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141-688: Starting in the 15th century, Europeans, mainly the Portuguese, began to settle in regions of Africa such as Nigeria and Angola. Soon an early Atlantic Creole culture began to form with cultural diffusion and admixing occurring. Some of these individuals would travel with Europeans in the exploration, colonization and settlement of the Americas in the late 15th century and early 16th century such as Juan Garrido and Juan Valiente . Later, when more European populations began to establish themselves in Africa and

282-648: A vassal state of the Kingdom of Portugal . In 1914, following the Portuguese suppression of a Kongo revolt, Portugal abolished the titular monarchy . The title of King of Kongo was restored from 1915 until 1975, as an honorific without real power. The remaining territories of the kingdom were assimilated into the colonies of Portuguese Angola , the Belgian Congo , and the Republic of Cabinda , respectively. The modern-day Bundu dia Kongo sect favours reviving

423-517: A Catholic, he could not ally with non-Catholics to attack the city. The end of the first quarter of the 17th century saw a new flare-up in Kongo's political struggle. At the heart of the conflict were two noble houses fighting over the kingship. On one side of the conflict was the House of Kwilu, which counted most of the kings named Álvaro. They were ousted by the opposing House of Nsundi , when Pedro II

564-504: A Dutch attack on Luanda. While relations between Sao Salvador and Luanda were not warm, the two polities had enjoyed an easy peace, due to the former's internal distractions, and the latter's war against the Kingdom of Matamba . The same year of the Portuguese ouster from Luanda, Kongo entered into a formal agreement with the new government, and agreed to provide military assistance as needed. Garcia II ejected nearly all Portuguese and Luso-African merchants from his kingdom. The colony of Angola

705-499: A Dutch fleet under the command of the celebrated admiral Piet Heyn arrived in Luanda to carry out an attack in 1624. The plan failed to come to fruition as by then Pedro had died and his son Garcia Mvemba a Nkanga was elected king. King Garcia I was more forgiving of the Portuguese and had been successfully persuaded by their various gestures of conciliation. He was unwilling to press the attack on Angola at that time, contending that as

846-585: A Lukeni, led expansion southward into lands ruled by Mpemba. He established a new base on the mountain Mongo dia Kongo and made alliances with the Mwene Mpangala, ruler of a market town then loyal to Mpemba and also with the Mwene Kabunga whose lands lay west of there of uncertain loyalty but the site of a famous shrine. Two centuries later the Mwene Kabunga's descendants still symbolically challenged

987-466: A black slave owned by Hernán Cortés himself who gets mentioned in the chronicles of Antonio de Herrera y Tordesillas and Francisco Cervantes de Salazar . In his relevant instance in the chronicle, after the Spanish and Tlaxcaltecs retreat from the la Noche Triste , a lone Aztec warrior challenged them on the road to a singles combat, leading Juan Cortés and conquistador Alonso de Moguer to come out of

1128-727: A blend of musical cultures from Africa, Europe and the Americas such as spirituals and blue grass. In the 20th century ragtime, the blues, and jazz would originate from Atlantic creole culture. Encompassing the earliest folk traditions to present day popular music "Africans brought their own cultures and way of life to the Americas. As enslaved Africans they participated in African rituals and music-making events. They told stories, sang, danced, played African and African-derived instruments, and more broadly, celebrated life as they had done in Africa. In North America, their introduction to European culture and music came from participating in or witnessing

1269-471: A body of writing—from isolated enclaves in Samaná and Nova Scotia peopled by descendants of migrations of early AAVE-speaking groups (see Samaná English ) that suggests that the grammar of early AAVE was closer to that of contemporary British dialects than modern urban AAVE is to other current American dialects, suggesting that the modern language is a result of divergence from mainstream varieties, rather than

1410-552: A core region of some 130,000 square kilometers. By the early seventeenth century the city and its hinterland had a population of around 100,000, or nearly one out of every six inhabitants in the Kingdom (according to baptismal statistics compiled by a Jesuit priest in 1623), while the kingdom as a whole numbered some 780,000. The concentration of population, economic activity, and political power in Mbanza Kongo strengthened

1551-450: A devastating war on Ndongo, and then to raid and pillage some southern Kongo provinces. He was particularly interested in the province of Kasanze , a marshy region that lay just north of Luanda. Many slaves being deported through Luanda fled into this region and were often granted sanctuary, and for this reason, Mendes de Vasconcelos decided that a determined action was needed to stop it. The next governor of Angola, João Correia de Sousa, used

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1692-620: A large number of people. The abolitionist papers before the war form a rich corpus of examples of plantation creole. In Army Life in a Black Regiment (1870), Thomas Wentworth Higginson detailed many features of his Black soldiers' language. Distinct cultural dialects formed including Gullah , Louisiana Creole , and Seminole Creole and regional dialects formed as well. Dozens of music genres and their subsequent subcultures originated or partly originated from US Atlantic creole culture including pop, rap, country, hip hop, EDM, rock and jazz. Many of these genres originate from early genres that were

1833-570: A limited indenture contract for four to seven years to pay off their passage, room, board, lodging, and freedom dues. In the early colonial years, most Africans in the Thirteen Colonies were held under such contracts of limited indentured servitude . With the exception of those indentured for life, they were released after a contracted period. Those who managed to survive their period of indenture would receive land and equipment after their contracts expired or were bought out. Historically,

1974-451: A mission of conquest, also under Paulo Dias de Novais, this time to conquer the country and monopolize its slave trade. A common characteristic of political life in the kingdom of Kongo was fierce competition over succession to the throne. Afonso's own contest for the throne was intense, and he had to fight a major battle with his half brother, and probably against lesser enemies in the early years of his reign. Afonso described his ascent to

2115-511: A mvila za makanda . Although Cuvelier and other scholars contended that these traditions applied to the earliest period of Kongo's history, it is more likely that they relate primarily to local traditions of clans ( makanda ) and especially to the period following 1750. By the 13th century there were three main confederations of states in the western Congo Basin. In the east were the Seven Kingdoms of Kongo dia Nlaza , considered to be

2256-476: A new way to communicate among themselves and with their captors. According to this theory, these captives first developed what are called pidgins : simplified mixtures of languages. Since pidgins form from close contact between speakers of different languages, the middle passage would have been exactly such a situation. Creolist John Dillard quotes, for example, slave ship captain William Smith describing

2397-425: A part of its culture for the rest of the kingdom's independent existence. King Afonso himself studied hard at this task. Rui d'Aguiar once said Afonso I knew more of the church's tenets than he did. The Kongo church was always short of ordained clergy and made up for it by the employment of a strong laity. Kongolese school teachers or mestres (Kikongo alongi a aleke) were the anchor of this system. Recruited from

2538-425: A partisan of the House of Kwilu, managed to force Garcia I to flee and placed Ambrósio I of the House of Kwilu on the throne. King Ambrósio either could not or did not remove Paulo from Soyo, though he did eventually remove Jordão. After a rule marked by rumors of war mobilizations and other disruptions, a great riot at the capital resulted in the death of the king by a mob. Ambrosio was replaced with Alvaro IV by

