History of the Democratic Republic of the Congo

High school (ages 12+)
History & Culture

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/history-of-the-democratic-republic-of-the-congo

1. When was History of the Democratic Republic of the Congo built?
2. What is the earliest archaeological evidence?
3. What is the emergence of complex states?
4. What were the ancient kingdoms in the area that is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo?
5. Why did the region become a center for the slave trade?

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. When was History of the Democratic Republic of the Congo built?1908, after international outcry over abuses
2. What is the earliest archaeological evidence?Middle Stone Age, circa 90,000 years ago
3. What is the emergence of complex states?From the 14th century, including Kongo, Lunda, Luba, and Kuba
4. What were the ancient kingdoms in the area that is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo?The Kingdoms of Kongo, Lunda, Luba, and Kuba were powerful states that appeared around the 14th century on the savannas south of the equatorial forest. They had complex societies, trade, and politics.
5. Why did the region become a center for the slave trade?Portuguese explorers came in the late 1400s and later the Atlantic slave trade grew. Many people were taken from the Congo River area to the Americas, especially Brazil, disrupting local societies.

Indigenous Societies: The original inhabitants and their cultures and social structures before external influence or colonization.
Colonialism: The policy or practice of acquiring full or partial political control over another country, occupying it with settlers, and exploiting it economically.
Cold War: A period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, from the mid-1940s to the early 1990s.
Authoritarian Rule: A form of government characterized by strong central power and limited political freedoms.