Afonso I of Portugal

century, The Kingdom of Kongo’s ruler, King Afonso I, addressed the King of Portugal in a series of letters where he expressed his concerns about their interconnected trading system; in which merchandise and slaves were exchanged between both states. Portugal noticed the naivety of the Kongo’s leader so they continued to depopulate their land which led to The Kingdom of Kongo’s gradual decline. The Kingdom of Kongo was once thriving at a rapid pace. The population was growing, new crops from Southeast Asia filled their forests, and…

They were baptized in hopes to strengthen their relationships with the Portuguese. Their fluency in the language also aided in planning tactics directly with the people in power in Portugal. Nzinga was able to negotiate with the Portuguese and when the Portuguese did not follow through, she had to fight for her people. Unlike Nzinga, king Afonso negotiated slavery in a different way with the Portuguese, as he allowed them to take slaves that were captured by his kingdom. After doing so, both…

The primary source that I decided to read about and study was “Vasco da Gama: Round Africa to India”. In the Western Civilization course, we were taught about the different explorations that many men were apart of in order to explore and create relations with other countries in the world. Vasco da Gama was in charge of leading a Portuguese exploration to sail from Portugal to around the tip of Africa and to India. His task was to find a route that could lead to open up European enterprises for…

Christopher Columbus, Afonso D’ Alboquerque, and Adam Smith contributed greatly to the interconnections of the world through international trade and commerce and through cultural exchanges. Christopher Columbus, a Spanish explorer, was the first to find America. He was the first of many to explore unknown territories and lands in search of trade and with the intention of spreading his European, Christian culture. This exchange of goods and culture between the American people and…

the steep rivers, diseases, and military defenses made it impossible for the Europeans to conquer Africa. During The first half of the nineteenth century, European had to be satisfied with their alliance with African kingdoms and rulers. The Portuguese led the way in European exploration and expansion in Africa. The Portuguese established alliance with Congo kingdom, a Bantu speaking people along the Congo River in west- central Africa. Their king, nzinga Mbemba converted to Christianity,…

One of the most beautiful countries in the world for me is Portugal. There are many reasons for that and I am going to try to get you to know some interesting aspects of this amazing country. Portugal, also known as the Portuguese Republic, is the westernmost country of Europe. With a long coastline, a warm climate and beautiful, sandy beaches the country attracts millions of tourists every year. The capital city, Lisbon, is one of the oldest in Western Europe and is built on seven hills, just…

Portuguese nobility. At an early age he became a page to Queen Leonor, wife of John II (reigned 1481–95) and sister of Manuel I (reigned 1495–1521), in Lisbon. In early 1505 he enlisted in the fleet of Francisco de Almeida, first viceroy of Portuguese India, whose expedition King Manuel sent to check Muslim sea power along the African and Indian coasts and to establish a strong Portuguese presence in the Indian Ocean. During a naval engagement at Cannanore (now Kannur) on the Malabar Coast of…

kingdom of Benin had stopped selling slaves, both the Portuguese and the Benin’s profited much from the trade that happened between the two countries. This improved economic status of both the countries. Likewise, in contrast to the relation of the Portuguese and the Benin’s, the early encounters between the Portuguese and the Kongolese was a chaotic one. It disrupted the political and social conditions of Kongo. The Portuguese were eager to convert the Kongolese’s religion to Christianity,…

regions. The economic motive that influenced this European exploration of Africa could be further analyzed with the addition of another chart or graph providing data on the amount of raw material exports from Africa to Europe. In response to European influence, African Kings and their Kingdoms would undergo cultural changes, as demonstrated in Documents 1 and 4. Nzinga Mbemba, the African King of Kongo provided his account during the 16th century in Document 1. He was a Christian convert…

They made people think that, that was the main reason why they expanded but meanwhile they were making money and using their knowledge as an advantage over the natives. This is where the quote “God, gold, glory, and slaves come into place. These were the Europeans chief motives for their expansion. God which I already talked about as in religion (Christianity), then Gold, as in economic improvement and natural sources like precious “metals, rubber, kola nut, salt” according to Midlo (p2). Also…