Black Southerners and Slavery

Boles writes a history of the slaves of the South from the beginning of slavery until its end after the Civil War. Boles notes that the plantation system that would make use of slave labor was established as early as 1450 by the Portuguese, who created sugar plantations on Madeira and the Canary Islands. The labor shortage on these islands was reaching a crisis because European diseases decimated the native population and there were not enough Muslim prisoners of war when the Portuguese made their first successful forays into the traditional African slave trade.

Boles states that while cotton was a major crop in the South, other crops as well needed slave labor. Advances in the cultivation and manufacturing of sugar took place in Louisiana and turned the southeastern section of the Louisiana territory into a region for wealthy sugar plantations with thousands of slaves. Before the 1790s, sugarcane had been grown for decades in French Louisiana for domestic use and for making rum. production increased in the early 1790s. In 1795, Etienne de Boré imported a skilled sugar maker from Santo Domingo and constructed a modern sugar mill where today stands Tulane University. He started the large-scale cultivation of sugarcane, and this is when the crop started to bear profits. By 1801 there were 75 sugar plantations producing between 4 and 8 million pounds of sugar p

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ves working year-round. Sugarcane cultivation is really a seasonal occupation, but the planter had to keep the slaves working during the slow months to avoid mischief and dissension. The slaves were thus put to work in the fields with hoes instead of plows. Many of the farms had ownership problems in that many planters retired to England and left their estates in the hands of salaried oversees, an arrangement that did not work well. There were too many incentives for the overseer to cheat. In any case, the method of making sugar in this way had economic defects with a relatively low yield. The sugar mills left half the juice in the cane stalks, the boiling process was not effective, the curing process was cumbersome, and much of the sugar as shipped to England still contained molasses. By the standards of the day, though, the system was well-organized and efficient. Klein, Herbert S. African Slavery in Latin America and the Caribbean. New York: Oxford University Press, 1986. Klein covers the Spanish, Portuguese, and French slave trade in Latin America and shows the slave culture that developed in this part of the world. Forced labor systems ar examined as they developed in Europe, Africa, and America. Of particular
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Latin America, Civil War, North America, Africa America, West Indies, Canary Islands, West Indian, Brazilian Caribbean, Tulane University, Kentucky Press, slave trade, slave labor, sugar plantation, sugar industry, sugar plantations, west indies, african slave, african slave trade, latin america, african slaves, planter slaves, lexington kentucky university, sugar plantation economy, sugar plantation system,
Approximate Word count = 1570
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)

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