How Did Portugal Have To Do Before Angola

When one queries the assessment of the European commercial activities and its impact in the Atlantic Islands and West Africa between the years 1415 and 1600, trickery, social violence, intrusion and the horrors of slavery comes to mind. There were many negative impacts such as population loss, loss of self worth and loyalty, the Europeans involved caused the demise of the European cloth industry. The Portuguese were the first Europeans to set foot in this area in the fifteenth century. During the history of Portugal (1415-1542), Portugal discovered an eastern route to India that rounded the Cape of Good Hope, established trading

Africa had been the target of colonialism and slavery for many years. The colonies that European’s developed during fifteenth and sixteenth century were the main reason that started slave trade in Africa.

The Portuguese traded with Africa War weapons in order to get gold, ivory, and jewels. They later began getting slaves produced by inter-African warfare. At first the slave trade was controlled by Africans. These Africans were knows as the Bakongo whom welcomed the Portuguese and the

The predecessors of many Angolans moved from different parts of Africa much sooner than the arrival of the first Portuguese in the late 1400s. By the time of the Portuguese’s landing in Africa, the Kongo Kingdom was already founded in the northwestern part of modern day Angola. The first Portuguese to explore the Congo River had many intentions. They planned to bring religion, to promote European ideas of civilization, to find and use resources, and eventually to build up the slave trade. By the mid-1400s, the Kongo Kingdom was the most influential of the states located along Africa 's Atlantic coastline. The kingdom had been founded in the late 1300s by a party of Bakongo, which is the plural for Kongolese individuals. These Bakongo had ventured south of the Congo River into northwestern Angola. The Bakongo then defeated the local population and built the capital city of Mbanza Kongo, which translates as

"Clearly, turmoil, victimization, and disappointment are themes that have pervaded Angola's history, especially since the arrival of the Europeans in the fifteenth century" (Collelo xxi). "In 1576, in effective control of the countryside and facing no organized Kongo opposition, the Portuguese founded the town of Luanda, in effect establishing the colony of Angola" (Bender 24). After the Portuguese began reaching the interior, they soon appointed royal governors who tried to impose their ideas and beliefs upon the people (Halladay 82). Many African leaders resisted this foreign rule and the Europeans only managed to "establish insecure footholds along the coast" (Collelo 9).

Prior to the movement of European Imperialism in Africa, a major law was passed. In 1807, the British government banned the Transatlantic slave trade. As a result, in 1833, slavery as a whole was completely demolished. Slavery was a very profitable trade for not only Britain, but many other European powers. Without the slave trade, many European nations were looking for a new way to expand their power of others. Therefore, many European nations switched their focus and claimed their share of the African continent, in order to continue their economic and social dominance (Document A).

From 1500 to 1800, the Europeans already had their eyes on Africa, although not for the purpose of imperialism. Over the next century, slavery was abolished and Belgium began by establishing the Free Congo State in order to make money. Soon, many other European leaders began to realize that Africa was rich with natural resources (Background Essay). The main forces driving European Imperialism in Africa were the capabilities of the European countries’ economies and the opportunity for more wealth and money.

One of the main reasons behind imperialism in Africa is to get materials. In the chart from Document D, a document showing colonies land and resources that came with, Great Britain went after South Africa for the gold and diamonds. Great Britain got those resources because they were the most valuable resources over any other. Portugal went after angola because of its specific materials. Angola has clothing materials which would also sell high in the market back then.

