O Principal Negócio Da Colônia- 7º Ano - 20/11/2020

Summary

This lesson focuses on the economic role of sugar production in colonial Brazil, starting in 1530. Portugal established sugar plantations (engenhos) that relied heavily on enslaved African labor. The system led to a concentration of wealth and power in the hands of landowners (Senhores de Engenho) while restricting other economic opportunities. The lesson explores the harsh living conditions for slaves, their roles in the production process, and their resistance methods, such as escape and violent rebellion. Despite the dominance of sugar, other industries like cattle farming, tobacco, and cotton were also significant in Brazil’s colonial economy.

Takeaways

• 😀 The main economic activity in colonial Brazil was sugarcane production, which began in 1530, when Portugal established its first colonial enterprise in Brazil.
• 😀 The sugar plantation system, called 'plantations', was organized around large estates controlled by a single landowner, known as 'Senhor de Engenho'.
• 😀 The Portuguese Crown encouraged the establishment of sugar plantations to maximize profits from sugar production, which limited the growth of other industries in Brazil.
• 😀 The social hierarchy of colonial Brazil was centered around sugar production, with enslaved Africans at the bottom, and the landowner (Senhor de Engenho) at the top.
• 😀 Enslaved Africans played a crucial role in the labor system, working in sugarcane fields, processing the sugar, and maintaining plantation infrastructure.
• 😀 The plantation economy was based on 'sesmarias' (land grants), where land could be leased to others for farming in exchange for a share of the profits, known as 'arrendamento'.
• 😀 The sugar mills ('engenhos') were complex operations that included sugarcane fields, processing mills, and housing for workers, with the landowner's house ('Casa Grande') and the slave quarters ('Senzala').
• 😀 Workers had specialized roles such as the 'feitores' (overseers), the 'mestre de açúcar' (sugar master), and the 'purgador' (refiner), each managing different parts of the sugar production process.
• 😀 Slaves resisted their conditions through both organized actions, such as rebellions, and everyday forms of resistance like escape to form quilombos (fugitive slave communities).
• 😀 The conditions for slaves were harsh, with physical punishments and grueling work, and many slaves attempted to escape or rebel against their oppressors, despite severe consequences.

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