The sociocultural impacts of the coffee industry and slavery on the once monoculture economies of Brazil and Trinidad and Tobago. Throughout its diverse history, Brazil has been moulded by various influences, from its discovery and exploitation by the Portuguese Crown, to becoming the only seat of power of a European nation outside of Europe. Its economy, at present, is known as a successful industry whose foundation was built upon coffee cultivation at the beginning of the 18th century (Skidmore, 49). This practice of monoculture, popular during this time period, was not only employed by the Portuguese in Brazil, but also in the West Indies with sugarcane plantation farming by the British. Coffee and sugarcane were both crops …show more content…
Although slavery became illegal in 1828, Brazil continued to acquire slaves until mid-18th century. During Brazil’s history, it is estimated that over four million slaves were brought to Brazil, the largest contingent of slaves within the diaspora. The road to abolition was marked by the passing of several laws within the internal governing body. However it was only until 1888, that all forms of slavery were declared illegal and the country became a Republic in 1889 (Skidmore, p174). Slavery, as a sociocultural institution has left its mark on Brazil in various ways; African influences can be noted in the speech, culinary arts, music, dance, folklore and traditional garb of Brazilians living especially those on Brazil’s coastline. European immigrants also worked on the latifundistas, contributing to the “whitening” of Brazilian society (Skidmore, …show more content…
African influences can also be seen through the presence of, for example, the ‘Shouta Baptist’ religion, traditional African garb, influences in the dialect and cuisine within the society of Trinidad and Tobago. Descendants of slaves reside in both Brazil and the islands, creating an ethnic demographic that represents their history and also contributing to the ethnic diversity of both countries. Ethnic mixing has also contributed to the social aspect with the intermarriage of the two major ethnic groups in Trinidad and Tobago, similar to Brazilian society. However, the ethnic divide between those of African descent and Europeans is far greater in Brazil than in Trinidad and Tobago. Whilst racism is evident in both countries, Brazilian society is influenced by appearance rather than ethnic history. Individuals with lighter coloured skin tend to be given higher positions as well as occupy a higher place in the social hierarchy although they may be of mixed blood, (Skidmore, 73) this social hierarchy is not as evident in Trinidad, the divide being mainly between the Caucasians and those of darker skin tone, but discrimination is evident amongst the two main ethnic groups, those of African and East Indian descent (Trinidad Express,
2. Sugarcane plantations – The sugarcane plantation was a plantation that had sugar as its main crop. Sugarcane became a popular crop throughout the world. These plantations were all across Brazil. The European workers died quickly while working in the plantations from different diseases.
Phillips (2011) suggests a multilevel framework to analyse racialization in order to engage in a more holistic discussion of the topic and gain a better understanding of the issues. It is argued that for diversity to be effective, it has to be operational at the different levels in which racialization exists and according to Phillips (2011), racialization exists at three levels: the meso, micro and macro levels and inequalities are produced at all levels. She explains
Prior to the Latin American countries gaining independence, the Creole elites expressed great displeasure with the crown and readily equated themselves with the American colonists before gaining independence from Britain. With this ideology, many Creole’s became enfranchised with Anglo-European culture and enlightenment, convinced that this culture would solve their perceived problems. The Latin American Creole’s believed in both Charles Darwin and Spencer, to show that the fittest survive through evolution and that those concepts apply to the society they lived in. Spencer reinforced the belief that science, industry and progress were interlinked, and with the evolution of society their nations would bloom.
The pursuit of economic gain and the spread of religious fervor drove the early settlement in North America. It made a big difference to figure out to what extent economics and religion remained important between 1650 and 1750. Sugar Plantations was the start of the economic gain that was the development that led to an intensification of the Portuguese involvement in the African slave trade. Staple or cash crops were tobacco, sugar, and cotton because they were raised in large numbers in order to be sold for profit. Sugar and Slaves written in 1972 by Richard S. Dunn described the English Life in the Caribbean from over 300 years ago.
Chica da Silva was an Afro-Brazilian slave born Francisca da Silva de Oliveira in 18Th century Brazil to an African mother named Maria da Costa and a Portuguese overseer named Antônio Caetano e Sá. Chica was later sold to João Fernandes de Oliveira a rich Portuguese diamond mine operator, who freed her from slavery and famously became her life long partner. Chica da Silva became known as the slave who became queen because she went from a slave to an elitist which was unheard of during her time. Chica’s life story has fascinated historians and Brazilians alike for centuries with many myths regarding her life.
