Portuguese explorer Diogo Cão landed on the southwestern African shores of present day Angola in the late 1400s. The Portuguese economy was primarily based on the slave trade, they sent an astonishing 4,000,000 slaves to Brazil, accounting for 40% of all slaves shipped to the Americas, most of them coming from Angola.
Within Angola, the laborers consisted mostly of the indigenous population as well. The forced labor systems didn’t look exactly like slavery in the Americas, in fact the justifications changed many times over Portugal’s 500 year rule, but the outcome was very much the same. Sometimes it was “rebel groups” worked to death in concentration camps, other times it was state mandated work programs paying the equivalent of $1.25 a month.
Over the 500 year occupation, the government systems and relationships varied greatly as well. Initially, the Portuguese presence was relatively unintrusive towards the rulers of existing kingdoms and tribal groups. Trade between the groups was established (slave trade) and the king of the Kongo kingdom accepted a western education from the Portuguese. These alliances eventually crumbled and although Portugal was able to hold onto the territory for several hundred more years, conflict and pushback from various indigenous groups was almost constant. For this time, the Portuguese military maintained a presence, fighting wars and attempting to maintain the colony.
Portugal’s original push into Africa began as a quest for gold, trying to bypass Moroccan trade and gather it at its source. Once there, and introduced to the slave trade, their intentions shifted focus. The Justification for the plundering and enslaving they took part in came straight from Pope Nicolas V, telling the Portuguese king that he had the right to conquer pagans, enslave them, and take their lands and goods.
https://www.enjoytravel.com/en/travel-news/interesting-facts/7-interesting-facts-about-angola
https://www.sahistory.org.za/place/angola
https://furtherafrica.com/2022/04/18/why-angola-is-africas-next-mining-powerhouse/
https://academic-accelerator.com/encyclopedia/portuguese-colonial-architecture
