6. Describe the impact and long lasting effects of sugar plantations.

Colonial Brazil’s main export was sugar- which was produced using an engenho. However, entrepreneurs and plantation owners faced the problem of low manpower- and when they tried a system similar to the Spanish’s mita system, the people resisted their attempts. And so Brazil had instead imported slaves from Africa to work their sugar plantations. While the plantations brought in the majority of Brazilian income, it came at the cost of brutal working conditions, as slaves were hardly cared for in terms of survival essentials, were given laborious and dangerous tasks, and would be punished for inefficiency. All this caused a large number of African slaves to die annually- approximately 5-10%. Africans also impacted the local ethnicity greatly, as they not only were brought to Brazil, but also reproduced there.