Kings and Queens of Kongo

Have you ever heard of Kongo? Well, it’s a kingdom that is located along Western Coastline of Central Africa. The remains of Kongo are now known as the Republic of the Kongo and Angola. The Kingdom of Kongo is the most planned and organized kingdom in Central Africa. It was found in the late 1300s. The first king that introduced them to foreign things was Alfonso I. He brought them European religion, items that were used for trade, and power. He also introduced them to the Portuguese and Christianity. He converted the state religion to Christianity and because of this he was also remembered as "The Apostle of Kongo." King Alfonso wanted to create a duplicate of the Roman Catholic Church. He provided the funds for the workers’ salaries and everything else needed for the project. The kingdom of KONGO had many slaves for Portuguese traders and European people. The Portuguese had loyalty with the king but that ended that when they started slave trade in Kongo illegally. He wanted to put an end on slaves being illegally sold in Portuguese. He tried to limit the Portuguese activities in his kingdom which led Portuguese to try to kill him. They did not succeed. Slave trade was not appreciated in the country. The slave trade sent millions of people from Kongo to America which decreased the population. King Alfonso tried to stop this but he failed. The Kongo people were forced to become slaves because of the Portuguese. The Kongo Kingdom was hurt deeply because of the Portuguese and King Alfonso tried to preserve his people but the Portuguese were too much to handle for him. King Alfonso brought vast amounts of information about Kongo to the future when he wrote letters to the government. These letters proved that even before the Portuguese arrived there was a part of Kongo that was involved in slave trade. The Kingdom had devoted itself to the Kongo Civil War for 40 years but after it ended the winner was not clear because the kingdom suffered a large amount. Alfonso died in 1543 which meant that the greatest reign in Kongo history ended after 37 years. In 1884 and 1885, Kongo was divided between European powers. Portuguese received a share of what remained of Kongo after it had become an independent kingdom. In 1914, the Portuguese removed any title as the King of Kongo. The Kingdom of kongo was a much respected kingdom but after many battles and wars it weakened. The Kingdom of Kongo was a magnificent kingdom.