Paper short abstract:

This paper interprets the Kongo uprising of 1913 in a ‘moral economy’ context, and claims that it epitomized the breakdown of a moral order.

Paper long abstract:

The 1913 uprising in the kingdom of Kongo occurred in the wake of Portuguese attempts to recruit workers for plantation labor in Cabinda and São Tomé and Príncipe Cabinda. The attack of Kongo chiefs on São Salvador was the start of a revolt that became known as Buta's war, which would lead to the final incorporation of the Kongo kingdom in the Angolan colonial state. In December 1913 a summit was held at which the rebel chiefs expressed their grievances to a delegation of resident white men: besides the dethronement of king Kiditu, the rebels demanded the removal of one notorious Portuguese official and a number of African collaborators, a reduction of the hut tax, the end of labor recruitment for Cabinda and São Tomé, and a curtailment of the rising social powers of women in Kongo society. In this paper, I will interpret the Kongo uprising of 1913 in a 'moral economy' context, and claim that it epitomized the breakdown of a moral order. This breakdown was caused by the corruption of royal power under Portuguese rule and was closely related to radical changes in the terms of labor within the colonial domain. By conceptualizing the kingdom of Kongo as a moral community, this study draws parallels with moral economies observed elsewhere in Africa and also with earlier and later constructions of Mbanza Kongo as a moral order, both within and outside the continent.