2679-664: A people. The Georgia communities are distinguished by identifying as either "Freshwater Geechee" or "Saltwater Geechee", depending on whether they live on the mainland or the Sea Islands. Because of a period of relative isolation from whites while working on large plantations in rural areas, the Africans, enslaved from a variety of Central and West African ethnic groups, developed a creole culture that has preserved much of their African linguistic and cultural heritage from various peoples; in addition, they absorbed new influences from

2820-539: A plural of blacks in the expedition. Others authors believe Garrido actually arrived later with the contingent of Pánfilo de Narváez, only joining Cortés after Narváez's troops abandoned him after the Battle of Cempoala . African presence in this second expedition seems to have been high. At least two additional black conquistadors arrived with Narváez: the Portuguese Sebastián de Évora, who would discover

2961-490: A recollection of "slave language" toward the latter part of the 18th century: "Kay, massa, you just leave me, me sit here, great fish jump up into da canoe, here he be, massa, fine fish, massa; me den very grad; den me sit very still, until another great fish jump into de canoe; but me fall asleep, massa, and no wake 'til you come...." Not until the time of the American Civil War did the languages become familiar to

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3102-517: A resident of this city, where I have always lived; and also as I went with the Marqués del Valle to discover the islands which are in that part of the southern sea [the Pacific] where there was much hunger and privation; and also as I went to discover and pacify the islands of San Juan de Buriquén es de Puerto Rico ; and also as I went on the pacification and conquest of the island of Cuba with

3243-475: Is considered the prime example of Bantu conquistador , although in reality the presence of Africans and mulattos in the Hispanic ranks had already became a widespread occurrence after the first decade of the 16th century. Other examples of black conquistadors included Beatriz de Palacios , Juan Valiente , Juan García Pizarro, Juan de Villanueva, Pedro Fulupo and Antonio Pérez. The presence of black people

3384-469: The Manikongo , the Portuguese version of the Kongo title Mwene Kongo , meaning "lord or ruler of the Kongo kingdom", but its sphere of influence extended to neighbouring kingdoms, such as Ngoyo , Kakongo , Loango , Ndongo , and Matamba , the latter two located in what is Angola today. From c.  1390 to 1862, it was an independent state. From 1862 to 1914, it functioned intermittently as

3525-680: The American South , incorporated various elements of American botanical knowledge . Hoodoo is Creole tradition created during the time of enslavement in the United States, and is an esoteric system of Creole occultism. Many of the practices are similar to other African Diaspora traditions as the practices come from the Bakongo people in Central Africa. During the transatlantic slave trade , about 40 percent of Africans taken to

3666-705: The French Army and Navy , though some were enslaved or indentured servants . About 1,000 captive creoles were brought to New France in the 17th and 18th centuries. After the American Revolutionary War , over 2000 indentured servants arrived to what was to become Quebec and Ontario . At the same time, approximately 3,500 free Black persons emigrated from the US and settled in what became Nova Scotia and New Brunswick . These Black Loyalists had won their freedom due to their support for Britain during

3807-646: The Great migration Atlantic creole culture spread throughout the United States. A large portion of Atlantic Creole culture was able to become mainstream due to the music culture that sprung up in California and New York mainly via hip hop but also television broadcasting. Some will speak in a Creole accent or dialect mixed with Western US American English, California English and Northeastern English or New York english. US Atlantic creole cuisine originated from various US creole populations. The early cuisine originated from

3948-644: The Kimpanzu lineage of the dead Alvaro V . Garcia II took the throne on the eve of several crises. One of his rivals, Daniel da Silva (who probably received the patronage of the Daniel da Silva who was killed by Garcia II while defending Alvaro IV ), managed to secure the County of Soyo and used it as a base against Garcia II for the whole of his reign. As a result, Garcia II was prevented from completely consolidating his authority. Another problem facing King Garcia II

4089-616: The Kwanza River at Muxima and Masangano. Following this victory, the Dutch once again appeared to lose interest in conquering the colony of Angola. As in their conquest of Pernambuco, the Dutch West India Company was content to allow the Portuguese to remain inland. The Dutch sought to spare themselves the expense of war, and instead relied on control of shipping to profit from the colony. Thus, to Garcia's chagrin,

4230-996: The Seminole Nation of Oklahoma . Its two Freedmen's bands, the Caesar Bruner Band and the Dosar Barkus Band, are represented on the General Council of the Nation. Other centers are in Florida , Texas , the Bahamas , and northern Mexico . Those with Atlantic Creole heritage are most concentrated in the Southern US as they have been historically. A Southern Creole accent or dialect is still spoken by many and some historical traditions are still practiced there with cuisine being primary. Due to

4371-541: The creole languages in the Caribbean, including Antillean French Creole, Bajan Creole, Bahamian Creole, Belizean Creole among others. Landers, Jane. Atlantic Creoles , Oxford Bibliographies.com Chira, Adriana. Atlantic Creoles, Latin American Studies , Oxford Bibliographies.com Juan Garrido Juan Garrido (c. 1480 – c. 1550 ) was an Afro - Spaniard of Kongo origin conquistador known as

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4512-408: The missionary Girolamo da Montesarchio , an Italian Capuchin who visited the area from 1650 to 1652, the site was so holy that looking upon it was deadly. These rocks may be the rugged uplands of Lovo where there is extensive cave and rock art that dates from at least the fifteenth century. At some point around 1375, Nimi a Nzima , ruler of Mpemba Kasi and Vungu, made an alliance with Nsaku Lau,

4653-512: The state religion of his kingdom. Upon his ascension as king in 1509, Afonso I worked to create a viable version of the Catholic Church in Kongo , providing for its income from royal assets and taxation that provided salaries for its workers. With advisers from Portugal such as Rui d'Aguiar, the Portuguese royal chaplain sent to assist Kongo's religious development, Afonso created a syncretic version of Christianity that would remain

4794-593: The "notes" column. Historians have some dispute as to whether this was the Antonio later known as Anthony Johnson, as the census lists several "Antonios." This one is considered the most likely. Johnson was sold as an indentured servant to a white planter named Bennet to work on his Virginia tobacco farm. (Enslavement laws were not passed until 1661 in Virginia; prior to that date, Africans were not officially considered to be captives). Such workers typically worked under

4935-591: The 'Charter Generation' in the Chesapeake Colonies , up until the end of the seventeenth century. Through the first century of settlement, lines were fluid between black and white workers as the color coded Caste system didn't solidify until later; they often both worked off passage as indentured servants, and any captives were less set apart than they were later. The working class lived together, and many white women and black men developed relationships. Some of these White Europeans were also captives forced to

5076-493: The 1960s, when linguists began describing this language in great detail, it has gone through many name changes based on the social and political times in which it exists. Today most linguists refer to the distinctive speech of African Americans as 'Black English' or African American English (AAE). This language is a result of Atlantic creolization, with its own unique accent, grammar, vocabulary features, and dialects. We can find it spoken by some 30 million native speakers throughout

