cess tomoney and as a result could negotiate there freedom for a price. In 1732 1/3 of the Africanpopulation of Choco was free as a result. Less fortunate slaves who found the conditionsunbearable fled to even more isolated areas of the back country to survive on their own or insmall colonies.The Sugar plantations of Northern Brazil were a major client of the slave trade. Themore temperate climate made of better environmental conditions for the blacks but the work washard and after working for the plantation the slaves had to work a spot of land for their ownsustenance as well. They could sell what they produced and this gave them money with which toeffect manumissions. The plantation life had a hierarchy that separated the slaves into threelevels with value attached to each one. The lowest level of the hierarchy was the “Bozal.” These were slave born on the African continent with little or no acculturation with the Spaniardsand Portugese who enslaved them. They were of the least value as the least skilled and plentythere were plenty more where they came from. Though they were not completely disposablethey were of the least consequence should they die or run off. Next up the pecking order were the “Ladino.” These slaves had more time in countryand had developed skills useful to the plantation owner. They were often in working positionsof a bit higher value as well. The top of the chain were the “Criollo.” These were slaves that were born in LatinAmerica. They were often times offspring of Spaniards or Portugese and as such had more tiesto the community. Mulatto’s were not looked down upon as they were in the American south.The Criollo held trusted positions in transportation, and were most often manumitted. Alsoenjoying frequent manumission was the criollo involved in the processing of the crops. Field hands made up the bulk of the population of any given plantation. They were most...
