Why did the Portuguese need so many slaves?

Why did the Portuguese need so many slaves?

The expeditions sent by Henry came back with African slaves as a way to compensate for the expenses of their voyages. The enslavement of Africans was seen as a military campaign because the people that the Portuguese encountered were identified as Moorish and thus associated with Islam.

What did the Spanish and Portuguese trade for slaves?

Following their “discovery” of African populations willing to trade valuable commodities such as gold, ivory, wax, peppers, and grain—and slaves—the Portuguese established trading factories (feitorias) at strategic locations.

Why did the Spanish import slaves from Africa?

Slavery in New Spain was based mainly on the importation of slaves from Africa to work in the colony in the enormous plantations, ranches or mining areas of the viceroyalty, since their physical consistency made them suitable for working in warm areas.

Why did early Spanish and Portuguese settlers force African people to work as slaves in Latin America?

Why did early Spanish and Portuguese settlers force African people to work as slaves in Latin America? They needed labor for sugarcane and coffee plantations. Europeans sought to replace the indigenous people forced to work as slaves after many were killed by diseases.

What did the Portuguese use slaves for?

Initially, the Portuguese used enslaved Africans in their sugar plantation, built in Madeira, a Portuguese island off the western coast of Africa. Later in 1481, the first slave fort, “Elmina Castle,” was built off the coast of modern Ghana which served as the headquarters for Portuguese slave traders.

How did the Portuguese initially acquire African slaves?

Initially, Portuguese explorers attempted to acquire African labor through direct raids along the coast, but they found that these attacks were costly and often ineffective against West and Central African military strategies.

What did the Portuguese trade for slaves?

Portuguese traders procured not only captives for export, but also various West African commodities such as ivory, peppers, textiles, wax, grain, and copper.

What did the Spanish use slaves for?

Many historians have concluded that Renaissance and early-modern Spain had the highest amount of African slaves in Europe. After the discovery of the New World, the Spanish colonialists decided to use it for commercial production and mining because of the absence of trading networks.

How did the Spanish justify slavery?

Two of the principal arguments used to justify the enslavement of Amerindians were the concepts of “just war” (i.e. the notion that anyone who refused to accept Christianity, or rebelled against Spanish rule, could be enslaved), and “rescate” or ransom (the idea that Amerindians held captive by other groups could be …

When did Spain start slavery?

Spain began to trade slaves in the 15th century and this trade reached its peak in the 16th century. The history of Spanish enslavement of Africans began with Portuguese captains Antão Gonçalves and Nuno Tristão in 1441.

How did the Portuguese contribute to the slave trade?

The travels of Portuguese traders to western Africa introduced them to the African slave trade, already brisk among African states. Seeing the value of this source of labor in growing the profitable crop of sugar on their Atlantic islands, the Portuguese soon began exporting African slaves along with African ivory and gold.

What did the Spanish get in exchange for slaves?

Slave-trading African states accepted a variety of European goods, including firearms, horses, and other desirable goods in exchange for slaves. Both the Spanish and the Portuguese colonized the Atlantic islands off the coast of Africa, where they engaged in sugar cane production following the model of Mediterranean production.

What was the role of slavery in the Roman Empire?

The Roman Empire extensively utilized chattel slavery for labor, private property that could be disposed at will, and slaves’ status was specified in the Code of Justinian, but slaves’ ethnicity or race was not specified. With the rise of Christianity, the status of slaves was not altered, but slaves were to be converted to Christianity.

Why was slavery legalized in the Spanish colonies?

Resistance to indigenous captivity in the Spanish colonies produced the first modern debates over the legitimacy of slavery. And uniquely in the Spanish American colonies, laws like the New Laws of 1542, were enacted early in the colonial period to protect natives from bondage.