5217-564: The 19th century which expanded and grew Atlantic Creole culture. With later migrations Atlantic creole culture can be found throughout the Americas and the world, as Jane Landers notes, the Atlantic Creoles were "merchants, enslavers, linguists, sailors, artisans, musicians, and military figures" who "interacted with a wide variety of European and Amerindian groups and helped shape a new Atlantic world system." The historian Ira Berlin writes that Atlantic creoles were among what he called

5358-620: The American Revolution. In 1792, about 1200 of the resettled Black Loyalist emigrated to West Africa and founded a new colony where their descendants identified as the Sierra Leone Creoles . Another group of over 800 free Blacks from California migrated to Vancouver Island between 1858 and 1860. Many creoles migrated to Canada in search of work and became porters with the railroad companies in Ontario, Quebec, and

5499-507: The Americas. From the beginning of Spanish presence in the Americas, Africans participated as voluntary expeditionaries, conquistadors , and auxiliaries . He gained experience in deployments around the Caribbean, among them the conquest of Cuba by Diego Velázquez in 1508, as well as the expeditions of Juan Ponce de León in search of gold in Florida in 1513. Garrido formed part of the expedition of Hernán Cortés in 1519. He might have been associated to conquistador Pedro Garrido, as it

5640-504: The Christian Bible became known as the nkanda ukisi (holy book). The church became known as the nzo a ukisi (holy house). While some European clergy often denounced these mixed traditions, they were never able to root them out. Part of the establishment of this church was the creation of a strong priesthood and to this end, Afonso's son Henrique was sent to Europe to be educated. Henrique became an ordained priest and in 1518

5781-553: The DuBois Institute and Cambridge University Press on the trade and transportation of enslaved people" in their new work on the relation of Central Africans to the Atlantic Creoles. They found strong support for Berlin's thesis that the Charter Generations of enslaved creoles, before 1660, came primarily from West Central Africa. They also noted that in the Kingdom of Kongo (northern present-day Angola ),

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5922-559: The Duke of Mbamba, Daniel da Silva. King Alvaro IV was only eleven at the time and easily manipulated. In 1632, Daniel da Silva marched on the capital in order to "rescue his nephew from his enemies". At the time, he was under the protection of the Count of Soyo, Paulo, Alvaro Nimi a Lukeni a Nzenze a Ntumba and his brother Garcia II Nkanga a Lukeni . After a dramatic battle in Soyo, the young king

6063-473: The Dutch for their services in slaves taken from ranks of Dembos rebels. These slaves were sent to Pernambuco , Brazil where the Dutch had taken over a portion of the Portuguese sugar-producing region. A Dutch-Kongo force attacked Portuguese bases on the Bengo River in 1643 in retaliation for Portuguese harassment. The Dutch captured Portuguese positions and forced their rivals to withdraw to Dutch forts on

6204-582: The Europeans, the Kingdom of Kongo was sited at the centre of an extensive trading network. Apart from natural resources and ivory , the country manufactured and traded copperware, ferrous metal goods, raffia cloth, and pottery . The Kongo people spoke in the Kikongo language . The eastern regions, especially that part known as the Seven Kingdoms of Kongo dia Nlaza , were particularly famous for

6345-699: The Gullah region extended from the Cape Fear area on North Carolina's coast south to the vicinity of Jacksonville on Florida's coast. The Gullah people and their language are also called Geechee, which may be derived from the name of the Ogeechee River near Savannah, Georgia. Gullah is a term that was originally used to designate the creole dialect of English spoken by Gullah and Geechee people. Over time, its speakers have used this term to formally refer to their creole language and distinctive ethnic identity as

6486-645: The Imbangala to launch a full-scale invasion of southern Kongo in 1622, following the death of Álvaro III. Correia de Sousa claimed he had the right to choose the king of Kongo. He was also upset that the Kongolese electors chose Pedro II , a former Duke of Mbamba. Pedro II was originally from the duchy of Nsundi, hence the name of the royal house he created, the House of Nsundi . Correia de Sousa also contended that Pedro II had sheltered runaway slaves from Angola during

6627-565: The Jagas drove him from the capital to refuge on an island in the Congo River, Alvaro appealed to Portugal for aid, and was sent an expedition under Francisco de Gouveia Sottomaior governor of São Tomé . As a part of the same process, Álvaro agreed to allow the Portuguese to establish a colony in Luanda , the source of the nzimbu shell money used by the kingdom. In addition, Kongo provided

6768-552: The Kingdom of Kongo. The first Africans in Virginia were from parts of Angola that were settled by the Portuguese since the late 15th Century. Many were multilingual and baptized. This creolization is attributed as the possible reason why some were able to gain freedom in colonial Virginia and Maryland. One such person was Anthony Johnson who sailed to Virginia in 1621 aboard the James. The Virginia Muster (census) of 1624 lists his name as "Antonio not given," recorded as "a Negro" in

6909-539: The Kongo became increasingly politically active. New markets for slaves such as Mpanzalumbu (a rebel Kongolese province conquered by Afonso in 1526) and the Mbundu Kingdom of Ndongo also harmed the Kongolese monopoly on the slave trade. In 1526, Afonso complained in correspondence to King João III of Portugal about merchants' violation of his end of the monopoly, claiming that Portuguese officials had not regulated them sufficiently, and threatened to stop

7050-412: The Kongo's early campaigns of expansion brought new populations under the kingdom's control and produced many war captives. Starting in the 14th century (and reaching its height in the 17th century), the kings of the Kongo forcibly relocated captured peoples to the royal capital at Mbanza Kongo . The resulting high concentration of population around Mbanza Kongo and its outskirts played a critical role in

7191-401: The Kongolese monarchy and allowed for a centralized government. Captives taken in war were enslaved and integrated into the local population, producing a food and labor surplus, while rural regions of the kingdom paid taxes in the form of goods the capital could not produce itself. A class of urban nobility developed in the capital, and their demand for positions at court and consumer goods fueled

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7332-631: The Mwene Mbamba became the Duke of Mbamba. The Mwene Mpemba became Marquis of Mpemba, and the Mwene Soyo became Count of Soyo. In 1607, he and his son Álvaro II Nimi a Nkanga (crowned in 1587) bestowed orders of chivalry called the Order of Christ . The capital was also renamed São Salvador or "Holy Savior" in Portuguese during this period. In 1596, Álvaro's emissaries to Rome persuaded

7473-892: The North American colonies as captives, especially to South Carolina and Louisiana. Kongolese Catholics led the Stono Rebellion in 1739. Thornton and Heywood estimate that about one in five Creoles are descended from Kongolese ancestors. Brunelle says that the enslaved Kongolese, rather than the small admixed communities around European trading posts, were the source of most early Atlantic Creoles with Iberian surnames in North America. Many were Christian, were admixed and multi-lingual, and familiar with some aspects of European culture. The Dutch colonies in New York were also populated by numerous enslaved Atlantic Creoles from

