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The Impact of Sugar Plantations and Slavery on Colonial Brazil and the Caribbean

This text explores the establishment of sugar plantation economies in Brazil and the Caribbean, detailing the origins and scale of the Atlantic slave trade that supported these systems. It examines the initial settlement patterns, the transition from Amerindian to African labor, and the ecological and social consequences of plantation agriculture. The discussion addresses colonial economic structures, racial dynamics, and the long-term effects of these exploitative systems on local populations and environments from the 1500s to the 1700s.

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The Impact of Sugar Plantations and Slavery on Colonial Brazil and the Caribbean

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  1. TODAY • Portuguese settlement of Brazil • The sugar plantation economies of Brazil & the Caribbean • The Atlantic slave trade • Post-sugar boom colonial Brazilian economies

  2. Last Time-Questions? • Early Spanish colonial institutions • Spanish Colonial Settlement patterns

  3. Portuguese Brazilian Settlement • Initial Settlement Patterns • State-sized settlements to private entrepreneurs • to extract dye wood “palo brazil” • This initial “capitalistic-like” set up failed by 1540 and all lands re-transferred to the crown

  4. Tordesillas Treaty Line 1494 Initial Settlement

  5. Plantation Sugar in Brazil • Turkish closure of Middle Eastern sugar & decrease in honey production in Europe => huge profits to be had • Plantation sugar system in Brazil ~ 1540s – 1700s (dominates world’s sugar for ~ 200 yrs) • Advanced agro-technology • Excellent agro-ecology • Good access to European markets • Initially Amerindian labor – later African slaves

  6. Brazilian Fazendas • 150-200 laborers • 30 km2 (2-3 miles on a side) • Cane fields • pasture for oxen • plots for slave subsistence • woodlands for fuel • mill complex

  7. Impacts of Brazilian fazenda settlement • Coastal few links inland • Cities of less import initially • Collapse of local Indigenous pops • Huge import of African slaves => helped set racial composition of NE Brazil until today • Ecological impact: deforestation, soil exhaustion

  8. Sugar & Slaves 1500s – 1700s

  9. Caribbean adoption of Brazilian plantation system • Northern European Colonies recreated Brazilian system after 1640 • Similar agro-ecological advantages • Better slave security • Easier transport to Europe • Became the most valuable colonies for each state! • Impacts • Soil depletion • Vast increase in Afro-origin population

  10. Characteristics of plantation ag • Old world plants and techniques • Requires huge land holdings – discourages small holders • Cheap labor needed • Absentee owners or few local owners • Uses best land • Settlement is at plantation not cities • Cultural/spatial/class dualism • Economy is wholly export and dependent on world market • “mining” of resources (soils and timber) => impoverished local areas

  11. African slavery in Brazil and Caribbean • Characteristics • Chronology • Geography • Brazil • Spanish America • Caribbean • Totals • African origins • Decline of slavery after 1800 • Consequences of plantation/slave agriculture

  12. Sugar & Slaves 1500s – 1700s ~ 4.3 million Africans transported as slaves To Brazil

  13. ~ 1.8 m slaves to Spanish colonies ~ 1.7 m slaves to French colonies ~ 2.9 m slaves to English colonies Sugar & Slaves in the Caribbean

  14. SLAVERY IN THE AMERICAS

  15. SLAVERY IN THE AMERICAS 1492- 1880 • 1492 - 1600 • ~ 1% of all slaves transported • ~ 40% of slaves in this period to Brazil; 60% to the Spanish colonies • early period slave transport ~ 125k • 1600 - 1700 • ~ 14% of all slaves transported • totals transported about 1.3m • ~ 40% to Brazil, 20% to Spanish colonies, 38% to N European Caribbean

  16. SLAVERY IN THE AMERICAS 1492- 1880 II • 1700 – 1810 (peak of slave trade) • ~ 64% of all slaves transported • totals ~ 6 million • North America ~ 6%, British Caribbean ~ 23%, Spanish America ~ 9%, French Caribbean ~ 22%, Brazil ~ 31%, Dutch and Danish Caribbean the rest • 1810 – 1870 • ~ 20% of all slaves transported • totals ~ 1.9m • Brazil 60%, French Caribbean ~ 5%, Spanish America ~ 32%

  17. Consequences of the sugar/slave system • Altered racial makeup • Influenced settlement patterns in Brazil and Caribbean • Influenced labor and social relationships • Influenced land tenure systems: latifundia vs “mini-fundia” • Degraded environment and lost resources

  18. Non-sugar Economy of Colonial Brazil • Tobacco & Cattle • Non-sugar south—Sâo Paulo and slave raiding • Gold Rush at Minas Gerais in late 1600s/early 1700s

  19. Colonial Brazilian Economies Sugar & Slaves 1500s – 1700s Later Settlement Cattle & Tobacco Minas Gerais Sâo Paulo Rio de Janeiro Paulista or Bandeirante Indian Slave raids

  20. Overview of Brazil 1500 — 1800 • Little lasting development: 2 boom/bust cycles; sugar and gold • Much environmental destruction • Set pattern of social values: beef; latifundia • Mixed races with large African component (Black in N; Brown in Center; White in S) • Pop mostly still coastal – 40% in NE; 30% in Minas

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