Kongo Slave Trade

Superior Essays
The Catholic successful converted Afonso and then later assumed the throne of Kongo with Portuguese support in the year of 1506 and ruled until 1543. By 1530 Kongo had little to pay for imports that flooded the kingdom during that time they provided Portuguese “craftsmen, missionaries, arm specialists, and teachers”(pg. 6) Afonso invited except enslaved captives, most of whom were latetr shipped to Portuguese sugar plantations on the island of Sao Tome.
In 1526 Afonso had a series of letters condemning the violent behavior of the Portuguese in his country and their establishment of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. At one point he blamed them of helping brigands in his own country and illegally purchasing free people as slaves. He also threatened to close the trade altogether. However, in the end, Afonso established an examination committee to determine the legality of all enslaved persons presented for sale.
Afonso was a determined soldier and extended Kongo's effective control to the south, especially. In 1526 Afonso wrote two letters concerning the slave trade to the king of Portugal, decrying the rapid destabilization of his kingdom as the Portuguese slave traders intensified their efforts.
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When he suspected the Portuguese of receiving illegally enslaved persons to sell, he wrote in to King João III in 1526 imploring him to put a stop to the practice.
The king asked Licentrace Ibarra and Rodrigo de Alburquerque to make sure that they would take care of the Indians, to make sure that they were being treated and indoctrinated in their “Our Holy Catholic Faith”. One of the first things there were asked to do was to make sure that they had made a public announcement and order that everyone, including officials, anyone under their name had to report each of the Indians they possessed, and the name of each cacique “ Taino chiefs” under whose commanded they were

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