7614-606: The Pope to recognize São Salvador as the cathedral of a new diocese which would include Kongo and the Portuguese territory in Angola. However, the king of Portugal won the right to nominate the bishops to this see , which became a source of tension between the two countries. Portuguese bishops in the kingdom were often favourable to European interests in a time when relations between Kongo and Angola were tense. They refused to appoint priests, forcing Kongo to rely more and more heavily on

7755-405: The Portuguese and Dutch signed a peace treaty in 1643, ending the brief albeit successful war. With the Portuguese out of the way and an end to Dutch pursuit of troops, Garcia II could finally turn his attention to the growing threat posed by the Count of Soyo. While Garcia was disappointed that his alliance with the Dutch could not drive out the Portuguese, it did free him to turn his attention to

7896-616: The Portuguese archives. In this inquest, one can see that factions formed behind prominent men, such as Afonso I's son, Pedro Nkanga a Mvemba and Diogo Nkumbi a Mpudi , his grandson who ultimately overthrew Pedro in 1545. Although the factions placed themselves in the idiom of kinship (using the Portuguese term geração or lineage, probably kanda in Kikongo) they were not formed strictly along heredity lines since close kin were often in separate factions. The players included nobles holding appointive titles to provincial governorships, members of

8037-478: The Portuguese with support in their war against the Kingdom of Ndongo in 1579. The kingdom of Ndongo was located inland east of Luanda and although claimed in Kongo's royal titles as early as 1535, was probably never under a firm Kongo administration. Álvaro also worked hard to westernize Kongo, gradually introducing European style titles for his nobles, so that the Mwene Nsundi became the Duke of Nsundi;

8178-686: The Seminole people and free or enslaved Creoles who allied with Seminole groups in Spanish Florida . Historically, the Seminole creoles lived mostly in distinct bands near the Amerindian Seminole. Some were enslaved, particularly of Seminole leaders, but the Seminole creoles had more freedom than enslaved creoles in the South and by other Amerindian tribes. Today, Creole Seminole descendants live primarily in rural communities around

8319-758: The United States were Bantu-Kongo. Hoodoo is a syncretic spiritual system that combines Christianity, Islam brought over by enslaved West African Muslims, and Spiritualism . Practitioners of Hoodoo are called rootworkers, conjure doctors, conjure man or conjure woman, root doctors, Hoodoo doctors, and swampers. Regional synonyms for Hoodoo include conjure or rootwork. Creoles historically could be found in various Christian and Islamic religions and worship houses that were typically segregated from White identified populations though some White passing creoles could be found in either. Atlantic creoles arrived in Canada in several waves. The first of these came as free persons serving in

8460-446: The United States. US Atlantic Creole or just US Creole, most commonly known as AAVE, was a dialect that formed in the early US. The presiding theory among linguists is that AAVE has always been a dialect of English, meaning that it originated from earlier English dialects rather than from English-based creole languages that "decreolized" back into English. In the early 2000s, Shana Poplack provided corpus -based evidence—evidence from

8601-410: The Upper South in colonial times were born to white mothers (thus gaining freedom) and African or Creole fathers. Some male captive Creoles and Africans were freed in the early years as well, but free mothers were the predominant source of most of the free families of color. According to Berlin, most of the original admixed Atlantic Creoles were descended from Portuguese and Spanish fathers, primarily in

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8742-427: The Western provinces or worked in mines in the Maritimes. Between 1909 and 1911 over 1500 migrated from Oklahoma as farmers and moved to Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta. Starting in the early 16th century the Modern colonization and settlement of the Caribbean began. Modern European and African cultures began to mix with the established Amerindian cultures. Later settlers from India and China would also contribute to

8883-695: The adelantado Diego Velázquez ; in all these ways for thirty years have I served and continue to serve Your Majesty—for these reasons stated above do I petition Your Mercy. And also because I was the first to have the inspiration to sow wheat here in New Spain and to see if it took; I did this and experimented at my own expense. " Garrido's letter had the desired effect as he was compensated for his services with land and money. je ivugh lwiuvb gCF8DSYA ;MV RGF"CVX 0Isopaqw23,fg2nh3yh[60'5yu9gtrj f]dcpswq1[230425v3b6o4o7n5,\b ehrypgtfvdsq Kingdom of Kongo The Kingdom of Kongo ( Kongo : Kongo Dya Ntotila or Wene wa Kongo; Portuguese : Reino do Congo )

9024-438: The ancestors of the Melungeons reached the frontier New River area, where they are listed in the 1780s on tax lists of Montgomery County, Virginia . From there they migrated south in the Appalachian Range to Wilkes County, North Carolina , where some are listed as "white" on the 1790 census. They resided in a part that became Ashe County , where they are designated as "other free" in 1800. Seminole Creoles are descendants of

9165-412: The army attacked his country and killed him. Following its success in Nambu a Ngongo, the Portuguese army advanced into Mbamba in November. The Portuguese forces scored a victory at the Battle of Mbumbi . There they faced a quickly gathered local force led by the new Duke of Mbamba, and reinforced by forces from Mpemba led by its marquis. Both the Duke of Mbamba and the Marquis of Mpemba were killed in

9306-405: The battle. According to Esikongo accounts, they were eaten by the Imbangala allies of the Portuguese. However, Pedro II, the newly crowned king of Kongo, brought the main army, including troops from Soyo, down into Mbamba and decisively defeated the Portuguese, driving them from the country at a battle waged somewhere near Mbanda Kasi in January 1623. Portuguese residents of Kongo, frightened by

9447-415: The centralization of Kongo. The capital was a densely settled area in an otherwise sparsely populated region where rural population densities probably did not exceed 5 persons per km . Early Portuguese travelers described Mbanza Kongo as a large city, the size of the Portuguese town of Évora as it was in 1491. By the end of the sixteenth century, Kongo's population was probably over half a million people in

9588-405: The changing West African societies, they could also be enslaved when they fell out of official favor or into debt or criminal activity while others were the children of African elites who were sent to Europe to study. These original indentured and enslaved creoles that experienced forced settlement in the Americas were joined by captive Africans that continued to admix genetically and culturally up to

9729-472: The colonies as the practice of forcing convicts to the US colonies from Britain was also going on. Many of the new generation of creoles born in the colonies were the children of European indentured servants and bonded or captive workers of primarily West African ancestry. Amerindian, and Malagasy admixture also occurred up through the 19th Century. According to the principle of partus sequitur ventrem , incorporated into colonial law in 1662, children born in

9870-404: The colony took the status of the mother; when the mothers were enslaved, the children were born into bondage, regardless of paternity, whether or not their fathers were free or enslaved. This was a change from common law tradition, which had asserted that children took the status of the father. Paul Heinegg and other twentieth-century researchers have found that 80% of the free people of color in