“. . . Forts built by the Portuguese and Dutch on the Gold Coast (modern Ghana) were captured by the British in 1667” (“Africa and the Atlantic Slave Trade”, NA), and later, “. . . New technologies and medicines . . . allowed the Europeans to pursue military and political power further into the interior” (Getz and Clark, 2011, p. 103) The British fought to control the area specifically for the gold, and palm oil – an ingredient used for the production of soap, and as machine lubricant. “Second, the industrial Revolution enabled Britain in particular to enlarge its military and commercial power to the point that it was able to eventually drive the other European powers out of the region, with the Danish (1850) and Dutch (1871-1872) being the last to leave” (Getz and Clark, 2011, p. 103). After Britain gained control of the region, new rules were placed into effect. Most Africans adapted to the sudden changes: becoming English-speaking Africans, accepting jobs from the British, trading with the British and even marrying British citizens. “It was this these men who tried to create European-style but independent states such as the Accra Confederation and who wrote a constitution for the Fante Confederation of 1873” (Getz and Clark, 2011, p. 106). Yet, despite these positive effects, negative effects also existed. In the 1670s, with sugar becoming high demand, the need for slaves increased. “. . . Europeans

Africa went from being a continent with few land and faction owners to almost complete European rule within a matter of years. The main reason behind this was that King Leopold II (the king of Belgium.) Suddenly claimed the Congo as his own territory. Not his countries, but his own personal land. This influenced other European powers such as France, Belgium and England to claim and land that they could from Africa. Not long after, once valuable resources were discovered on claimed European land, the natives were used as workers and slaves by their land owners.

Europeans colonized Africa in 1750 for natural resources, land, and slaves. The European countries try to colonize some countries in Africa. They started the Berlin Conference by giving each European country an African country or more. Europeans claimed every country in Africa except Ethiopia and Liberia. This kind of colonization was called imperialism. Imperialism could increase trade such as trading slaves into the Americas. They claimed natural resources to create products. Sometimes imperialism in Africa can cause conflicts with natives and Europeans. It can be used for importing and exporting products.

The Portuguese empire possessed strong naval power by the 15th century, which enabled the empire to start looking abroad to expand their influences. By 1415, the Portuguese had begun their oceanic voyages in Africa. Their overall purpose was to obtain access to the African gold mines to expand their markets. As the trade progressed with the Africans, the Portuguese began trading copper, brass, and other local goods for gold. As a result, the Portuguese began establishing trade post all over Africa. Additionally, the Portuguese established trade post in the region of Liberia as they looked for gold to fuel their voyages to the new world.

However, these shocking incidents on helpless Africans began in the late 1480s and lasted for many centuries in new Germany. How Africans became victims of the German concentration camps is a story that is not globally known. European countries laid claim to the southwest part of Africa in their devotion to the Church of Rome during 1480s. The Portuguese were the first settlers that arrived on the southwest coast of Africa. They claimed an area of the southwest coast as their land and erected a stone cross on the coastline which is known as Namibia, in spite of the local natives.

The history of slavery comes from many cultures, nationalities, and religions from ancient times to the present day. The social, economic, and legal positions of slaves were significantly different in systems of slavery and in different times. However, Portugal started the European slave trade with Africa. Prince Henry sent a trading expedition to Africa, which explored the continent in 1441, and by 1444, a cargo of 235 enslaved Africans had been brought to Lagos in Portugal. The Portuguese used slaves to work on sugar plantations off an island in Africa, by 1460. The Portuguese built the first slave fort in 1481, on the coast of modern Ghana. This was called Elmina Castle, which was the headquarters of the Portuguese slave traders. In the early seventeenth century, Portugal was a major trader in enslaved Africans. By this time, Portugal had permission to supply the Spanish colonies with slaves. This meant that the Portuguese were not only buying slaves for themselves, but for Spanish as well. This added to the total number of slaves that Portuguese ships carried. Records show the number of slaves imported from Africa was 4,650,000 slaves (i.e., footnote 1).

Angola is one of the many African countries which suffered from the Portuguese colonisation in earlier years. The colonisation these African countries suffered from (specifically Angola), began in the mid eighteenth century (Santos, 2010), where European countries identified the many resources that these countries were rich in, and found an opportunity to possess them through migrating to these countries and taking over the governance in these countries, changing the system in a way that was best suitable for them.