Slavery, Sugar and the Economy of Brazil 1580-1680
Introduction
Just like the United States, the economy of Brazil was initially based on plantations and slave labor. Portuguese colonizers set up the plantations in Brazil, and they were mainly sugarcane plantations. The first commercial plantations started in the early 1500s, and they were set up by African slaves shipped to South America by Portuguese colonizers. The slaves worked on the sugarcane plantations and in sugarcane mills in very harsh conditions. The sugarcane plantations led to the establishment of an aristocratic class in Brazil and subsequent stratification of the population in Brazil into various economic classes[footnoteRef:1]. This paper assesses the role played by African slaves and sugar plantations in the early stages of the Brazilian economy and whether the economy would have been weaker today without slaves and plantations. [1: Plinio Mario Nastari. "The role of sugar cane in Brazil's history and economy " Retrospective Theses and Dissertations. 8948. (1983)]
The economic value derived through sugar cane and slavery
The first sugar plantations in what is now known as Brazil were established in the early 1500s around Pernambuco and Bahia's regions. While sugarcane was planted very early in Brazil, it was initially not the main commodity exported from Brazil by the Portuguese colonial authority in the first half of the 16th century[footnoteRef:2].The main commodity exported was dyewood. This is because the price of sugar had significantly decreased in Europe during the period because of low demand. However, from around 1550, the demand and price for sugar went up because sugar became very popular in jellies, jams, and other products. It is also because sugar started replacing natural honey as a food recipe. The increase in the price and demand for sugar became the main export commodity from Brazil. [2: Mark Johnston. "The Sugar Trade in the West Indies and Brazil between 1492 and 1700."James Ford Bell Library, University of Minnesota,(2012).]
Sugar was first commercially produced on a large scale in Brazil in 1550 when Portuguese colonial authorities set up sugar mills near Sao Vicente and Pernambuco in Brazil's Atlantic coast region[footnoteRef:3].The commercial sugar production system was copied from the system in existence at Madeira, in which the landowner leased portions of his land to planters who shared a portion of what they produced[footnoteRef:4]. [3: Matthew Edel. The Brazilian Sugar Cycle of the Seventeenth Century and the Rise of West Indian Competition.Caribbean Studies, Vol. IX, no. 1., 1969, p. 25.] [4: David Watts. "The West Indies: Patterns of Development."Culture and Environmental Change since1492 (1987): 41.]
During the three centuries of colonization, the amount of money earned from the sugar business was massive. Brazil generated much more wealth from the export of sugar between 1526 and 1822 than it did from the export of diamonds and gold. Moreover, this is even though it was the world's largest exporter of diamonds and gold in the eighteenth century. In terms of 1936 British pounds, the total earnings from sugar exports in the colonial period were approximated at 300,000,000, while that of diamonds and gold was approximated at 170,000,000[footnoteRef:5]. [5: Plinio Mario Nastari. "The role of sugar cane in Brazil p. 2]
The sugar mills that were first set up in Brazil extracted sugarcane juice using manual labor, mostly by African slaves. However, with time, the system was replaced by larger sugar mills in which animals or rivers were cleverly used...
…dominance in the
labor market. The slaves worked essentially for free, helping generate much wealth for the sugar mill owners and merchants. The African slaves also became consumers of the products made in Brazil. Africans continue to be an important part of the country's
consumer base.
Lastly, access to credit affected and continues to affect the success of the country's sugar economy. The sugar industry in Brazil grew rapidly in its infancy stages courtesy of the support given to it by the Portuguese crown. In 1618, it was argued that while Portuguese merchants around the world returned with their wealth to Portugal, Portuguese merchants and settlers in Brazil opted to become wealthy and stay in Brazil. This capital acquisition helped build the Brazilian economy because it increased access to credit; the money circulated more within Brazil, helping to set up more mills and other factories and businesses. It also helped in the subsequent abolishment of slavery.
Conclusion
Credible and reliable sources support this paper and the arguments made in it. However, some of the sources are limited, meaning they can lack authenticity. Nevertheless, this does not dispute the fact that the establishment of sugar plantations in Brazil helped generate much wealth and set up the Brazilian economy we know now. It also does not dispute that African slaves played a key role in creating much wealth for Brazil and the country's subsequent economic development. Therefore, it can be concluded that Brazil's economy was built from the ground up by sugar plantations and slaves and that it may not have been as strong as it is today without the plantations and the African slaves.
References
Edel, Matthew. "The Brazilian Sugar Cycle of the Seventeenth Century and…