10011-451: The conquest in an annual celebration. He furthered this with a second more important alliance with Vunda, another of Mpemba's subordinate rulers. To cement this alliance, as with the one with Mbata, Lukeni lua Nimi allowed him to be an elector to the kingdom. After the death of Nimi a Lukeni, the rulers that followed Lukeni claimed relation to his kanda , or lineage, and were known as the Kilukeni . The Kilukeni Kanda — or "house", as it

10152-511: The consequences for their business of the invasion, wrote a hostile letter to Correia de Sousa, denouncing his invasion. Following the defeat of the Portuguese at Mbanda Kasi , Pedro II declared Angola an official enemy. The king then wrote letters denouncing Correia de Sousa to the King of Spain and the Pope. Meanwhile, anti-Portuguese riots broke out all over the kingdom and threatened its long-established merchant community. Portuguese throughout

10293-435: The country were humiliatingly disarmed and even forced to give up their clothes. Pedro, anxious not to alienate the Portuguese merchant community, and aware that they had generally remained loyal during the war, did as much as he could to preserve their lives and property, leading some of his detractors to call him "king of Portuguese". As a result of Kongo's victory, the Portuguese merchant community of Luanda revolted against

10434-556: The development of a successful sugar-growing colony on the Portuguese island of São Tomé , Kongo became a major source of slaves for the island's traders and plantations. The Cantino Atlas of 1502 mentions Kongo as a source of slaves for the São Tomé colony, but notes they were few. Correspondence by Afonso also show the purchase and sale of slaves within the country and his accounts on capturing slaves in war which were given and sold to Portuguese merchants. Afonso continued to expand

10575-586: The expeditions to Florida by Juan Ponce de León . By 1519, he had joined Cortes's forces and invaded present-day Mexico , participating in the siege of Tenochtitlan . He married and settled in Mexico City , where he was the first known farmer to have sowed wheat in America. He continued to serve with Spanish forces for more than 30 years, including expeditions to western Mexico and to the Pacific. He

10716-475: The experience of African-American people, showing us the duality of both African and American identities, as well as their perseverance, which continues to shape their music today. Louisiana Voodoo ( French : Vaudou louisianais ), also known as New Orleans Voodoo, is an Atlantic creole religion that originated in Louisiana , now in the southern United States. It arose through a process of syncretism between

10857-491: The external slave trade. However, as the slave trade grew in size, it came to gradually erode royal power in Kongo. Portuguese traders based in São Tomé began violating the royal monopoly on the slave trade, trading instead with other African states in the region. Portuguese merchants also began to trade goods with powerful Kongolese nobles, depriving the monarchy of tax revenue, while Portuguese priests and merchants living in

10998-591: The first documented Bantu person in what would become the United States . Born in the Kingdom of Kongo in West Central Africa, he went to Portugal as a young man. In converting to Catholicism , he chose the Spanish name Juan Garrido ("Handsome John"). He is the first known free African to arrive in North America. He participated in the Spanish conquests of Cuba by Diego Velázquez and

11139-676: The first half of the 18th century to the frontiers of Virginia and North Carolina , where they received land grants like their neighbors. For instance, the Collins, Gibson, and Ridley (Riddle) families owned land adjacent to one another in Orange County, North Carolina , where they and the Bunch family were listed in 1755 as "free Molatas ( mulattoes )", subject to taxation on tithes. By settling in frontier areas, free people of color found more amenable living conditions and could escape some of

11280-616: The first harvesting of wheat planted in New Spain. Garrido and other blacks were also part of expeditions to Michoacán in the 1520s. Nuño de Guzmán swept through that region in 1529–30 with the aid of black auxiliaries. In 1538, hoping for some rewards or benefits for his 30 years of service as a conquistador , Garrido provided following testimony to the King of Spain, requesting a royal pension: "I, Juan Garrido, black in color, resident of this city [Mexico], appear before Your Mercy and state that I am in need of providing evidence to

11421-512: The foundation changed over time, depending on historical circumstances. Modern research into oral tradition , including recording them in writing began in the 1910s with Mpetelo Boka and Lievan Sakala Boku writing in Kikongo and extended by Redemptorist missionaries like Jean Cuvelier and Joseph de Munck . In 1934, Cuvelier published a Kikongo language summary of these traditions in Nkutama

11562-466: The governor, hoping to preserve their ties with the king. Backed by the Jesuits, who had also just recommenced their mission there, they forced João Correia de Sousa to resign and flee the country. The interim government that followed the departure was led by the bishop of Angola. They were very conciliatory to Kongo and agreed to return over a thousand of the slaves captured by Correia de Sousa, especially

11703-467: The growing Caribbean Creole culture. Caribbean creole cuisine is a fusion of West African , Amerindian , East Asian , Arab , South Asian and British cuisines. Ingredients that are common in most islands' dishes are rice , plantains , beans , cassava , cilantro , bell peppers , chickpeas , tomatoes , sweet potatoes , coconut , and any of various meats that are locally available like beef, poultry, pork or fish. A characteristic seasoning for

11844-454: The growing threat posed by the Count of Soyo. The Counts of Soyo were initially strong partisans of the House of Nsundi and its successor, the House of Kinlaza . Count Paulo had assisted in the rise of the Kinlaza to power. However, Paulo died at about the same time as Garcia became king in 1641. A rival count, Daniel da Silva from the House of Kwilu, took control of the county as a partisan of

11985-514: The indentured servants who spoke those dialects..." According to McWhorter, virtually all linguists who have carefully studied the origins of AAVE "agree that the West African connection is quite minor." However, a creole theory, less accepted among linguists, posits that AAVE arose from one or more creole languages used by African captives of the middle passage, due to the captives speaking many different native languages and therefore needing

12126-466: The king had the right to appoint their own clients to lower positions, down to villages who had their own locally chosen leadership. As this centralization increased, the allied provinces gradually lost influence until their powers were only symbolic, manifested in Mbata, once a co-kingdom, but by 1620 simply known by the title "Grandfather of the King of Kongo" ( Nkaka'ndi a Mwene Kongo ). The kingdom of

12267-405: The kingdom of Kongo into the 1540s, expanding its borders to the south and east. The expansion of Kongo's population, coupled with his earlier religious reforms, allowed Afonso to centralize power in his capital and increase the power of the monarchy. He also established a royal monopoly on some trade. To govern the growing slave trade, Afonso and several Portuguese kings claimed a joint monopoly on

12408-667: The kingdom through secession from Angola, the Republic of the Congo, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Oral traditions about the early history of the country were set in writing for the first time in the late 16th century, and especially detailed versions were recorded in the mid-17th century, include those written by the Italian Capuchin missionary Giovanni Cavazzi da Montecuccolo . Traditions about

12549-426: The kingdom's economy. Rural development was intentionally discouraged by the Kongolese king, ensuring the capital remained the economic and political center of the kingdom. This concentration allowed resources, soldiers and surplus foodstuffs to be readily available at the request of the king and made the king overwhelmingly powerful when compared to any potential rival. By the time of the first recorded contact with

