Did You Know?

Hi friends, it's your friend again. I welcome you all to the 10th edition of this publication on this platform. I know you're excited about reading a fresh edition of "Did You Know?" Your regular history content here on Steem4Nigeria. Last week, we looked at the first proposal for Nigeria's independence by Chief Anthony Enahoro on March 1953.

For this week, did you know that the first country to begin the importation and use of Africans as slaves was Portugal? Oh, yes it was.

Portugal's Prince Henry sponsored an exploration into Africa with the aim of:

• finding the source of the West African gold trade,

• To find the Christian king, Prester John, in order for him to further Christianise the area.

But on his return from the 1441 exploration, the head of the exploration team, a man called Gonslave, in about 1860, while returning from an exploration in Africa, he presented to his master, Prince Henry, some Africans whom he brought into Portugal as slaves.

Prince Henry received the African slaves with the intention of educating and converting them to Christianity and then sending them back to Africa as missionaries. He also instructed the explorers never to import Africans as slaves to Portugal.

But on the death of Prince Henry, his successor continued the importation of Africans as slaves till other Europeans such as the British and the French joined them in the business.

Historical Facts

1. Portugal was the first European country to start slavery in Africa.

2. Prince Henry who sponsored the exploration was never in support of the importation and enslavement of Africans.

3. His intentions were right; to treat the imported Africans well while he would return them back to Africa as missionaries.

Thank you for reading, I remain your historian friend @eveetim.💕 Feel free to make your contributions in the comment, I'll love to hear from you.

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