Brazil received about 38 percent of enslaved Africans, making it one of the largest slave countries in the Americas-perhaps half of its population of four million were in slavery. The demand for slaves came mainly from sugar plantations, which were vast rural enterprises. Each plantation-or engeno-had both sugar fields and sugar refineries. Some were so large they even had their own chapel and resident priest.
A slave's work in Brazil was as difficult and miserable as elsewhere in the Americas, but their fate was not always as grim. The Catholic Church ensured better treatment by encouraging proper church marriages among slaves and opposing the separation of families. Since Brazil's Portuguese colonists were less prejudiced about race and color than their North American counterparts, free blacks were able to reach positions of power and authority more easily.
Today, much of Brazil's culture can be traced back to Africa. The famous Carnival celebration, for example, blends African and Roman Catholic traditions.
Now learn about other destinations of the slave trade, or go to the Forum to
discuss the slave trade and its impact on history.
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