Mbembas Psychological Tactics Essay - 1316 Words

Portuguese missionaries and trading partners were among the first to meet Africans along the coast of the Atlantic. It was one of these kings, the king of the West African state of Congo, Nzinga Mbembas father, that provided a coastal settlement for the Portuguese. Adopting Christianity for the nation, including the baptizing of both himself and his son, there seemed to be an alliance between the two nations, as seen in the introduction of Nzinga Mbembas, â€Å"Appeal to the King of Portugal, 1526†. However, after Nzinga Mbemba took the throne, trouble began to arise in Congo due to the Portuguese pushing boundaries that threatened to devastate the nation. This is when the king of Congo wrote a letter to the king of Portugal, which used a†¦show more content†¦The pushing of boundaries ends in in the action of thieving the natives of the land, regardless of who they are. The Portuguese took anyone that they wished to, including both freemen and non-freemen, regardless of if they were â€Å"sons of the land† or â€Å"the sons of noblemen and vassals...† (Mbemba 635). The king of Congo, in an effort to quell this sequence of actions regarding the theft of ones in his nation, sets place a law that limits who may be taken and who may not (Mbemba 636). However, this does little good for the nation. In fact, its brought to light that the Portuguese merchants complain to be offended by such a measure (Mbemba 636). It begins to become obvious that the king of Congo is losing control of the Portuguese merchants in his own country, and also his power of the nation as a whole. By presenting the cause of distress, as well as what has been done to avoid an unsavory situation, the king of Congo presents himself as virtually blameless in the fall of the loss of his own power and for the disintegration of his own country, while positioning the king of Portugal in such a way as to lay blame. The letter was written up in such a way as the king of Po rtugal would feel guilty about what is happening in Congo and would take responsibility for what was happening in the country. The king of Congo makes it clear that the people from