little competition from immigrants from Europemaking them necessary as freemen even outside of slavery. Climate, disease, economic conditions and geographic location were critical to slavereproduction, mortality, productivity and resistance. For instance, a highly capitalized, fairlynew plantation would equate to harsher conditions for a slave as the owner tried to eak. out asmuch profit from the plantation as possible. If economic times were bad then slaves werepushed less as the profit increase was not available in depressed economies. At the same time itmight benefit an owner to divest of weaker workers and so manumission possibilities increased.Slaves isolated from family life and culture working in miserable conditions were often flightrisks as they had no real options and the terrain lent to good hiding. There were also no whitesaround to hire as cheap labor to search them out and return them. Mulatto and Criollo slaveswere higher on the socioeconomic ladder than the Bozal and were therefore less likely to resistas they were a step away from freedom which meant they would not consider fleeing as good anoption as remaining in the social circle and family they had established. Slavery under any conditions is not the optimum existence for human beings. It is a factthat human nature seeks to dominate. Greed and money are often at the root of such efforts. TheIsraelites, the Irish, the Africans, and enumerable other groups have heritage that includes aperiod of slavery or of enslaving or both. African Cimarron communities even enslaved otherAfrican fleeing the plantations. It is not rooted in race as much as it is rooted in human nature.The preceding essay is just a synopsis of how it functioned for African’s in certain regionsduring a space in history....
