Generally, at the beginning of studies on the history of colonizationofBrazil, we came across the process of implementing the laborslaveblack in several Brazilian regions, initially, in the cultivation of sugar cane and, later, in the mines of precious metals and stones. The superficial image that remains from this process is that the Portuguese simply landed on the mainland African and, with their weapons, subjected the African peoples to the condition of slaves for forced labor in the Brazil. Well, the story is a bit more complex than that.
THE slavery it is a practice that refers to the existence of the first civilizations in the world. Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, Persians, among others, all enslaved. Above all, they enslaved those who were defeated in wars or who ran into debt and did not honor their commitments. On the African continent, it was no different.
Already in the Ancient Age, there were several civilizations on the African continent that had as one of their practices the slave trade. This practice has intensified over time. In the Middle Ages, new kingdoms formed in Africa, and the slaveryAfrican gained new proportions, especially with the penetration of Muslims in the region. Muslim peoples are among the greatest enslavers in history.
When representatives of the Portuguese Empire launched into the business of trafficking in African slaves, they bought slaves from the African kingdoms themselves that had conquered other kingdoms and tribes neighbors. The Africans themselves made their neighbors their slaves, as they knew of the profitability of the slave trade and the demand that the Overseas Empires had for labor.
The region of Africa that most supplied slaves to the Portuguese was the west coast of the Atlantic Ocean, where the ancient kingdoms of Ghana and Benin. It is estimated that 75% of blacks sold in the slave trade are victims of wars promoted by the powerful kingdoms of Sub-Saharan Africa (region that lies below the Sahara desert), also known as “Africa Black".
By Me. Cláudio Fernandes