Primary Source Paper

King Leopold II developed his dream for colonization at an early age. Before he even took the throne he was on the lookout for unconquered land that could later be in his possession. The king wanted to become rich as a result of his new land through the process of trading. Once King Leopold II set his sights on the Congo, he would not give up until the land was his. He connived, manipulated and conned his way into the land. He did not care who got hurt; he just wanted his dream to be fulfilled.

In letters written by the Manikongo, Nzinga Mbemba Afonso, to the King João III of Portugal, he talks about that the resources coming in through the merchants is what is making the trading successful. He requests the King only send missionaries and not send anymore merchandise.The letter reveals the anger and frustration between the African residents and the merchants. The African residents did not feel like they were being treated right and that they could have been treated a lot fairer then they were at the moment. This problem at the time was the beginning of racism between Europeans and African people. The Europeans felt they were superior to the Africans and thought they could treat them in a bad way because of that. Countries would try

Since this question is about attitudes about trade it would be more complete with documents portraying the views of more groups. For example, letters from Muslim merchants would allow us to examine that group’s view about trade. Documents from Orthodox Christians would give a more complete picture of the attitudes of Christianity. Collection records from Muslim mosques or Christian churches would allow us to compare how each benefited from merchants and so be able to

The Portuguese first made contact with the Kongolese in the 1400s sparking a long and varied relationship between the two kingdoms. In order to better understand how this relationship played a part in the trade, colonization, and warfare of this region of Africa, the following paper will discuss the relationship between the Kongolese and the Portuguese up until the Battle of Mbwila, what occurred at the Battle of Mbwila, and how this battle effectively destroyed the Kingdom of Kongo in the latter part of the 17th century.

When thinking about the history of the world, one must always consider that merchants as well as trade have played an immerse role in shaping the world as it is today. They are responsible for many of the cross-cultural interactions that we have had in the past. Christianity and Islam, the two predominant religions of the world today, have both grown and spread through merchants and trade also. These two chief religions both have attitudes towards merchants and trade that have either developed or decreased overtime. According to these documents, from up to the year 1500, Christianity went from a negative view of merchants and trade to a positive view while Islam went from a positive view to a negative view, but both sides

Beginning in 1419, Prince Henry of Portugal, also known as “The Navigator”, began financing sailors, mapmakers, and shipbuilders that were devoted to finding new lands. These men were from different nationalities, ranging from Italy, Arabia, and Germany. Their primary focus was to sail around Africa, and land in India. Although at first they failed to go to India, they were successful in sailing down the west African coast, which was the beginning for one of the worse trades in the history of mankind, which is slavery. In 1444, the first 200 slaves from Africa were shipped to Portugal. Later, in 1488, Portuguese captain Bartholemeu Dias sailed around Africa, passing by the Cape of Good Hope. One decade later, Vasco de Gama went farther than Dias and came back to Portugal loaded with spices from the East. Then the Spanish came along. Unlike Portugal, that based its empire off of naval capabilities, the Spanish based theirs off conquest and colonization. There were many Spanish conquistadors, but the most famous of them all is Christopher

Although all this documents stress voices from the Slave Trade, each document sheds a unique light on the much-debated question about who should be held responsible for the tragedy of the Atlantic slave trade. For example, Document 15.1 sheds light on the role of both European and African merchants in the trafficking of slaves as well as the human suffering of the slave trade. However Document 15.2 reveals the cooperation between local African rulers and European and African traders in the slave trade. Moreover, Documents 15.3 focus on how disruptive European traders could be to established African governments, even those that actively opposed the slave trade. And finally, Document 15.4 shows how some African leaders were attached to the slave trade and promoted it even when European were moving to end it. Nonetheless, all the documents do shed a clear and a full light on what should be held responsible for the

What type of primary source is this? How is this type of primary source different from or unique when compared to other types of primary sources?

Over time, during the 15th and 16th centuries, Islam and Christianity began to show many similarities regarding trade. In the beginning Christianity talks about how people should stay away from merchants and trading because it could possibly make them materialistic. Islam almost has the same idea except they believe you may trade, but it must be fairly. Anything other than that would be considered as sinful as committing a crime. These two religions are similar because they were both aware of the bad nature that trading

Olaudah Equiano had a very unique experience with the slave trade system. He began conveying his experience with how he was captured in his village by two men and a women, who kidnapped him and his sister. Their captors traveled with them for a few days before separating the siblings, and selling Equiano to his first master. He was treated fairly well, even when he ran away for a day and came back, he says his master “having slightly reprimanded me, ordered me to be taken care of, and not ill-treated.” (Equiano 27) Shortly after this engagement, Equiano’s master loses his wife and child and sends Equiano away to be sold again. He even gets to see his sister one last time before, again, they are separated.

Abina and the Important Men is the tale of an west African woman from Ashantee who was abducted twice and sold multiple times as a slave. The book is about her trial at court and her prosecution against Quamina Eddoo. Quamina Eddoo is a wealthy man that farms palm oil that owns young slaves. Slavery in the Gold Coast at the time was illegal due to British colonization and their abolition of slavery. Enforcing British rule against slavery was difficult in the Gold Coast. British rule clearly dictates that slavery is illegal, however, slavery was what kept the Gold Coast economy going and was apart of their tradition. At the time, palm oil was one of the staples of their economy, in which the British profited from significantly, and child slaves did the field work. If the British enforce their slavery laws against all the rich landowners who produce this oil, it would destroy the economy and relations with the powerful locals. Abina’s case was one of horrible circumstance, but provides a unique approach of historical significance.

The purpose of this book is to offer his perspective on how Africans were treated in the Americas from 1550 to 1812.

Although scholarly and popular sources are different regarding the manner in which they are written, the information provided in either can be beneficial to the reader. Hitting news stands as well as researcher’s desks, the issue of the effects of technology on children is becoming an issue around the world. Scholarly sources tend to be longer, with more insight, typically meant for researchers, faculty, and scholars. Popular sources offer insight into the topic as well but are geared towards a general broad audience. Both popular and scholarly sources offer a specific interpretation of the issue at hand in interrelated ways.

This essay is analysis essay to the excerpt from a journal “The Journal of the first voyage of Vasco da Gama” written by an anonymous during the early modern period, translated and edited by E. G. Ravenstein and published by the Hakluyt Society in 1989. The article is primary source of travel journal by sea of Vasco da Gama, the Portuguese navigator, from Africa to India in 1497-1498, the era of European commercial and imperial expansion. The article written by anonymous who was an eyewitness that participated in the voyage of Vasco da Gama to seeks new sea route from Portugues to India.This essay will summarize and analyze

In this movie, that translates into, how the Portuguese only wanted to gain these lands for profit. Since natives lived there the Portuguese wanted to gain the land so they could trade slaves there. This was the whole reason Mendoza disregarded his vows and fought against the Portuguese. The other reason, imperialism, is the policy of extending a nation's authority by territorial acquisition or by the establishment of economic and political domination over other nations. In this case, the Portuguese wanted to acquire the lands belonging to the natives because of economic reasons.