History of Africa

Queen Nzinga and the ongoing Angolan Struggle

 For my paper, I chose to highlight one of the many giants of recent African

History, regarded as the greatest African leader of this millennium by many. A

woman, who rose up, and led one of the most successful resistance movements

against European settlement and subsequent genocide in Africa. In talking about

this great and beloved warrior Queen, her legacy, which has lived on, well after her

death must also be touched upon, for because of this extremely charismatic woman

the country currently known as Angola, formerly known as Mbundu has been able

to hold on to large amounts of cultural sovereignty, as well as being able to keep

up, at least nominally with the economies of the richer Arab controlled lands in the

north.

Our story begins in around 1492. To understand what goes on presently, one

must understand what went on previously. To make a very long and detailed story

fit, I'll just give the most needed information.

As every American schoolchild knows, Christopher Columbus sailed for Spain,

and indirectly for Portugal in 1492. Because of this early start, the two mentioned

countries got a jump start on the destruction of world civilizations, much before the

rest of Europe was even ready to man ocean worthy ships. They created new

colonies, stole gold and sent it home. After 100 - 150 years, the rest of Europe was

ready to take part in the very lucrative business of global genocidal oppression.

The second wave of Europeans, the French, Scandinavian, English, and Germans
had a century to watch their predecessors and improve upon their mistakes, and

indeed they did! In fact, the new entrants in world domination did so well in one

upping the originators, that England, in their first naval war defeated the then

world super power of Spain, thus cementing their position in world politics. One

may wonder what the above has to do with the situation at hand. All events in

recent history have impacted greatly the events that followed.

After the losses in wars with the northern Europeans, territories that were

originally hijacked by the Spanish and Portuguese were then taken by the winners

Mainly the French and British. This caused the losers to scramble for new land,

and subsequently new sources of human labor. At this time, the late 1500's the

main, and truly only source of human labor rested in Africa. The Portuguese,

trying to escape the British and French had to venture deeper into the continent to

procure this needed resource. Contrary to popular belief however, the Africans did

not just turn lay down and accept this treatment, truly, many fought valiant and

often successful campaigns against it. History it seems, has conveniently forgotten

these resistance movements, subsequently painting the Africans people in darkness

waiting for the Europeans to enslave and subsequently civilize them. In the

immortal words of the great historian and Master Teacher Dr. John Henrik Clarke,

".....European historians have inferred, or said outright, that the world waited in darkness for the Europeans

to bring the light. In fact, the Europeans destroyed more civilization than they ever created. They destroyed

civilizations that were already old before Europe was born."

In other words more lights were put out around the world than were lit.

Nzinga came to power, in the midst of the Portuguese trying to put out the light

of her civilization. Her brother, King Mbandi passed away. She took the reins and

ruled the kingdom. Implementing many programs directed at keeping her lands out

of Portuguese hands. The first thing she did when she came into power was

organize a meeting with Portuguese officials, drawing out detailed demands for the

invaders to follow, under threat of all out war. She called a conference and it was

to be held at the Portuguese stronghold of Luanda. As Chancellor Williams tells it

in his historical masterpiece: "The Destruction of Black Civilization: Great Issues

of Race from 4500 B.C. To 2000 AD"

.....But even before the peace conference began, and at the risk of wrecking it, the governor's Caucasian

arrogance could not be restrained. He had decided on a studied insult at the outset by providing chairs in the

conference room only for himself and his councilors, with the idea of forcing the black princess to stand

humbly before his presence. He remained seated of course, staring haughtily as she entered the room. She

took in the situation at a glance with a contemptuous smile, while her attendants moved with a swiftness that

seemed to suggest they had anticipated this stupid behavior by the Portuguese. They quickly rolled out a

beautifully designed royal carped they had brought before Nzinga, after which one of them went on all fours

and expertly formed himself into a "royal throne" upon which the princess sat easily without being a strain on

her devoted follower.

So from the outset, as expressed by Mr. Williams, the invaders had no intention of

coming to an amicable agreement with the beleaguered people. Some like to think

of this as some inhuman degradation by the queen, imposed on her slaves, thus

equalizing the two sides of the conflict morally. The astute researcher however,
would look at the culture of the Mbandi Africans, as well as African people as a

whole and see that, as Mr. Williams put it:

One reason might be that she was so much loved and even blindly followed by her people that it was

believed that all would die, to the last man and woman, following her leadership. Such were the men, not

slaves who gladly formed a human couch before the astonished Portuguese for their leader.

The astute politician in Queen Nzinga, realizing the position her enemies held at

the onset realized immediately that because of the disrespect, they already had their

mind set on what was going to happen to her kingdom. As the ruler of her nation

she set 3 stipulations before any treaty was signed. They were as follows:

• The Portuguese had to evacuate Kabasa (a Portuguese fortification) and all nearby areas.

• Declare war on all the Africans who they had allied with (especially the people known as Jaga whom were

their prime allies)

• All chefs who had capitulated to Portugal had to be set free.

In return she'd return all the prisoners of war she had taken. The governor signed

the treaty and left, to invade almost immediately after voiding the treaty. Next

year, her brother, the King died and she became ruler of all of Mbundu. Upon

gaining status of Queen she sent an ultimatum to the Portuguese stating that if they

didn't go by the terms of the treaty, all out war would be declared.

