User:Nedbless/sandbox

Section about funding of slave trade with European capital
It was the capital of European merchants, rather than European states, which allowed the Atlantic slave trade to take shape in the early sixteenth century. For example, in exchange for granting loans in support of Charles V's election as Holy Roman Emperor in 1519, the German Welser trading house was given immense privileges in the Americas by the Spanish crown, including a license to trade enslaved Africans. Over the next two decades, many other European merchants would pay the Spanish crown for the right to import Africans to the Americas, further enmeshing unfree labor as a key factor in the colonial Latin American economy. Into the eighteenth century, even as American elites began to take a role in the Atlantic trade, European-based traders remained at the heart of the slave trade. Lisbon-based traders especially were key to the continuation of the slave trade to Brazil in the 1700s, as new forms of credit allowed for even larger and more profitable slave voyages than had been possible before.

Section about resistance to slavery
As in any slave society, enslaved people in Latin America resisted their oppressors, and often sought to establish their own communities outside of Hispanic control. In addition to more passive forms of resistance, such as intentional work slowdowns, the colonial period in Latin America saw the birth of numerous autonomous communities of runaway slaves. In Brazil, where the majority of the enslaved people in Latin America were concentrated, these communities were called mocambos or quilombos, words which came from the Mbundu language which was widely spoken in the regions of Angola from which many of the enslaved people in Brazil were taken. These communities were often located in proximity to population centers or plantations, as they largely relied on activities such as highway theft and raids in order to sustain themselves. Mocambos were also often assisted by Black people still residing in towns, such as in the city of Salvador, where Black people living in the city aided the residents of a nearby mocambo by helping them enter the city at night to purchase gunpowder and shot. From what historical evidence is available, it appears that, in most cases, the aims of most mocambos were not an overthrow of the colonial system, but merely their continued existence outside of white society.

Palmares
One of the most powerful quilombos in colonial Brazil was the settlement of Palmares, located in the remote captaincy of Pernambuco. Palmares was much longer-lasting than many of the other quilombos in Brazil. Despite continued efforts to destroy it, Palmares survived for almost the entire seventeenth century, until its eventual destruction at the hands of the Portuguese colonial government in 1694 --a few of its habitants were able to hold out for a few more years, but Palmares was reported as "almost extinct" by 1697. At its height, Palmares is said to have had as many as 20,000 inhabitants, although this number is disputed by historians, some of whom argue that the true population of Palmares was closer to 11,000. Like other quilombos, the inhabitants of Palmares did not seek the overthrow of the colonial system. In 1678, faced with increasing military pressure from the Portuguese, the king of Palmares, Ganga Zumba, offered to swear loyalty to the Portuguese Crown in exchange for a recognition of the quilombo's freedom. The Portuguese took Zumba's offer, and then immediately reneged on its terms, continuing their military expeditions against Palmares until its eventual destruction.

Section about the lack of African slaves used in mining
Notably, despite mining's immense importance to the colonial economy, African slaves were rarely forced to work in the mines. This was partially due to the glut of Indians, both enslaved and free, who were available to work in the mines. Through practices such as encomienda, the repartimento and mita labor drafts, and later wage labor as well, Spanish colonial authorities were able to compel Indians to participate in the backbreaking labor of the silver mines. Specifically because of how labor-intensive and dangerous mining was, it would not have been nearly as profitable for Spanish elites to have forced enslaved Africans to work in the mines. If a slave were killed, or injured and thereby no longer able to work, that would represent a loss of capital to the slaveholder.

Edits to part about precolonial slavery
Slavery in Latin America was an economic and social institution which existed in Latin America from before the colonial era until its legal abolition in the newly independent states during the 19th century, although it continued illegally in some regions into the 20th century. Slavery in Latin America began in the precolonial period, when indigenous civilizations including the Maya and Aztec enslaved captives taken in war. After the conquest of Latin America by the Spanish and Portuguese, over 4 million enslaved Africans were taken to Latin America via the Atlantic slave trade, roughly 3.5 million of those to Brazil. The large Afro-Latino populations which remain in these regions today are the legacy of colonial slavery.