12690-399: The kingdom. The export of female slaves was also prohibited. Afonso's early letters show evidence of domestic slave markets. As relations between Kongo and Portugal grew in the early 16th century, trade between the kingdoms also increased. Most of the trade was in palm cloth, copper, and ivory, but also increasing numbers of slaves. Although initially Kongo exported few slaves, following

12831-565: The kings of Portugal eventually determined the best way to deal with the trade through the Kwanza to Ndongo was to establish their own base there. In 1560, again responding to a request from Angola, the Portuguese crown sent Paulo Dias de Novais as ambassador to Ndongo with the idea of settling relations with the country. Ngola Kiluanji was not interested in this mission, however, as it offered only baptism and diplomatic relations, while he hoped for military support. In 1575, Portugal would follow with

12972-492: The laity. Documents of the time show that lay teachers (called mestres in Portuguese-language documents) were paid salaries and appointed by the crown, and at times Kongo kings withheld income and services to the bishops and their supporters (a tactic called "country excommunication"). Controlling revenue was vital for Kongo's kings since even Jesuit missionaries were paid salaries from the royal exchequer. At

13113-477: The latter's governorship of Mbamba. The First Kongo-Portuguese War began in 1622, initially because of a Portuguese campaign against the Kasanze Kingdom , which was conducted ruthlessly. From there, the army moved to Nambu a Ngongo, whose ruler, Pedro Afonso, was held to be sheltering runaway slaves as well. Although Pedro Afonso, facing an overwhelming army of over 20,000, agreed to return some runaways,

13254-465: The leaders adopted Catholicism in the late 15th century due to Portuguese influence. This led to widespread conversion of the people. They formed a type of African-Catholic spirituality unique to the region, and the people frequently adopted Portuguese names in baptism. The kingdoms were Christian for nearly 400 years and many of their people were taken as captives by the Portuguese. The historians argue that numerous people from Kongo were transported to

13395-511: The lesser nobles captured at the Battle of Mbumbi . Regardless of the overtures of the new government in Angola, Pedro II had not forgotten the invasion and planned to remove the Portuguese from the realm altogether. The king sent a letter to the Dutch Estates General proposing a joint military attack on Angola with a Kongo army and a Dutch fleet. He would pay the Dutch with gold, silver and ivory for their efforts. As planned,

13536-709: The merging of various cooking techniques, recipes, practices and produce from Africa with various European and Amerindian cooking cultures as well as substituting produce and meat indigenous to the Americas. One root of the cuisine also stems from captives transforming less desired food or scraps into a palatable meal in creative or innovate ways. There were also cases of captives or enslaved creoles working in households or free creoles homemaking or working various jobs that entailed cooking. Different Creole ethnic groups and populations contributed to distinct cuisine such as Louisiana creole food and soul food as well as other US American or regional cuisine such as Southern food . Since

13677-579: The midst of the crisis caused by the Jaga invasion marked the beginning of a new royal line, the House of Kwilu . There were certainly factions that opposed him, though it is not known specifically who they were. Álvaro's rule began in war with the Jagas , who may have been external invaders or rebels from within the country, either peasants or nobles from rival factions fighting against the profound changes and instability introduced by European trading and slaving. As

13818-412: The most important of these concessions was allowing Manuel, the Count of Soyo, to hold office for many years beginning some time before 1591. During this same period, Álvaro II made a similar concession to António da Silva, the Duke of Mbamba. António da Silva was strong enough to decide the succession of the kingdom, selecting Bernardo II in 1614, but putting him aside in favor of Álvaro III in 1615. It

13959-420: The newly formed Kimpanzu faction. He would claim that Soyo had the right to choose its own ruler, though Garcia never accepted this claim, and spent much of the first part of his reign fighting against it. Garcia did not support da Silva's move, as Soyo's ruler was one of the most important offices in Kongo. In 1645, Garcia II sent a force against Daniel da Silva under the command of his son, Afonso. The campaign

14100-524: The nobility and trained in the kingdom's schools, they provided religious instruction and services to others building upon Kongo's growing Christian population. At the same time, they permitted the growth of syncretic forms of Christianity which incorporated older religious ideas with Christian ones. Examples of this are the introduction of KiKongo words to translate Christian concepts. The KiKongo words ukisi (an abstract word meaning charm, but used to mean "holy") and nkanda (meaning book) were merged so that

14241-475: The oldest and most powerful, which likely included Nsundi , Mbata , Mpangu , and possibly Kundi and Okanga . South of these was Mpemba . It included various kingdoms such as Mpemba Kasi and Vunda . To its west across the Congo River was a confederation of three small states; Vungu (its leader), Kakongo , and Ngoyo . According to Kongo tradition in the seventeenth century, the kingdom's origin

14382-498: The perpetuity of the king [a perpetuidad rey], a report on how I served Your Majesty in the conquest and pacification of this New Spain, from the time when the Marqués del Valle [Cortés] entered it; and in his company I was present at all the invasions and conquests and pacifications which were carried out, always with the said Marqués, all of which I did at my own expense without being given either salary or allotment of natives [repartimiento de indios] or anything else. As I am married and

14523-403: The plot, the text of which was sent to Portugal in 1552 which shows the way in which plotters hoped to overthrow the king by enticing his supporters to abandon him. King Diogo's successor, Afonso II , was killed by the Portuguese days after his succession, and an uprising occurred which killed the Portuguese candidate, allowing King Bernardo I of Kongo to be enthroned. However, King Bernardo I

14664-488: The production of cloth. In 1483, the Portuguese explorer Diogo Cão reached the coast of the Kongo Kingdom. Cão left some of his men in Kongo and took Kongo nobles to Portugal. He returned to Kongo with the Kongo nobles in 1485; such commissioning, hiring, or even kidnapping of local Africans to use as local ambassadors, especially for newly contacted areas, was by then an already established practice. At that point

14805-635: The racial strictures of Virginia and North Carolina Tidewater plantation areas. Historian Jack D. Forbes has discussed laws in South Carolina related to racialized classification: In 1719, South Carolina decided who should be an "Indian" for tax purposes since American [Indian] slaves were taxed at a lesser rate than African slaves. The act stated: "And for preventing all doubts and scruples that may arise what ought to be rated on mustees , mulattoes , etc. all such slaves as are not entirely Indian shall be accounted as negro. Forbes said that, at

14946-527: The racialized system operated atypical as compared to the rest of the United States which made social mobility easier for Creoles of Color creating a distinct class system. As the Color lines continued to evolve groups of free Creoles and White Europeans began to travel together forming small tribes or clans that didn't fit with the various White, Creole and Black African populations. Free creoles are documented as migrating with white European-American neighbors in

15087-715: The ranks to answer the challenge. The duels never took place, as the Aztec fled, possibly attempting an ambush. By 1520, the expedition achieved the Fall of Tenochtitlan . In 1520, Garrido built a chapel to commemorate the many Spanish killed in battle that year by the Aztecs. It now stands as the Church of San Hipólito . Garrido married and settled in Mexico City, where he and his wife had three children. Restall (2000) credits him with

