Question

supporting question 3 featured source source k: kongo kingdom: political organization political and administrative organization: kongo had a king who ruled surrounded by a council of 12 wise advisers nominated for life in the royal court. the king could be removed by the 12 advisers in cases of misconduct or inability to lead the people. the kings role was the servant of the people. the king ensured equity among the bakongo and maintained cosmic and social order. the king was respected and represented in provinces by governors. kingship was not hereditary among the bakongo, which means that any citizen of the kingdom of kongo could be elected king. when a king died, the eldest of the 12 wise counselors, gathered the council to prepare to choose the new king. the council of the 12 wise men led the kingdom until the election of the new king. candidates to the position of king needed to submit themselves to the council in their provinces. each council, after an oral examination, selected the best candidate to present to the 12 wise men on a day chosen for all candidates to go to mbanza kongo the capital. two candidates were selected, and in agreement with the 12 governors, the wise elders chose an election day. on the agreed day, the king was elected only by the wise counselors by the raising of hands. once the king was elected, citizens of mbanza kongo were invited, and the eldest of the counselors went on the podium to present the new king. once the king was elected, all the 12 governors resigned and waited on the king to reappoint or replace them. 1. why did the kongo empire not want one single ruler? 2. who was eligible (allowed) to become a king? was this a fair system, why or why not?

Explanation:

1. The text doesn't explicitly state why the Kongo empire didn't want one single ruler. However, the presence of a council of 12 wise - advisers who could remove the king in cases of misbehavior suggests a system of checks and balances to prevent abuse of power and ensure equity among the people.
2. Any citizen of the kingdom of Kongo could be elected king. Regarding fairness, on one hand, it was fair as it was open to all citizens, giving a wide pool of potential leaders. On the other hand, the selection process involved multiple steps of council - based filtering (oral examination by local councils and selection by 12 wise men), which might have introduced biases or limitations in terms of who could actually reach the final selection stage.

Answer:

1. The text doesn't clearly state the reason, but the presence of a council for checks and balances suggests a desire to prevent abuse of power and ensure equity.
2. Any citizen of the kingdom of Kongo could be elected king. Whether it was a fair system is debatable as it was open - access but had multiple council - based selection steps.