Plantation Owner- It is estimated that the South American country of Brazil received over 35% of the overall slaves traded in the transatlantic system. It was in Brazil that the harsh and cruel methods often developed by plantation owners in an attempt to keep their slaves in order, had the time to grow. A plantation owner was the main figure in any plantation in Brazil. More often than not a plantation was handed down from generation to generation. Because of this, the plantation would grow larger and larger. A plantation owner oversaw everything that went on in a plantation. He oversaw the treatment of the slaves, the production of the crops on the plantation, the employment of others who were in control when the slaves were working in the field, and other areas too.

Slave- A slave is a person who is held against their free will, and is viewed as nothing more than property. Slaves were both abducted as free people and sold into slavery, or were born slaves. The Transatlantic slave trade was a predominant example of this, and many of the slaves that were in this exchange came from Africa. Once purchased by a plantation owner, a slave lost any human qualities they had once had, and were treated like animals. Slaves were meant to do the bidding of their master, and if they chose not too, were often punished severely, almost to the point of death.

Brazil wood- Brazil wood is a popular wood that was very popular with the Portuguese when they first arrived on the coast of Brazil. So popular, in fact, the country of Brazil was named after them. Brazil wood was the number one export form Brazil in the time and was used for red dye, often used in the production of luxury textiles, such as velvet. This plant is a orange-red heartwood with very high shine, and is the wood that is most used for the building of bows for stringed instruments such as the cello or violin.

Abolitionist- Abolitionism was the movement to end slavery. The term “abolitionist” derives from this movement, and all though there were many that were for slavery, there were many against it. Some famous abolitionists include Frederick Douglass, a slave that was freed by his master, Harriet Tubman, who escaped her plantation and helped to lead other slaves to freedom by leading them along the Underground Railroad, and Bartolome de las Casas, a priest who fought for the end of slavery for over 50 years. As for the end of slavery in Brazil, in 1888, Queen Isabel, daughter of Pedro II, signed a document stating that slavery was over and any laws that approved slavery were invalid.

Quilombo- A quilombo was a settlement often founded by run away slaves. More often than not, once this type of group was established, others, even people not of African descent, joined and supported these groups. Usually the members who joined were motivated to join by some type of oppression at the time they joined. Another term used to describe these types of settlements is "mocambo", an Ambundu word that means "hideout", even though the locations of many of the quilombos were not a secret. The best known and successful of these quilombos was one in Brazil, known as Palmares. At its height, Palmares had about 30,000 citizens, and was self-sustained. It was established in about 1600, and eventually fell to a Portuguese assault in 1694. Despite its fall, Palmares was an excellent demonstration of the active resistance illustrated by the people of these settlements.