King Afonso Writes Summary

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2-1 The King of the Congo Writes to the King of Portugal King Afonso, the leader of the Congo between the time of July 6, 1526 and October 18, 1526, wrote the document, “The King of the Congo Writes to the King of Portugal.” King Afonso was writing to King João II, leader of Portugal of how initially when the newcomers came to Congo, they were very respectable and caring, but as time progressed, the Europeans were taking advantage of the Congolese people and not respecting their environment and atmosphere. Large historical themes that relate to this document is that Europeans come to the, “New World” and initially they have good encounters with the native people, but then overtime, those relations go spoiled. The Europeans take advantage of the native people because they want more treasure and get greedy, which then results in violence. The overall theme that relates to the other readings in the books are about European encounters with the New World. Afonso wanted the Portuguese king to reduce the amount of damage his people were doing, he states, “Extent of this loss because of the merchants constantly taking away our subjects, children of this land, sons of nobles and vassals, even …show more content…

As a newcomer to the “New World” Columbus respected the nature and atmosphere of the Native Americans and did not interfere significantly with their way of life, this made relationships neutral at first. As history progressed, Europeans starting taking advantage, and that’s when violence began among Natives and

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