FREE ESSAY ON SLAVES AND LATIN AMERICA

SLAVES AND LATIN AMERICA

 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 the indigenous people as they had no resistance to the virulent plagues.
There was
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 peoples so it was not difficult to obtain the stock and export them to the
Americas. 
Slaves in the mining regions were subject to harsh, isolated conditions. There were few
females and little or no community amongst the slaves. Some of the workers did have
access to
money and as a result could negotiate there freedom for a price. In 1732 1/3 of the
African
population of Choco was free as a result. Less fortunate slaves who found the conditions
unbearable fled to even more isolated areas of the back country to survive on their own
or in
small colonies.
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 Portugese 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. 
Next up the pecking order were the "Ladino." These slaves had more time in country
and had developed skills useful to the plantation owner. They were often in working
positions
of a bit higher value as well. 
The top of the chain were the "Criollo." These were slaves that were born in Latin
America. They were often times offspring of Spaniards or Portugese and as such had more
ties
to the community. Mulatto's were not looked down upon as they were in the American
south.
The Criollo held trusted positions in transportation, and were most often manumitted.
Also
enjoying frequent manumission was the criollo involved in the processing of the crops. 
Field hands made up the bulk of the population of any given plantation. They were most
often women and very nearly always Bozal. They were rarely able to achieve manumission
and
the conditions in which they worked were the worst of the plantation economy. Thought
they
were able to have a social life as the whites really did not care what they did with
their own
time, they were the most likely to resist their conditions. This is done in a variety of
ways which
will be discussed later. 
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. 
Cities were a third environment that utilized slaves. These slaves, however, tended to
be
made from the Criollo group. An exception was the slaves taken right off the ships by
white
artisans who taught them to be smiths and coopers and the like. These trades were then
passed
down to the slave children and to their children after them. Europeans immigrated to
Latin
America in far fewer numbers than in the U.S. and as a result otherwise menial jobs held
by
white lower classes there were held by free blacks and slaves working toward
manumission.
Where you might find an Irish maid on the Main Line in Philadelphia, you would find a
black, or
mulatto in Latin America. 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. 
City slaves enjoyed a good amount of freedom to associate and they took advantage of it
to form societies and groups that worked to systematically manumit slaves. 
Resistance to enslavement came in a variety of forms and much went into whether a
slave would resist or not. It was clear that all out revolt would not have any lasting
affect.
Therefore resistance came in a more passive form. Slaves would pretend not to understand
the
direction of their masters or they would sabotage equipment and crops. Suicide was
another way
to freedom. When this method was employed the slave often killed their master and then
turned
themselves in to suffer their fate. This gave value to their own death as they knew their
master
was now unable to replace him with another slave.
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. Criollo'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. The field workers and the gold miners were high risks for resistance. Ladino's
were less
likely to resist though conditions in the mines only slightly tempered there likelihood
of flight.
Mulatto's had it relatively easy in comparison to the Bozal's and were less likely to
resist as
there was a great probability that they would achieve manumission and life was not all
that bad
in the mean time. Especially in the cities where they had family and social community.
There
were jobs for free slaves in the cities and little competition from immigrants from
Europe
making them necessary as freemen even outside of slavery. 
Climate, disease, economic conditions and geographic location were critical to slave
reproduction, mortality, productivity and resistance. For instance, a highly capitalized,
fairly
new plantation would equate to harsher conditions for a slave as the owner tried to eak.
out as
much profit from the plantation as possible. If economic times were bad then slaves were
pushed less as the profit increase was not available in depressed economies. At the same
time it
might benefit an owner to divest of weaker workers and so manumission possibilities
increased.
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. There were also no
whites
around to hire as cheap labor to search them out and return them. Mulatto and Criollo
slaves
were higher on the socioeconomic ladder than the Bozal and were therefore less likely to
resist
as they were a step away from freedom which meant they would not consider fleeing as good
an
option as remaining in the social circle and family they had established. 
Slavery under any conditions is not the optimum existence for human beings. It is a fact
that human nature seeks to dominate. Greed and money are often at the root of such
efforts. The
Israelites, the Irish, the Africans, and enumerable other groups have heritage that
includes a
period of slavery or of enslaving or both. African Cimarron communities even enslaved
other
African fleeing the plantations. It is not rooted in race as much as it is rooted in
human nature.
The preceding essay is just a synopsis of how it functioned for African's in certain
regions
during a space in history.