The Importance Of Slavery In Brazil

The transatlantic slave trade was a primary structuring force of brazilian society. When Brazil became independent in 1822 from portugal, the slave trade was perceived as a dominant activity in the country's economy because it involved so much formation and investments. Slavery played a significant role in the structure of Brazil considering that the system of involuntary labor was the biggest and most extended of all the slave societies in the Atlantic world. This molded Brazilian ways of life including jobs, transportation, economic concerns, political factors and culture in many ways.

To start, in Brazil the Portuguese become convinced that full-scale exploitation of the land was imperative for the safety of their entire overseas empire. Sugar cultivation was the ideal crop to guarantee the existence of a profitable colony. As a result, the Portuguese dominated the Atlantic slave trade. Various slaves from different parts of Africa were brought to Brazil and experienced difficult working and in living

The rise of sugar as a commodity in England situated England as the world’s leading consumer. The increasing popularity of coffeehouses among middle-class English people, as well the introduction of tea from China, fueled the counties. England’s growing interest in coffee and tea greatly increased the demand for sugar leading to a significant effect on Africa and its people. The high English demand for sugar required land to expand sugar plantations, and an efficient source of labor to produce, creating a connection between all three. For example, if there was not enough demand, there would have been no point in planting sugar and if cheap labor could not be obtained, it would not be worth doing so on such a large scale because it would have been expensive and unprofitable. Since they had all these contributing factors in their favor the British were able to gain profit from sugar plantations, which worked as a significant contributor towards their economy. To meet the land requirements the British picked their Caribbean colonies because of their control of that region and its climate. After finding the land for plantations, England had to find the source of labor to work these plantations. The English turned into Africa for cheap slave labor. The British had tried the local Caribbeans to work on the plantations but these people were already affected by the diseases that were brought to the area by Europeans. As a result, there were not many Caribbean people to work the

Brazil lacked the large work force provided by the greater Amerindian population of Mexico. The Amerindians of Mexico were already familiar with working for native overlords, making the transition to working under a Spanish overlord a relatively smooth process (Suchlicki 31). To compensate for the lack of an indigenous work force, the Portuguese began to bring African slaves into Brazil as early as 1433. Out of the total population of the Brazilian colony in 1585 numbering some 57,000 people, 14,000 were African slaves (Burns 49). Although the Spanish who colonized Mexico were by no means innocent of enslaving Africans, the large numbers of Amerindians provided the bulk of the work force on Mexican plantations (Suchlicki 31).

Before the arrival of the Spanish in the 16th cent., the Araucanians had long been in control of the land in the southern part of the region; in the north, the inhabitants were ruled by the Inca empire. Diego de Almagro, who was sent by Francisco Pizarro from Peru to explore the southern region, led a party of men through the Andes into the central lowlands of Chile but was unsuccessful (1536) in establishing a foothold there. In 1540, Pedro de Valdivia marched into Chile and, despite stout resistance from the Araucanians, founded Santiago (1541) and later established La Serena, Concepción, and Valdivia. After an initial period of incessant warfare with the natives, the Spanish

One thing being disease, such as malaria. Christopher Columbus introduced the “Columbian Exchange”, an exchange of pathogens, causing 90% of people to die off. The Portuguese captured many Tupi Indians and either killed them off or they died of the flu. Since the native people had never been exposed to disease before, they would die off quickly once exposed. When they began digging for gold and silver in North America, they needed people to do the work for them. They could not enslave the indigenous people anymore since they had mostly died off, so they brought over 9 million African American slaves who had already been exposed to disease and had a likely chance of surviving. The Portuguese also used slaves to produce sugar. There were 4-5 million slaves brought to Brazil over a span of about 200 years. Many Portuguese men mated with the slaves, and this is the reason that Brazil’s population is so diverse today. There was such a demand for slaves that they become a major part of trade. The Europeans were trading slaves as well as trading fish, grain, and cheap textiles to feed and clothe the slaves. The reason for this is that the slaves mainly produced sugar, cotton and tobacco, not their own food or textiles. This concept is termed “peculiar

So it was the plentiful supply of enslaved African labour provided by the salve trade that allowed for the development of the plantation economy. Of this process of the plantation economies turning to the slave trade for the supply of African labour Eric Williams writes in Capitalism and Slavery "Slavery in the Caribbean has been too narrowly identified with the Negro. A racial twist has thereby been given to what is basically an economic phenomenon."

