Although I enjoyed reading the Introduction and Prologue of the book, the first chapter was somewhat monotonous. In the Introduction and Prologue, it was particularly interesting for me to read about the history of the Congo and its relationship to European powers, including King Leopold. Also, I liked reading about King Affonso I because the book highlights that "everything we know about this part of Africa...comes to us from [King Affonso I]" (12). He was one of the few "African voices" that existed during that time, and it was interesting for me to learn about an African who could represet the supressed African sentiments. Finally, it was fascinating to read about the different perceptions the Europeans had of Africa, as "they saw the continent as a faceless, blank, empty, a place on the map waiting to be explore" (18). However, the first chapter was not very intriguing. The information in the first chapter was specfically regarding John Rowlands, later Stanley, and did not take us into the direct role of King Leopold's imperialistic ways as the Introduction and Prologue have led us to expect.
Two Discussion Questions:
1: What made the slaves of the Congo the most valuable items of trade for the Portuguese instead of the other vast array of resources in this region?
2: King Alfonso I is an excellent example of an African in the Congo elliciting sentiments to stop the imperialstic takeover. Despite his efforts, why was there a lack of wider response to prevent slave-trade from the Congo?
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