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 theeconomy 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
Flight was the most plausible form of resistance. Slaves isolated from family life and culture working in miserable conditions were often flight risks as they had no real options and the terrain lent to good hiding. Suicide was another way to freedom. " These were slave born on the African continent with little or no acculturation with the Spaniards and Portuguese who enslaved them. They were often times offspring of Spaniards or Portuguese and as such had more ties to the community. When this method was employed the slave often killed their master and then turned themselves in to suffer their fate. Resistance to enslavement came in a variety of forms and much went into whether a slave would resist or not. 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. The field workers and the gold miners were high risks for resistance. 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. In short, slaves who were the most recent arrivals to the new land endured the worst conditions and were the least likely candidates for manumission and therefore most likely to resist. This helped in keeping the racial prejudice at bay in Latin America as it served no purpose to create the perception that blacks were an inferior race. An exception was the slaves taken right off the ships by white artisans who taught them to be smiths and coopers and the like. Next up the pecking order was the "Ladino. The top of the chain were the Creole.
Common topics in this essay:
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,
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Acceptance Essays
