O plantation was a system of colonial exploitation used between the 15th and 19th centuries, mainly in the European colonies of America, both Portuguese and in some places in the Spanish colonies and also in the English colonies British. It consists of four main characteristics: large estates, monoculture, slave labor and export to the metropolis.
Through large estates, with their extensive lands, it was possible to produce a single product on a large scale, which is called monoculture. In Brazil, sugar cane was initially used, but later came cotton, tobacco and coffee. They were usually tropical products that were planted on these latifundios.
These products were well received in Europe, which led this production to be destined almost exclusively for foreign trade with European metropolises, supplying the market in those places. This trade guaranteed high profits, and in the Portuguese and Spanish Americas the monopoly of this foreign trade was adopted, a situation that did not occur in the English colonies.
The labor used on the plantation was the slave, almost exclusively composed of enslaved Africans. In addition to being a supply of the labor force, the slave trade generated immense wealth for the slave traders.
Thus, the plantation provided the so-called triangular trade, in which tropical products were sold in the Europe in exchange for cloth, weapons and alcohol, which, in turn, were offered to African merchants in exchange for slaves. These were taken to the colonies to work on monoculture latifundios, which produced tropical products, thus maintaining this commercial cycle.
The plantation also created a social structure of domination centered on the figure of the owner of the latifundium, the lord, who controlled the lives of the people under his jurisdiction. Obviously, the control was not total, as in history the exploited generally create ways to resist and escape exploitation. There were also people who helped in the administration of the latifundiums, indicating that there was not only the existence of the master and the slave.
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The main representation of the plantation is the Casa Grande, the place of residence of the lord and his family. In opposition to the Casa Grande there is the slave quarters, where the slaves lived. There were also houses for free people who helped in the other works of the latifundium. At Casa Grande there was also an interconnection between the master's family and the slaves, who performed the housework, taking care of children and often serving the Lord in various ways, almost always against the will.
Despite the predominance of trade being aimed at foreign markets, it was necessary to produce for the people who inhabited the colony. These needs were not always met with imports alone. Thus, despite being marginal, there was production for an incipient domestic market.
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The plantation was part of what was considered an exploration colony, as opposed to the settlement colony. The example of a settlement colony was the British colonial practice in the north of its colonies in the United States. But this definition consists of a generalization that did not correspond to what actually happened. For example, in Brazil, there was a colonization based almost exclusively on plantations, but settlements were formed and a local market emerged.
The main difference between the form of Iberian and British colonization was actually related to fiscal control, since the English were less strict than the Spanish and Portuguese.
By Tales Pinto
Graduated in History
Would you like to reference this text in a school or academic work? Look:
PINTO, Tales of the Saints. "Plantation, a colonial exploitation system"; Brazil School. Available in: https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/historiab/plantation.htm. Accessed on June 27, 2021.
