Slavery

A detailed Summary of Slavery

Slavery in the Americas was quite diverse. Mining operations in the tropics experienced different needs and suffered different challenges than did plantations in more temperate areas of Northern Brazil or costal city's serving as ports for the exporting of commodities produced on the backs of the enslaved peoples from the African continent. This essay will look at these different situations and explore the factors that determined the treatment of slaves, the consequences of that treatment, and the conditions that lead to resistance by the slaves working in their various capacities..

After the initial conquest of Mexico and South America it was time to develop the

economy and export the resources that would benefit the monarchy back home in Spain and Portugal. Silver and Gold were two such commodities. Silver mines in Northern Mexico were supervised by blacks who directed the Indians in the arduous task of extracting the precious metal. Gold in Central Mexico was also mined by blacks. The Gold mining regions were hot, tropical, isolated areas of the jungle. The regions were sparsely populated and it was difficult to keep the locals as a work force. The introduction of disease in the tropics made these areas death zones to t

The Sugar plantations of Northern Brazil were a major client of the slave trade. The more temperate climate made of better environmental conditions for the blacks but the work was hard and after working for the plantation the slaves had to work a spot of land for their own sustenance as well. They could sell what they produced and this gave them money with which to effect manumissions. The plantation life had a hierarchy that separated the slaves into three levels with value attached to each one. The lowest level of the hierarchy was the "Bozal." These were slave born on the African continent with little or no acculturation with the Spaniards and Portuguese who enslaved them. They were of the least value as the least skilled and plenty there were plenty more where they came from. Though they were not completely disposable they were of the least consequence should they die or run off.

Flight was the most plausible form of resistance. Often plantation slaves would take off and go to another plantation to visit for a number of days. The slave knew what the punishment would be upon his return and was willing to endure it for the needed break. Sometimes they would even get a white person to negotiate their return or outright trade to the plantation they had been visiting. More permanent forms of flight were undertaken by groups of slaves who would organize and flee to the edges of the plantation and beyond to form renegade settlements. The larger the group and the further from the plantation they fled, the more chance they had to succeed. Creole's often fled alone to cities where they attempted to pass themselves off as free men living by their wits in order to outsmart any who would suspect them as runaway's.

There was a fairly healthy community life amongst plantation slaves. They spent time together, had cultural activities and because of the near equal ratio of men to women were able to marry and raise families. The slave population was fully 80-90% of the overall population in these regions as they did all the work and there were no towns in the area where whites and Indians went for jobs.

a need to get cheap or free labor that would be capable of resisting the disease and who would be easier to dominate than the locals who could run off and establish themselves elsewhere relatively easily. The natural answer was to obtain slaves from the African continent. The slave trade was already in operation on the African continent. Coastal cities there often enslaved inland peop

Some common words found in the essay are:
Latin America, Spaniards Portuguese, Northern Brazil, Central Mexico, Americas Slaves, Mulatto Creole, African Cimarron, Slavery Americas, Northern Mexico, South America, african continent, latin america, plantation slaves, spaniards portuguese, creole slaves, mining regions, achieve manumission, slave trade, northern brazil, resist conditions,

Approximate Word count = 1694
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: History