Sugar has been a staple in the diets of Europeans for centuries. From desserts to tea, sugar has been added to everything. While it is unhealthy in large doses, the demand for the saccharide does not falter. Before sugar could be mass produced by machines, much of the labor was done by slaves. While this benefitted white Europeans, they were the only ones to have profited from this new sugar craze. The African population suffered immensely from the sugar industry as the working conditions of sugar plantations were brutal and they had no civil rights as slaves.

2. Natives worked on the plantations. Slaves from Africa were brought over to Brazil when the native workers died. Eighty-two percent of the population in Brazil trace their ancestry back to the days of slavery.

Because certain forms of slavery had existed for centuries on the continent of Africa, Brazilian historians used to say that blacks imported from across the Atlantic were docile and ready to accept their new status as slaves. This assertion is based on the unwarranted assumption that was true of a limited area of Africa was typical of the continent as a whole.

How did American slavery compare and contrast with slavery in Latin America? Was slavery in these two places mainly similar? Were there differences worth noting? Were demographics a large part of the differences? Which place was the most oppressive? Which was more benign in slave conditions? Although, I feel slavery, in any form, is reprehensible, I would like to discuss major differences between these two places pertaining to the work performed, the treatment of slaves, and the rights afforded to each.

During Brazil’s first few decades of colonialism, the Portuguese decided that to control the population they would directly enslave them. Captured native people were the ones that labored on the first sugar mills. Native slavery was abolished in Brazil in the 1570s but exceptions were made if a Native was captured during “just war”. Although a loophole existed that allowed for Natives to still be enslaved, by the 1590s it didn’t matter because they were

The purpose of this paper is to recognize, study and analyze the race relations in Brazil. Race relations are relations between two groups of different races; it is how these two different races connect to each other in their environment. Since Brazil is racially diverse, this study is focused on how Brazilians relate to each other. Throughout the essay, it will become clear that there exists a conflict between two race groups. Afro-Brazilians and White-Brazilians are not connected and though these two groups converse with each other, discrimination still lies within the society. This discrimination has created inequality within the society for Afro-Brazilians. Thus, this paper will not only focus on racism and discrimination that

The history of slavery comes from many cultures, nationalities, and religions from ancient times to the present day. The social, economic, and legal positions of slaves were significantly different in systems of slavery and in different times. However, Portugal started the European slave trade with Africa. Prince Henry sent a trading expedition to Africa, which explored the continent in 1441, and by 1444, a cargo of 235 enslaved Africans had been brought to Lagos in Portugal. The Portuguese used slaves to work on sugar plantations off an island in Africa, by 1460. The Portuguese built the first slave fort in 1481, on the coast of modern Ghana. This was called Elmina Castle, which was the headquarters of the Portuguese slave traders. In the early seventeenth century, Portugal was a major trader in enslaved Africans. By this time, Portugal had permission to supply the Spanish colonies with slaves. This meant that the Portuguese were not only buying slaves for themselves, but for Spanish as well. This added to the total number of slaves that Portuguese ships carried. Records show the number of slaves imported from Africa was 4,650,000 slaves (i.e., footnote 1).

Brazilwood was a key product for Portuguese trade. But the focus on timber would soon change. Cash crops in the form of sugar cane production became the focus. Slavery was needed for the growing of sugar cane and replaced the unsuccessful usage of native people for labor. “Regular slave trade between Brazil and Africa was begun in the 1550s as a temporary measure to replace the Indians decimated by war and disease, but it lasted for over 300 years, and the institution of slavery persisted until 1889, Brazil being the last country of the American hemisphere to abolish it.” The agricultural focus of sugar cane changed to coffee bean production in the late 19th century. As coffee began to take off, slavery was abolished. With the influx of Africans halted, foreign immigration was promoted. This would have a profound effect on the societal make-up of the colony. Mass migrations were already occurring as the Portuguese had established their minute South American empire. Between 1884 and 1920 three million immigrants, mainly Italian, entered the country. Portuguese, Germans, Italians, Spanish, Britons, the descendants of African slaves and the products of racial mixtures of Brazilian Indians, Europeans, and Africans would be the kin of those who football would become entrenched within.