The Plantation

Key Questions:
- How did slavery emerge in the Caribbean?
- How did Caribbean slavery contribute to the British industrial revolution?
- According to Eric Williams, what brought about the abolition of slavery in the British Empire?

Slavery played a significant role in the rise of British industrial capitalism.
The initial support for slavery was facilitated by mercantilism, which was dismantled post-American Revolution.
Post-revolution, industrial capitalists in Britain sought to abolish mercantilism to establish trade with the United States, prompting their opposition to slavery.

By the mid-19th century, enslaved individuals contributed significantly to global agriculture:
- Enslaved individuals produced one-third of the world’s sugar primarily from Cuba.
- Half of the world’s coffee came from Brazil, produced by enslaved labor.
- Enslaved people generated three-quarters of the world’s cotton in the United States.

Technological Influence:
- The invention of the Cotton Gin by Eli Whitney in 1794 (visible in a museum).

British Tariff Policy:
- Britain lowered tariffs on foreign coffee, sugar, and coffee to stimulate industrial expansion.
Haitian Revolution:
- The revolution led to self-emancipated Black soldiers who expelled the French army, destroying a valuable sugar colony.
Proslavery Politics:
- Political maneuvering favored the continuation of slave labor.

For enslavers in the Americas, the aforementioned circumstances represented a tremendous profit opportunity.

Enslavers confronted the aftermath of the most violent slave revolution in history, fearing a "race war."
White Americans aimed to create conditions that would make slavery "safe" to ensure stability.

A crucial trigger for the Haitian Revolution was a decree from the French government that provided explicit constitutional protections for slavery.
This led other enslavers to believe that implicit constitutional protections were similarly necessary.
Notably, James Madison, one of the framers of the U.S. Constitution, was a key figure in this discourse.

Labelled as "The Politics of Silence," no public participation was permitted at the Convention.
Explicit mention of the term "slave" was systematically removed from the Constitution.

The Spanish Constitution (1812):
- Used the term "traffic in slaves" instead of referring to "the importation of such people."
- Voting rights were limited to "Spaniards" of Spanish ancestry, effectively excluding Africans.
The Brazilian Constitution (1824):
- Adopted a federal structure with state representation based on population, without clarification on the inclusion of enslaved individuals.
- Those not classified as "brasileiros" were excluded from citizenship rights.

The structure of the early United States was heavily influenced by slaveowners:
- 11 out of the first 16 Presidents were slaveowners.
- 17 out of the first 28 Supreme Court Justices were affiliated with slavery.
- 84 out of the first 134 Foreign Ministers supported slave interests.

Key impacts on enslaved individuals include:
- Forced Migration: Major shifts in population dynamics among enslaved individuals.
- Increased Exploitation: Higher levels of forced labor and economic demand.

The distribution of enslaved populations altered significantly due to both the transatlantic and internal slave trades:
- In Brazil, movement was primarily from the north to southeastern areas.
- In the U.S., there was a shift from the mid-Atlantic states to the southeast region.

A significant transfer of enslaved individuals occurred:
- From 1551 to 1875, over 4 million enslaved individuals were brought from Western Africa to the eastern coast of Brazil.
- Over 1 million of these enslaved individuals entered during the first half of the 19th century, particularly 700,000 between 1830 and 1850.

This led to major demographic shifts and a transformation in where enslaved populations resided within both Brazil and the United States.

Key Factors:
- Slave Resistance: Organized and spontaneous resistance against enslavement.
- The U.S. Civil War: Influenced Brazilian perspectives on slavery and instigated change.

Those resorting to homicide were often slaves forcibly separated from their home regions and family networks, struggling to adapt to the intensive labor environments of coffee plantations.
Many of these slaves resisted attempts by planters or overseers to increase their workload, leading to acts of violence.

Impacts of the U.S. Civil War inspired large rebellions among enslaved populations in Brazil.

Key historical milestones contributing to the end of slavery:
- In 1870, the Spanish Empire declared that all children born to enslaved mothers would be free.
- Brazil similarly enacted legislation in 1871, marking a significant shift toward abolition.
- Following these measures, slavery faced inevitable decline across the hemisphere.

The phenomenon of “Second Slavery” emerged due to:
- Changes in the British Tariff policies.
- The ripple effects of the Haitian Revolution.
- Political maneuvers favoring the sustenance of slavery.
Two primary consequences for enslaved people were:
- Forced Migration due to changing economic needs.
- Increased Exploitation in labor conditions.
The ultimate abolition of slavery was attributed to:
- Continuous Slave Resistance.
- Influences from the U.S. Civil War.