinda developed into a trade center with the primary exchange being enslaved Africans for European cloth and metal goods.

The main purpose of these Portuguese people was to increase their power in that rich kingdom, and also exploited the area by adopting slave trade. Under the guise of religion and unrealistic ideas the Portuguese acted as mercenaries, exploiting the land and the people and also kidnapped thousands to enslave them. The King of Kongo who was a converted catholic idealized the Portuguese lifestyle and their religion but when they started exploiting his people especially his courtiers and noblemen and created widespread unrest did he speak out.

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