The Portuguese in Angola, 1836-1891: a study in expansion and administration.
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Abstract
Relying chiefly upon official correspondence between the Government-General in Portuguese West Africa,or Angola, and the Overseas Ministry in Lisbon as well as works of the period, this study outlines Portuguese activity and policy in 19th century Angola. For the first time, key policy statements from these unpublished documents have been translated into English and analyzed. A hitherto little known phase of Portuguese activity has been brought to light.
Portuguese activity in Angola can be divided into three major periods. In the first period, from the publication of the 1836 decree abolishing the slave-trade from Angola, to 1861, and the end of one phase of expansion, considerable military and commercial expansion occurred along the coasts and east to the Cuango river. Consequently, even before the scramble for Africa, Portuguese control in Angola doubled and spread as a military power resting largely upon African auxiliaries. That expansion, however, caused revolts among independent African tribes. Next from 1861 to 1877, and the arrival of the first Portuguese national exploration expedition, came an era of withdrawal from frontier posts, while increasing agriculture offset a progressive weakening of Portuguese power in the interior. The third period, from 1877 to 1891, and the treaty of partition, saw military and missionary expansion onto the plateaus. [TRUNCATED]
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Thesis (Ph.D.)--Boston University
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Based on investigation of the BU Libraries' staff, this work is free of known copyright restrictions.