From the beginning, Africans were important because they accompanied Europeans on their exploratory missions to the Americas (“Episode 6: Effects of the Atlantic Slave Trade on the Americas”,2012). A large proportion of slaves brought to Latin America were taken to Brazil. In fact between the 16th and 19th centuries, 4.8 million enslaved Africans arrived in Brazil (Kahn & Bouie, 2015). According to Natalie Arsenault, Director of Public Engagement at Teresa Lozano Long Institute of Latin American Studies, modern day Brazilian religion, cuisine, dance, and music have roots from the slave trade
(Jewell, 2007, P. 14). As the labor force is impacted by race, income is affected; as class is defined by wealth, colored races are segregated and ranked lower in the hierarchy of social
d., 1989). Scholars who endorse this term maintain that Brazilians do not regard each other through the lens of race, and that therefore race is not a relevant consideration in the study of social inequality. Abdias Nascimento’s ideas stand in direct opposition to this dominant discourse of racial democracy. His writings affirm the continuing importance of race in analyses of political inequality. He also draws attention to the important differences in cultural practice and worldview that emerge from the African ancestry of Brazil’s Afro-Brazilian population in ways that dominant political discourses, in Brazil and elsewhere, are not likely to.
A study indicates that dark-skinned African Americans face a distinct disadvantage when applying for jobs. Matthew Harrison, a doctoral student at UGA undertook the first significant study of "colorism" in the workplace. He found that a light-skinned black male can have only a bachelor's degree and typical work experience and still be preferred over a dark-skinned black male with an M.B.A. and past managerial positions, simply because expectations of the light-skinned black male are much higher, and he doesn't appear as “menacing' as the darker-skinned male applicant.” This finding is possibly due to the common belief that fair-skinned blacks probably have more similarities with whites than do dark-skinned blacks, which in turn makes whites feel more comfortable around them. (Harrison
“Slavery In The Dominican Republic and How It Affected the Natives Racial Identity” By definition the Dominican Republic is a Caribbean Hispaniola Island that is shared with Haiti to the West. The Dominican Republic today is a major tourist destination and has become a major source of sugar, coffee, and other exports. But the Dominican Republic had to suffer a lot in order to prevail the way they did, undergoing being enslaved by the Spaniards while on the other side of the island the Haitians were enslaved by the french hence the obvious difference in languages and cultures. The main difference is that the Dominican Republic lost their racial identity and until the present day are unaware of their true racial identity. Slavery affects every country and person differently but in the Dominican Republic, slavery took away the nation’s identity.
Portugal had control of the slave trade, something that made them very rich and which they utilized in Brazil. The Portuguese used slavery by Bandeirantes, forcing African men to work in sugar plantations in Brazil. Slavery brought the production of commodity to use in trade and as a result capital into the pockets of Spain and Portugal adding to their empires in the new
In other words, race is understood differently around the world. According to the text book, in West Africa, people are categorized into racial groups based on the status of having noble ancestry and not physical features. Also, according to the article, “Defining Race”, race is categorized base on individuals’ social class status and wealth. Furthermore, the invention of race reflects social, economic, and political aspects in society. For example, White American who has white and black ancestry will be considered as black because black slaves are free source of labor, and white population want to increase the number of labor.
In order to keep up with the labor, plantation owners began importing slaves from Africa, which later led to a great mix in the country’s race and ethnicity. Once these sugar plantations began to harvest a successful profit, other European countries, like France and Spain, began to gain more and more interest in the land. This interest led to a great increase in wealth and immigration towards Brazil. These rival colonial
During the time period of 1750 to 1900, the evolution of labor systems in Latin America and the Caribbean’s, changed in regards to the nature of the labor system, but remained the same when it came to the group of individuals, of whom partook in this labor system, and their place in society. In the beginning of this time period, slavery thrived in Latin Americas and the Caribbean’s, specifically on plantations, examples include in cotton and sugar fields. in Brazil and Haiti. The individuals that partook in this slave trade, also referred to as the Trans-Atlantic slave trade, would be the captured Africans. Their role in the trade network, and as people never changed.
This chapter explains the difference between race and ethnicity and how they came about. It also explains the advantages and disadvantages some have due to the creation of race. Race and ethnicity have strong foundations not only within countries, but between them. Globalization has increased the individual’s ethnic identities, but has also put some at disadvantages. Having different races and ethnicities is not an issue, but ranking the different races and putting others at disadvantages creates issues.