15228-534: The region is a green herb-and-oil-based marinade called sofrito, which imparts a flavor profile which is quintessentially Caribbean in character. Ingredients may include garlic, onions, scotch bonnet peppers, celery, green onions, and herbs like cilantro, Mexican mint, chives, marjoram, rosemary, tarragon and thyme. This green seasoning is used for a variety of dishes like curries, stews and roasted meats. Caribbean music genres are diverse and are each syntheses of African, European, Indian and Amerindian influences. Some of

15369-414: The region. Louisiana Creoles ( French : Créoles de la Louisiane , Spanish : Criollos de Luisiana ) or Gulf Coast creoles are people originating from the inhabitants of colonial Louisiana before it became a part of the U.S. during the period of both French and Spanish rule. French, Acadian, African and Amerindian cultures merged and interviewed to form a distinct Atlantic creole culture while

15510-425: The religious and social activities of slaveholders, which they reinterpreted to conform to their own cultural practices and musical values through processes of adaption and resistance. As freed people, Blacks and their descendants continued to create new and distinctive styles of Black music in the tradition of African music-making that defined their unique African-American identity." US Creole music speaks directly to

15651-399: The result of decreolization from a widespread American creole. Linguist John McWhorter maintains that the contribution of West African languages to AAVE is minimal. In an interview on National Public Radio 's Talk of the Nation , McWhorter characterized AAVE as a "hybrid of regional dialects of Great Britain that captive people in America were exposed to because they often worked alongside

15792-438: The royal capital was key to the power of the Kongolese king, and it was the same mechanism of enslavement and transfer of population that made Kongo an efficient exporter of slaves. Kongolese laws and cultural traditions protected freeborn Kongolese from enslavement, and so most of the enslaved population were war captives. Convicted Kongolese criminals could also be forced into slavery, but were initially protected from sale outside

15933-459: The royal council and also officials in the now well-developed Church hierarchy. King Diogo I skillfully replaced or outmaneuvered his entrenched competitors after he was crowned in 1545. He faced a major conspiracy led by Pedro I , who had taken refuge in a church, and whom Diogo in respect of the Church's rule of asylum allowed to remain in the church. However, Diogo did conduct an inquiry into

16074-500: The ruler of Soyo , the coastal province. Nzinga a Nkuwu took the Christian name of João I in honor of Portugal's king at the time, João II . João I ruled until his death around 1509 and was succeeded by his son Afonso Mvemba a Nzinga . He faced a serious challenge from a half brother, Mpanzu a Kitima. The king overcame his brother in a battle waged at Mbanza Kongo . According to Afonso's own account, sent to Portugal in 1506, he

16215-479: The ruler of the neighboring Mbata Kingdom . Nimi a Nzima married Lukeni lua Nsanze (Luqueni Luansanze in the text), Nsaku Lau's daughter. This alliance guaranteed that each of the two allies would help ensure the succession of its ally's lineage in the other's territory. Mbata in turn was a former province of the Seven Kingdoms of Kongo dia Nlaza whose capital lay farther east along the current border of Angola and Democratic Republic of Congo . Mbata may have been

16356-493: The ruling king, Nzinga a Nkuwu, decided he would become Christian and sent another, large mission headed by Kala ka Mfusu, the noble who had earlier gone to Portugal as a hostage. They remained in Europe for nearly four years, studying Christianity and learning reading and writing. The mission returned with Cão along with Catholic priests and soldiers in 1491, baptizing Nzinga a Nkuwu as well as his principal nobles, starting with

16497-637: The same time as this ecclesiastical problem developed, the governors of Angola began to extend their campaigns into areas that Kongo regarded as firmly under its sovereignty. This included the region around Nambu a Ngongo , which Governor João Furtado attacked in the mid-1590s. Other campaigns in the vicinity led to denunciations by the rulers of Kongo against these violations of their sovereignty. Álvaro I and his successor, Álvaro II, also faced problems with factional rivals from families that had been displaced from succession. In order to raise support against some enemies, they had to make concessions to others. One of

16638-421: The senior partner in the original alliance, as he had the title of "Nkaka andi a Mwene Kongo," or grandfather of the king of Kongo. Nimi a Nzima and Lukeni lua Nsanze's son Lukeni lua Nimi (circa 1380–1420) began the expansion that would found the Kingdom of Kongo. The name Nimi a Lukeni appeared in later oral traditions and some modern historians, notably Jean Cuvelier, popularized it. Lukeni lua Nimi, or Nimi

16779-544: The sheer diversity of mutually unintelligible languages just in The Gambia . By 1715, an African pidgin was reproduced in novels by Daniel Defoe , in particular, The Life of Colonel Jacque . In 1721, Cotton Mather conducted the first attempt at recording the speech of enslaved people in his interviews regarding the practice of smallpox inoculation. By the time of the American Revolution, varieties among enslaved creoles were not quite mutually intelligible . Dillard quotes

16920-456: The slave trade altogether. Afonso noted that some unscrupulous nobles were resorting to kidnapping their fellow Kongolese to supply the slave trade. To reform the trade, Afonso reiterated the need to follow Kongolese law and not enslave Kongolese freemen, while also establishing a board to better regulate the slave trade. Afonso also established a special committee to determine the legality of the enslavement of those who were being sold. However,

17061-617: The styles to gain wide popularity outside the Caribbean include, bachata , merenque , palo , mambo , denbo , baithak gana , bouyon , cadence-lypso , calypso , chutney , chutney-soca , compas , dancehall , jing ping , parang , pichakaree , punta , ragga , reggae , reggaeton , salsa , soca , and zouk . Caribbean music is also related to Central American and South American music. Several spiritual traditions also formed from Creole culture such as Santeria , Palo , or Obeah and some religions such as Rastafari . "Dialect", "Kreyòl", "Kriol", "Kweyol" or "Patois" also refers to

17202-521: The throne, representing it as specifically a war by pagans against the Christian ruler. But this was probably more propaganda on his part, and succession struggles were probably normal even in the early years of the kingdom. A great deal is known about how such struggles took place from the contest that followed Afonso's death in late 1542 or early 1543. This is in large part due to a detailed inquest conducted by royal officials in 1550, which survives in

17343-519: The time, "mustees" and "mulattoes" were terms for persons of part-Native American ancestry. He wrote, My judgment (to be discussed later) is that a mustee was primarily part-African and American [Indian] and that a mulatto was usually part-European and American [Indian]. The act is also significant because it asserts that part-American [Indians] with or without [emphasis added] African ancestry could be counted as Negroes, thus having an implication for all later slave censuses. Beginning about 1767, some of

17484-634: The trading ports of West Africa; they had Iberian surnames such as Chavez , Rodriguez, and Francisco . In the Chesapeake Bay Colony, many of the Atlantic Creoles intermarried with their European neighbors, adopted Anglo-Saxon surnames, became property owners and farmers, and captured others in turn. The families became well-established, with numerous free descendants by the time of the American Revolution . In 2007, Linda Heywood and John Thornton used "newly available data from

