A ''fazenda'' () is a

plantation Plantations are farms specializing in cash crops, usually mainly planting a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Plantations, centered on a plantation house, grow crops including cotton, cannabis, tob ...

found throughout Brazil during the colonial period (16th - 18th centuries). They were concentrated primarily in the northeastern region, where sugar was produced in the ''engenhos'', expanding during the 19th century in the southeastern region to

coffee Coffee is a beverage brewed from roasted, ground coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content, but decaffeinated coffee is also commercially a ...

production. Nowadays ''fazenda'' denotes any kind of

farm A farm (also called an agricultural holding) is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is used fo ...

Brazilian Portuguese Brazilian Portuguese (; ; also known as pt-BR) is the set of Variety (linguistics), varieties of Portuguese language native to Brazil. It is spoken by almost all of the 203 million inhabitants of Brazil and widely across the Brazilian diaspora ...

and occasionally in other Portuguese varieties as well. ''Fazendas'' created major export commodities for Brazilian trade, but also led to intensification of

slavery in Brazil Slavery in Brazil began long before the Colonial Brazil, first Portuguese settlement. Later, colonists were heavily dependent on indigenous labor during the initial phases of settlement to maintain the subsistence economy, and natives were of ...

. Coffee provided a new basis for

agricultural expansion Agricultural expansion describes the growth of agricultural land ( arable land, pastures, etc.) especially in the 20th and 21st centuries. The agricultural expansion is often explained as a direct consequence of the global increase in food and e ...

in southern Brazil. In the provinces of

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

and then

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

, coffee estates, or ''fazendas'', began to spread toward the interior as new lands were opened. By 1850 coffee made up more than 50% of Brazil's exports, which amounted to more than half of the world's coffee production. Along with the expansion of coffee growing came an intensification of slavery as the country's primary form of labor. More than 1.4 million

Africans The ethnic groups of Africa number in the thousands, with each ethnicity generally having their own language (or dialect of a language) and culture. The ethnolinguistic groups include various Afroasiatic, Khoisan, Niger-Congo, and Nilo-Sahara ...

were forced into slavery in Brazil in the last 50 years of the slave trade, and even after the

trans-Atlantic slave trade The Atlantic slave trade or transatlantic slave trade involved the transportation by slave traders of enslaved African people to the Americas. European slave ships regularly used the triangular trade route and its Middle Passage. Europeans est ...

ended, slavery continued in the country until 1888, when it was abolished by the so-called

Golden Law Golden means made of, or relating to gold. Golden may also refer to: Places United Kingdom *Golden, in the parish of Probus, Cornwall *Golden Cap, Dorset * Golden Square, Soho, London *Golden Valley, a valley on the River Frome in Gloucestersh ...

. Because of the increased profit from the coffee trade, the years after 1850 saw considerable growth and prosperity in Brazil. Railroads, steamships and telegraph lines were introduced in Brazil, all paid for by the money the ''fazendas'' supplied from their coffee crop. In growing cities such as

and

, a middle class consisting of merchants, lawyers and an urban working class grew, once again, paid for by the money coming from the ''fazendas''.

Modern forced labour practices

More than 130 years after the end of slavery, forced labour practices in Brazil still occur in both rural and urban areas, mainly through

debt bondage Debt bondage, also known as debt slavery, bonded labour, or peonage, is the pledge of a person's services as security for the repayment for a debt or other obligation. Where the terms of the repayment are not clearly or reasonably stated, or whe ...

schemes. In rural areas, workers are detained on farms until they pay their debts, which are often fraudulently incurred. Their identity documents and work permits are often seized by the employer. They are often under surveillance of armed guards. Those who protest are physically threatened; if they try to escape, they may be killed.Combating Forced Labour in Brazil
International Labour Organization (ILO).

References

{{Economy of Brazil Coffee production Colonial Brazil Debt bondage European colonization of South America History of agriculture in Brazil Plantations Slavery in Brazil History of coffee

Modern forced labour practices

See also

References