Sugar and Slavery in Portuguese Brazil

Question 1

describe how the engenho agricultural system functioned in Brazil.

Answer 1

-engenho=a sugar mill-represents the complex of land, labor, buildings, animals, capital, and technical skills in relation to production of sugar -combines agricultural and industrial-heavy labor for planting and harvesting cane-specialized people to get the intricacies of sugar making-

Question 2

who was at the top of the Portuguese society?

Answer 2

Portuguese planters and owners were of the privileged class

Question 3

explain why the Portuguese turned to African labor sources

Answer 3

-the people of brazil weren’t sedentary cultivators-they resisted ephors and escaped captors -plus disease killed the indigenous -so they turned to african slaves

Question 4

why was there very little natural reproduction amongst africans in brazil?

Answer 4

-hard work has high mortality rate exceeding births -slaveowners cared more about profits than lives-children required financial outlays for at least 12 years which is a financial loss