17625-493: The traditional religions of West Africa , the Roman Catholic form of Christianity , and Haitian Vodou . No central authority is in control of Louisiana Voodoo, which is organized through autonomous groups. Hoodoo is a set of spiritual practices, traditions, and beliefs which were created and concealed by Atlantic creoles in North America. Hoodoo evolved from various traditional African religions and practices, and in

17766-463: The trans-atlantic industrial kidnapping complex ramped up; genetic, cultural and political admixing took place. In the multicultural trading ports of 16th century West Africa, the Atlantic Creoles were frequently outcasts in both African and European cultures, but they were admired for their abilities to navigate between the two worlds, earning them reputations as expert traders and negotiators. Though their intercultural abilities allowed them to succeed in

17907-582: The Évora or Mocorito river in Sinaloa , and the Spanish conquistadora Beatriz de Palacios , wife to the white soldier Pedro de Escobar. The expedition also included an African jester , Guidela, and the slave Francisco de Eguía, who accidentally introduced smallpox in Mesoamerica after falling ill in Cempoala. Historian Ricardo Alegría proposed Garrido might be actually another name for Juan Cortés,

18048-468: Was a failure, due to Kongo's inability to take Soyo's fortified position at Mfinda Ngula. Worse still, Afonso was captured in the battle, forcing Garcia to engage in humiliating negotiations with da Silva to win back his son's freedom. Italian Capuchin missionaries who had just arrived in Soyo, in the aftermath of the battle, assisted in the negotiations. In 1646, Garcia sent a second military force against Soyo, but his forces were again defeated. Because Garcia

18189-695: Was a kingdom in Central Africa . It was located in present-day northern Angola , the western portion of the Democratic Republic of the Congo , Southern of Gabon and the Republic of the Congo . At its greatest extent it reached from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Kwango River in the east, and from the Congo River in the north to the Kwanza River in the south. The kingdom consisted of several core provinces ruled by

18330-496: Was a rebellion in the Dembos region, which also threatened his authority. Lastly, there was the agreement made by Pedro II in 1622, promising Kongo's support to the Dutch in an offensive to oust Portugal from Luanda. In 1641, the Dutch invaded Angola and captured Luanda, after an almost bloodless struggle. They immediately sought to renew their alliance with Kongo, which had had a false start in 1624, when Garcia I refused to assist

18471-467: Was able to win the battle thanks to the intervention of a heavenly vision of the cross Saint James and the Virgin Mary . Inspired by these events, he subsequently designed a coat of arms for Kongo that was used by all following kings on official documents, royal paraphernalia and the like until 1860. While King João I later reverted to his traditional beliefs, Afonso I established Christianity as

18612-523: Was common for Spaniards to give their surnames to their black auxiliars, free or slave. Alternatively, he could have been part of the entourage of conquistador Juan Núñez Sedaño, who according to chronicler Bernal Díaz del Castillo brought a black man in his entourage due to his wealth. Díaz del Castillo states black slaves or servants were still rare, leading some historians to the belief that Sedaño's retainer could not be other than Garrido, although in reality Diego Durán and Cortés' own writings talk about

18753-597: Was declared an enemy once again, and the Duke of Mbamba was sent with an army to assist the Dutch. The Dutch also provided Kongo with military assistance, in exchange for payment in slaves. In 1642, the Dutch sent troops to help Garcia II put down an uprising by peoples of the southern district in the Dembos region. The government quickly put down the Nsala rebellion, reaffirming the Kongo-Dutch alliance. King Garcia II paid

18894-547: Was in Vungu , which had extended its authority across the Congo to Mpemba Kasi , which was itself the northernmost territory of Mpemba whose capital was located about 150 miles south. A dynasty of rulers from this small polity built up its rule along the Kwilu Valley, or what was called Nsi a Kwilu and its elite are buried near its center. Traditions from the 17th century allude to this sacred burial ground. According to

19035-411: Was killed by the "Jaga" Yaka , invasion in 1567. And was replaced by Henrique I who was also killed while fighting in the east, leaving the government in the hands of his stepson Álvaro Nimi a Lukeni lua Mvemba . He was crowned Álvaro I, "by common consent," according Duarte Lopes, Kongo's ambassador to Rome. Álvaro I was not directly descended from a previous king, and so his seizure of the throne in

19176-460: Was named as titular bishop of Utica (a North African diocese recently reclaimed from the Muslims). He returned to Kongo in the early 1520s to run Kongo's new church. He died in 1531. Slavery had existed since the Kingdom of Kongo's founding, as during its early wars of expansion the nascent kingdom had taken many captives. Kongo's tradition of forcibly transferring peoples captured in wars to

19317-637: Was only with difficulty that Álvaro III was able to put his own choice in as Duke of Mbamba when António da Silva died in 1620 instead of having the province fall into the hands of the duke's son. At the same time, however, Álvaro III created another powerful and semi-independent nobleman in Manuel Jordão, who held Nsundi for him. Tensions between Portugal and Kongo increased further as the governors of Portuguese Angola became more aggressive. Luis Mendes de Vasconcelos , who arrived as governor in 1617, used mercenary African groups called Imbangala to make

19458-519: Was placed on the throne by powerful local forces in São Salvador, probably as a compromise when Álvaro III died without an heir old enough to rule. As the reigning power, the House of Nsundi worked earnestly to place partisans in king-making positions throughout the empire. Either Pedro II or Garcia I managed to secure Soyo in the hands of Count Paulo, who held it and supported the House of Nsundi from about 1625 until 1641. Meanwhile, Manuel Jordão,

19599-425: Was recorded in Portuguese language documents written in Kongo — ruled Kongo unopposed until 1567. The 16th-century tradition contended that the former kingdoms "in ancient times had separate kings, but now all are subjects and tributaries of the king of Congo." Tradition noted that in each case the governorship was given to members of the royal family or other noble families. Governors who served terms determined by

19740-619: Was shocking to Mesoamericans, who called them teucacatzactli ("black deities") in Nahuatl . Garrido was born in the Kingdom of Kongo situated in West Central Africa in about 1480, and came to Portugal as a youth. Crossing the Atlantic and arriving in Santo Domingo , Hispaniola in 1502 or 1503, Garrido was among the earliest Africans to reach the Americas. He was one of numerous Africans who had joined expeditions from Seville to

19881-445: Was successfully restored only to be later poisoned by Alvaro V , a Kimpanzu . After waging a second war against his cousins, Nimi a Lukeni and Nkanga a Lukeni, Alvaro V was killed, and replaced by Alvaro VI in 1636, initiating the House of Kinlaza 's rule over Kongo. Following his death in 1641, Alvaro VI's brother took over, and was crowned Garcia II . The former House of Nsundi was consolidated with their House of Kwilu rivals as

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