Nelson
Due: Lauren 1-30-12
Short Paper 2
Racism dealing with African history was created in a few locations, such as
Iberia, Brazil, Portuguese and North America from the 13th century until the 19th century
due to how people related them to the image of the Devil, their ability to not grow ill
from common diseases in other countries and fear of them rising against the elites.
Africans were already accustomed to a subtle form of slavery from each other, but
racial slavery began in the 13th century, due to the sub-Saharan Arab slave trade that
transferred them to other areas, such as Iberia. These African slaves were utilized for
working the Brazilian sugar plantation and as servants, crop pickers and just about any
other physically demanding job in other countries and even their native land. The great
demand and usage of African slaves in Iberia may be due to how history and peoples
dreams depicted the Devil; since beliefs of the Devil were that he was black, many nonAfricans figured that Africans were sinful and devilish and should be treated as such.
When reviewing the reasons Brazil and Portuguese had for enslaving Africans
beginning in the 1500s, it has been that recorded although they once used Indians, they
found that Africans were immune to more diseases, such as measles, influenza and
smallpox. This reason is what Brazil, Portuguese and North American people all had in
common. Another reason was the view of them by the natives. In their eyes, Africans
were dirty, disgusting and were not as pure. Therefore, they created the Sistema da
Castas; racial classification system.
Beginning around the 1600s, the African slaves were transported to North
America (mainly for plantation work), thanks to the British. Due to the large amount of
newly transported Africans, the whites in North America were afraid of the slaves
rebelling. Once this occurred with white and black slaves joining together, the elites in
power created Slave Codes, which gave the white slaves advantages. Not only that,
these favored slaves were now in a higher social class that was created so that no one
would rebel against the elites. Thus, the white slaves were content, and the elites were
able to stay in power.
To conclude, the history of slavery dealing with Africans is due to fear and their
physical ability to work in areas that many cannot.