South American Slavery

The European colonies in the Americas were built upon the backs of the African slaves whose unpaid labor produced immense capital for Atlantic economies. Taken from their African homelands and thrust into the Americas, Black slaves labored under the hot Western sun to produce cash crops to add to the coffers of others. The slaves had no economic incentive to produce for their masters. To provide the necessary motivation, the slave masters relied above all on violence to coerce their slaves into labor. The slave trade and the production of cash crops created great wealth and was of great benefit to men on either side of the Atlantic, with the notable exception of the individuals who actually performed the labor.

The history of Africans in the Americas is as much a history of slavery as it is a history of resistance to enslavement. From the moment they set foot on American soil, Africans plotted against their masters. Haiti and Brazil were two regions where slavery was as especially important as it was harsh. An African, upon touching Brazilian soil, had a life expectancy of sixteen years—eight years if he was sentenced carrying coffee. (Conrad 125) One third of all Haitian slaves died within several years. (Klubock) Both nation

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(Conrad 410)

The same document also claims that the slaves of Bahia had knowledge of the slave rebellion of Haiti, which had come to a close ten years earlier. Between 1807 and 1845, this region hosted at least eleven slave revolts. Slaves would frequent maroon colonies to attend maroon religious festivals and dances, and members of maroon colonies would sometimes travel to plantations to meet with plantation slaves. The rosters of most slave owners included runaways, and the metropolitan newspapers were rife with advertisements with descriptions of runaway slaves and offers of rewards. As in Africa, quilombos were often governed by a king. Whereas Brazilian quilombos represented a retreat from Brazilian society, the Haitian maroons were a source of revolutionary energy and ideas. (Klubock)

History has shown that, beaten down as they may have been, Black slaves in the Americas never lost their spirit. Such arrangements were conducted outside of Brazilian law and efforts were made on the part of the government to suppress these contacts and eliminate the quilombos. "They know about and discuss the disastrous occurrences that took place on the island of Saint Domingue, and one hears mutinous claims that by St. One notable Brazilian hotbed of slave resistance was the region of Bahia. Their trading partners were "the inferior class of tradesmen in the neighboring towns" with whom the members of the quilombo traded for provisions and equipment.

Approximate Word count = 1891
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)

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