User:Mharwin7/sandbox

Bush captain - marginalized indivduals

Indians as a defense force -- destroyed mocambo's page 4

African- Indian contact and collaberation was feared but common--- created a law to stop them from mixing page 4

-Indians remained as slaves on plantations 1580-1650, "Indians remained throughout the colonial era both the best potential allies and the most effective opponents of slave fugitives" page 5

-mention being helped by free blacks page 10

"Mocambo raids and thefts endangered towns, disrupted production, and cut lines of communication of travel." page 5 - posed a threat to the institution of slavery, attracted those who were currently enslaved

how were Africans viewed? --

page 10!!

-stole from slaves and free black people

Slavery in Brazil
The institution of slavery was essential to the export agriculture and mining industries in colonial Brazil, its major sources of revenue. A marked decrease in the Indian population due to disease necessitated the importation of slaves early in the colonial history of Brazil with African slaves already being employed in greater amounts than Indian slaves on sugar plantations in the Bahia region by the end of the 1500s. A gold and diamond boom in the interior of Brazil in the mid-eighteenth century precipitated a significant increase in the importation of African slaves.

The conditions of slavery varied by region and form of labor. For instance, in sugar plantations in the Bahia region, African slaves were treated and fed poorly, and worked as hard as possible because the profit gained from this method outweighed the profit lost from a slave with a short life span. In the mountainous mining region of Minas Gerais, while the work was arduous, slaves were valued more and allowed some autonomy.

Religion, Society, and Slavery
The goal of converting all Indians to Catholic faith and practices was used by the Portuguese crown to justify the colonization of Brazil. The Jesuits, arriving in Brazil in the mid-sixteenth century, were tasked with these conversions and continued to be`the most prevalent and economically powerful denomination in Brazil until they were expelled in the 1700s. Indians were not viewed in the eyes of the Jesuits and the Portuguese Crown as slaves by nature but rather should only become "captives" to be used for slavery through a "just war". However, due to the demands of the landowning class who depended on slave labor and whom was more powerful compared to in Spanish-America, this view was oftentimes not adhered to in colonial policy. Jesuit Priest Padre Antonio Vieira's sermons reflect these views, suggesting that enslaving Indians who were not captured in this manner was a sin and that they should be payed a wage. African slaves were viewed as inherently different to Indians as evidenced by Vieira, who stated to an audience of African slaves, "...it is by God's particular providence that you live at present as slaves and captives, so that... you will very easily reach eternal freedom."

The social hierarchy, similarly, was racially based. Portuguese immigrants, and native born whites stood at the top of this hierarchy and held the most wealth and power. Both Indians and blacks were the poorest in society but with a decline in the Indian population due to disease as well as their movement into the frontier, African slaves and free blacks constituted the majority of the bottom tier. Mixed populations fulfilled social and economic roles in between. Especially prevalent and important in the skilled labor force were mixed white and black people. Of course, there was also always exceptions to this stratification.

Slave revolts were rare events. The most common form of slave resistance was instead the formation of fugitive settlements known as Quilombos, or macobos. Usually inhabited by those of varying African descents, the physical layout and social aspects of these communities represented a fusion of African and Brazilian practices. Existing most prevalently in the Bahia and Minas Gerais regions, as well as in the remote frontier region Alagoas where the largest and most famous quilombo, Palmeres, existed, just as slave conditions varied in these regions, the reason for the prevalence of fugitive slaves in these regions also varied. They were most often not self-sufficient, depending on theft and raiding from other slaves, free blacks, and whites for survival.

Quilombos in Resistance and Revolt
There is limited evidence regarding whether the inhabitants of fugitive communities intended to attack the institution of slavery itself. One scholar Stuart Schwartz suggests, based off of surviving evidence from multiple quilombos that “...in general the goals of the fugitive communities seem to have been the more immediate and practical ones of survival beyond the control of white society”. This is evidenced in part by the fact that they stole not only from whites but also from other slaves and free blacks.

Although almost all the slave rebellions had been designed and executed through the quilombo community, the more preeminent threats they presented in the view of colonial officials included that they "endangered towns, disrupted production, and cut lines of communication of travel" as well as attracted those who were currently enslaved, thus threatening the institution of slavery itself. Colonial officials viewed these as serious threats given Brazil's economic dependence on slaves and took measures to mobilized Indians and free blacks to destroy these settlements, reenslaving or killing its inhabitants. Indians, however, at the same time were often "the best potential allies" to fugitive slaves.