Queen Nzinga of Angola

In Africa, The Portuguese were buying slaves to sell to South America and North America because during the late 1500s to 1800s they were in high demand. At first, when Nzinga was a child, all she knew about slavery was that she saw people trade for slaves and that once they went on a slave ship, they never returned. There were also rumors that the Portuguese would eventually invade Nzinga’s homeland. When the Portuguese saw that the Dutch, English, and French were getting slaves from Africa, they decided to invade a part of Africa, that way they have a source of slaves that nobody could take away except through war. So, they decided to attack Ndomba! Nzinga’s father led his people to battle! By the time Nzinga was was a woman, the war kept on going! So, she trained a band of women warriors and fought against the Portuguese as well. When Nzinga was thirty-four, her brother, Mbandi, became king! She also had two sisters, which she loved meanwhile she thought her brother loved eating more than ruling. Because they fought the Portuguese and the battles never ended, The Portuguese were ready for peace talks. But because Mbandi was too scared to go to them (for he feared it could be a trap) he sent his sister to go for him and promised her she can return to her country for he exiled her, scared of losing the throne. She agreed to this and when she came to them, she realized they would respect her more if she was a Catholic. So, so decided to get baptized and she commanded her sisters to do the same and after this the Portuguese called them Anna de Sousa, Lady Grace, and Lady Barbara. When the day of the peace treaty came she saw that there was only one chair made usually for rich people. Because she didn’t see a chair for her she commanded a servant to come to her and used it like a chair! After the peace talks were over, the Portuguese agreed that the country of Ndomba can remain an independent country as long as all the Portuguese prisoners were brought back. She agreed to this and Ndomba had peace for a while. But because the Portuguese were running out of slaves, they invaded Ndomba again! When this happened, Nzinga declared a lifelong war against Portugal. But her brother too scared to do anything and unexpectedly died. People were suspicious that Nzinga did this. After many years of fighting, the Portuguese gave up since they couldn’t win and offered another peace treaty. Nzinga, who was now in her 70s agreed to the peace treaty that said that the Portuguese could go through her land to get more slaves. When she died at the age of 88, the Portuguese attacked again! Without a strong leader, the people and the surrounding countries all got conquered by the Portuguese. Because the people of Ndomba called her ngola or war chief, they named Ndomba, Angola. With this the Portuguese ruled over it for 300 years before it finally became a free country.