Kingdom of Kongo · 1483-1665

Kongo: an African Christian kingdom

When Portuguese ships reached the Congo river, the kingdom of Kongo chose to become Christian and to trade. Students read the letters of King Afonso I, who protested against the slave trade in 1526, and follow Kongo to its defeat at Mbwila.

Teach it live New Open on the map
Length
50 minutes
Ages
12–15
On the map
3 steps, AD 1530 to AD 1880
Live lesson
7 rounds, 3 on the map
Worksheet
Two A4 pages, with Classroom
You need
A projector; phones for live

Live lesson · new in Classroom

Teach it live. The class answers on their phones.

Put the board on the projector. Students join with a six-digit code, no account needed, and tap the map: where was the frontier, where did the grain come from. Their pins drop in together when you reveal, and the closest student takes the round.

€19 per month: every lesson live, every worksheet, cancel anytime. Rome at its height runs live for free.

A live lesson on the projector: the class's pins on the map around Alexandria, the closest students listed beside it A student's phone: the question and a map to tap
7 rounds
3 places to find on the map, quiz questions, a class vote and a one-line answer.
About 15 minutes
Run it as the map step, or to open the discussion. You move on with the space bar.
A report
Every answer, per student and per round, to read back or print after the lesson.
1

Introduction

5 min

Read aloud

When Portuguese ships reached the Congo river, the kingdom of Kongo chose to become Christian and to trade. Students read the letters of King Afonso I, who protested against the slave trade in 1526, and follow Kongo to its defeat at Mbwila.

By the end of the lesson, students can

  • Locate Mbanza Kongo, the mouth of the Congo river and Luanda.
  • Explain why Kongo's kings adopted Christianity and close ties with Portugal.
  • Use Afonso I's letters of 1526 to describe how the slave trade harmed Kongo.
2

Explore the map

15 min

Project the map, or let students follow on their own devices. Each step opens the map at the right year and place.

a

AD 1530

The kingdom

Open the map in 1530 and find the label Congo south of the great Congo river. The capital, Mbanza Kongo, stood on a hill inside the kingdom. Find the river mouth to the north-west.

Open this view on the map
b

AD 1530

Ocean links

Turn on Trade Routes and zoom out over the South Atlantic. Which routes run past the coast of Central Africa? Where do they lead?

Open this view on the map
c

AD 1880

A long-lived name

Drag the slider slowly from 1530 to 1880. The label Congo stays for centuries. What new label appears to its south by 1880?

Open this view on the map
3

Class discussion

15 min

Pick two or three. They run from what happened to why it mattered.

  1. King Afonso I chose to become Christian and learn Portuguese. What could Kongo gain from this, and what could it lose?
  2. In 1526 Afonso wrote to the king of Portugal that traders were kidnapping free people, even nobles. What does this letter show about the effects of the slave trade?
  3. Afonso did not end the slave trade; he tried to control it. Why might a king find it hard to stop a trade that others profited from?
  4. Kongo used small shells called nzimbu as money. Why can shells work as money?
  5. After the battle of Mbwila in 1665, Kongo split into rival parts. How can one defeat lead to the break-up of a kingdom?
4

Game round

10 min

No Kongo king is in Rule History. Play one round as Suleiman the Magnificent, who ruled while Afonso I was writing his letters to Portugal. Discuss: what tools did a ruler of the 1500s have to protect his subjects from foreign traders?

Open Rule History
5

Worksheet

5 min

This worksheet comes with Classroom

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