© t. m. whitmore today the sugar plantation economies of the caribbean the african slave trade in...
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© T. M. Whitmore
TODAY•The sugar plantation economies of the
Caribbean
•The African slave trade in Latin America
•Non-sugar colonial economies in Brazil
•Colonial Economies of Mainland Spanish Possessions (Mexico and Peru) and Caribbean
© T. M. Whitmore
LAST TIME- Questions?
•Early Spanish settlement patterns
•Urban Morphology in Spanish America
•Social aspects of Spanish colonial settlement
•Portuguese settlement of Brazil
•The sugar plantation economies of Brazil
© T. M. Whitmore
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 depletionVast increase in Afro-origin
population
© T. M. Whitmore
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
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Sugar & Slaves in the Caribbean
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African slavery in Brazil and Caribbean
•Characteristics•Chronology•Geography
BrazilSpanish AmericaCaribbean
•Totals•African origins•Decline of slavery after 1800•Consequences of plantation/slave a
griculture
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Sugar & Slaves1500s – 1700s
~ 4.3 million Africans transported as slaves
To Brazil
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Sugar & Slaves in the Caribbean
~ 1.8 m slaves to Spanish colonies~ 1.7 m slaves to French colonies~ 2.9 m slaves to English colonies
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Slavery In The AmericasBRAZIL ~ 4.3 million
SPANISH AMERICA50% to Cuba (900 k)20% to Mexico (360 k)10% to Venezuela (180 k)20% Columbia, Panama, Ecuador
~ 1.8 million
FRENCH AMERICAMostly to Martinique & Haiti
~ 1.7 million
ENGLISH AMERICA40% to Jamaica (1.2 m)22% to North America (640 k)20% to Barbados (580 k)13% other Caribbean (377 k)
~ 2.9 million
Totals are approximate and probably are underestimates. (nearly 5 m to small Caribbean islands)
~ 10.7 million
© T. M. Whitmore
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 coloniesearly period slave transport ~ 125k
•1600 - 1700 ~ 14% of all slaves transportedtotals transported about 1.3m~ 40% to Brazil, 20% to Spanish
colonies, 38% to N European Caribbean
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Slavery In The Americas 1492- 1880 II
•1700 – 1810 (peak of slave trade)~ 64% of all slaves transportedtotals ~ 6 millionNorth 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 transportedtotals ~ 1.9mBrazil 60%, French Caribbean ~ 5%,
Spanish America ~ 32%
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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
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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
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Sugar & Slaves1500s – 1700s
Minas Gerais
Later SettlementCattle & Tobacco
Paulista or BandeiranteIndian Slave raids
Rio de Janeiro Sâo Paulo
Colonial Brazilian Economies
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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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Mining in Mexico & Peru•Since all minerals are found only in
limited areas, development centered on mining is necessarily not well distributed spatially
•Crown owned all mineral rights
•Mining was an environmental disaster
•Mining was a social disaster for Amerindians
•Gold
•Silver — much more important ultimately than gold by value
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Silver in colonial Spanish America
•European supply low => high value German mines in decline by 1600s
(produced only 850k oz/yr by 1600)Spanish mines annually => 8.5 m
oz!
•Silver is hard-rock mining; much more difficult than for gold => capital and labor; and environmental problems
•Mexican mines
•Potosí
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Potosí
M i n i n g
M i n
i n g
Minas Gerais
Copyright © 1995-2002, Bolivia WebNear Potosí
Copyright © 1995-2002, Bolivia WebNear Potosí
© Doug HardyNear Potosí
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Mexican non-mining colonial economy
•Livestock raisingCattle and horses (large stock)
[ganado mejor]Mexican environment favored stock
raisingControversy regarding environmental
impacts in colonial timesSmall stock [ganado menor]
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Stock Raising
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Mexican non-mining colonial economy II
•WheatDoes not mature well in lowland
tropicsSpanish varieties like dry summers
and wet wintersSolution is to plant in winter and
irrigate where necessary
Wheat
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• Indigenous agriculturedid not adopt many Spanish crops
or large animalsdid use small stock and some
Spanish crops mostly subsistence farming initially
— but over time tribute demanded cash => need to market some crops
Mexican non-mining colonial economy III