Brazil's Slave Trade and the Minas Gerais Gold Rush

Introduction: Slaves as Commodities in Colonial Brazil

"Slave owners in Brazil were not unanimous about whether Sudanese slaves from Guinea or the Bantu from Angola were the best; and fashions in slaves, as in other commodities, were not always the same. Broadly speaking, the slaves of Sudanese origin tended to be more intelligent, more robust, and more hard working (when they did work), but they were more rebellious and less disposed to become reconciled to their menial lot. The Bantu, on the other hand, were more cheerful, adaptable, and loquacious, but were not so strong or so resilient to disease" (Charles B., 4).

The excerpt above highlights the central factors that informed the choice of enslaved people and, consequently, the geographical areas targeted by slave traders. Enslaved Africans were treated as commodities whose value was determined by the needs of the slave owner, their physical capabilities, and their perceived innate abilities. They were categorized according to perceived intelligence, capacity for sustained labor, physical build, and the degree to which they could be shaped to the master's requirements.

Categorization and Control of Enslaved Africans

Slave owners purchased people according to this set of characteristics and then attempted to instill whatever qualities they believed a given individual lacked. For instance, if enslaved people were considered rebellious, they were subjected to Christian instruction as a means of pacification. Varying diets were also prescribed depending on the enslaved person's physical build. A foreman would inspect the slave quarters daily to enforce discipline and ensure compliance with field-work schedules. Discipline was imposed severely — and at times sadistically — sometimes resulting in cruel deaths, all in the service of extracting maximum labor and compliance (Charles B., 8).

The categorization of enslaved people continued once they arrived in Brazil. Those deemed more intelligent were made literate and assigned roles as cashiers, clerks, hawkers, and shop assistants (Charles B., 12). The Portuguese colonial authorities were uncompromising in enforcing compliance on the enslaved population. Even the Amerindians of Brazil — widely regarded as ill-adapted to the demands of colonial labor — were not spared; they were forcibly put to work for slave owners (Charles B., 18). In this system, enslaved people were valued strictly for their utility. Those with physical disabilities — crippled limbs, a hunched back, blindness, muteness, or deafness — had no place in the transaction. Enslaved people had to be in sound physical condition, and individual owners fine-tuned them physically, mentally, and spiritually to suit their own requirements.

The Gold Rush in Minas Gerais

"When these deposits were exhausted, or when new comers found them already worked by their predecessors, the prospectors went farther afield, and searched for gold in the rifts and clefts of the neighboring hillside. All the early gold workings were of the placer variety; and only when the alluvial gold was becoming scarce did the miners drive tunnels and shafts into the hillside… As the gold deposits became fewer and deeper, the methods of extraction became more complicated…" (Charles B., 38).

This passage conveys the intensity of the gold rush in Minas Gerais and the lengths to which miners went in order to exploit the mineral. Prospectors employed every available method to extract gold from the landscape. They came in vast numbers, relied heavily on enslaved labor, and spread across an enormous geographical area. They went so far as to divert river courses and construct dams to expose riverbeds for mining. The activity was so extensive that the entire Minas Gerais region became a network of paths crisscrossing from one mine to another (Charles B., 40).