Power over the citizens of the Kongo, like any other nation, was key to success and unity as a whole. Power needed to be centralized and orderly to maintain any sort of control, so the Kongolese created a provincial system run by aristocrats and maintained by taxation and unity of the church. Unlike most monarchies, the Kongolese one was run on a sort of parliament. A council of men and women (of high class) would vote on the succeeding ruler of the last. This electoral collage was key to creating a working government because not only did they decided who ruled over the kingdom, but advised he/she on trade, war, and foreign relations. Control over trade maintained a centralized government as well. The capital Mbanza was the center of slave trade, the most important trade in the kingdom. The monopoly over the trade meant that any slaves the Portuguese wanted would be bought in Mbanza.
Holly Cardinell
Holly Cardinell
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