Before the two armies could meet in battle, a third party showed up, wanting a

stake in Mbundu. The Dutch, who were vicious slavers, wanted a part in the action.

Quickly the Queen allied with them and a few other African nations and pitted the
two against each other. It was her idea, that the Dutch would finish off the

Portuguese and then she would turn on the Dutch. Queen Nzinga was a states

woman much ahead of her time.

War ensued for a year and the Warrior Queen passed a law that was probably

her most notable achievement. She declared that all the territory in Angola, over

which she had Authority, would forever be free of Slavery. This caused many

Africans to rally behind her, and even caused many of the Portuguese army to

defect and join her side. She then became a Thorn in the side of the Portuguese that

was never relieved. In the book "Black Women in Antiquity", Ivan Van Sertima

described her as:

…an astute agitator-propagandist who could easily summon large groups of her fellow countrymen to listen

to her. In convincing her people of the pernicious influences of the Portuguese, she would single out slaves

and "slave-soldiers" who were under Portuguese control and direct political and patriotic messages their way,

appealing to their pride in being Africans.

In essence, she could be seen as one of the forerunners of the pan-African, Black

Power movements that exist today. She really appealed to the pride of her people,

and her experiment paid off. For the next 30 years, the rest of her life, the

Portuguese were unable to subdue the African kingdom.

The Angolan resistance movement of the 1600's was not all fun and games. The

Africans felt many setbacks, and the Queen herself suffered greatly. In one event

the Portuguese sacked her Island stronghold in the Cuanza River, trying to kill her.
In doing so they captured one of her sisters. She and some of her soldiers went for

the hills. Everyone in Mbundu, down to the youngest conscious child knew she

would return. Even though the Portuguese celebrated and told the people their

Queen was dead. They'd say things like "She just left, though she will return." As

they said she did, and racked up victory after victory under the benefit of surprise.

That wasn't the only time she had to exit her lands. A few years later the

Europeans attacked her Island again. Again she left the nation, this time telling her

top lieutenants to express to her people that she had died! The cries of sadness and

instruments of mourning could be heard from village to village. The military

mastermind was just lying in wait though. She went to her former rivals the Jaga

peoples and asked for an alliance. She promised to marry their king. She also went

to a kingdom in the southern Kongo, and formed an alliance. They both agreed and

again she struck at the invaders. This time, with the ferocity of the Jaga and Kongo

behind her.

In 1641, the Dutch captured the Portuguese stronghold of Luanda. The Queen

then moved her capital out of the Cuanza River, and into territory that they had

captured from the Portuguese. She couldn't hold on to the land long and was

pushed back into Mbundu controlled lands. After capturing her new capital, they

took her other sister, got to her files and realized that she was in constant contact

with the first sister who was captured so many years back. As punishment, they did
awful things to her, decapitated and threw her body in to the Cuanza River.

Sadly, the Queen was not immortal. After reaching her late 70's she realized she

did not have long left on the Earth, and in a great compromise, she signed a treaty

with the Portuguese, allowing them to keep the land they had, and not to encroach

anymore upon Mbundu. She died at the old age of 81, and shortly after she died,

the Portuguese tried to capture the rest of the country. They failed and were

completely unable until, on paper they did at the Berlin conference of 1885. To the

Angolans credit, Portugal did not control the whole land until administratively

1951! The people of Southwest Africa were not happy about Portugal's presence.

In 1956 the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola was created and in

1966 the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola was formed. One a

beneficiary of the Soviet Union, and the other, of the United States. Blinded by

their need for independence, they allowed the great powers of the world to control

them, and cause one of the biggest indirect wars between the USSR and USA.

The Legacy is of Nzinga, and her people's independent nature is very strong.

They never gave up the fight. For over 500 years, they went against Europeans,

and didn't back down. Because of this spirit, as well as the vast resources in the

country, Angola has the fastest growing Economy in Africa, as well as one of the

fastest in the world. If present trends continue, there is a wonderful future for the

industrious people of Mbundu.

Figure 1Peace Conference
Figure 2Queen Nzinga
 Bibliography

Van Sertima, Ivan. Black women in antiquity. New Brunswick [N.J.] U.S.A: Transaction

Books, 1984.

Williams, Chancellor. Destruction of Black Civilization: Great Issues of a Race from 4500 B.C.

to 2000 A.D. Chicago: Third World P, 1987.

A., Rogers, J. World's Great Men of Color. New York: Touchstone, 1996.

Clarke, John Henrik. Who Betrayed the African World Revolution? And Other Speeches. New

York: Third World P, 1993.

Wolfe, Adam. "PINR - The Increasing Importance of African Oil." The Power and Interest

News Report (PINR). 20 Mar. 2006. 23 Mar. 2009 <http://www.pinr.com/report.php?

ac=view_report&report_id=460&language_id=1>.

"Ana Nzinga: Queen of Ndongo | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan

Museum of Art." The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York: metmuseum.org. 23

Mar. 2009 <http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/pwmn_2/hd_pwmn_2.htm>.