Maroon Societies in Colonial Brazil Research Paper

Maroon Societies in Colonial Brazil - Research Paper Example This means that they wanted to have their own social, political, religious, and economic organization. It should be noted that once slaves had been recruited by their masters, there was no definite time they would be freed. This means that they were certain of staying in their slavery in their entire lives. However, from the beginning of 1500s, slaves started looking for ways of forming their own free society. It was during this time that the Maroon society came into existence. In this paper, an in-depth outlook on the Maroon society of Brazil will be considered. The considerations will involve a detailed outlook of literature review dealing with the foundation of the community while looking at the political, religious and military aspects of the community. The term Maroon, also Quilombo is used to denote a group of Runways slaves in American. As a result, the runway slaves later came to form a society that is referred to as Maroon. The formation of the Maroon society is an important feature in the history of the world because the society enables the contemporary world to grasp the history of slave trade that begun towards the end of 1400 and ended in 1888. The term Maroon is derived from Spanish word ‘cimarron’ meaning feral cattle. The term was later used on runaway slaves because they were slaves that could no longer be tamed. The societies of Maroon were common in Brazil and Caribbean. The North America and other parts of South America were occupied by the Maroon. The Maroon society posed a serous threat to the organization of slave trade and also to slave owners. Their presence and organization meant that it would not be easy to have slaves for their usual purposes or for trading functions. On the other hand, the maroon society was a relief to slaves. It marked a sign of relief, hope and emancipation from their slavery. Currently, the Maroon community is not known by the term Quilombo. Instead, the community is currently termed as Mocambos. Th e Maroon community had myriads of societies that settled in Brazil. One of the most dominant communities in Brazil was Palmares, also called the palm nation1. This community was formed in early 17th century. The Palmares was well-organized politicaly, socially, and economically. Just like other communities, it was ruled by a king called Zumbi. This community existed for over a decade until it was conquered by the Portuguese. History of the Formation Process of the Maroon Societies As early as 1552, Brazil was practicing slavery in its administration and legal institution. During this time, Brazil was had a large demand for labor for its sugar and tobacco plantations. As a result, the demand for slaves from Africa increased. More slaves were taken from Africa to Brazil. During the period between 1570 and 1670, slavery was at its peak in Brazil. At the same time, brutality was at its peak in the slavery industry. Slaves were beaten, given impossible quotas to meet, and subjected to po or and abusive working and living conditions2. Given these conditions, slaves were forced to look for an escape route from their conditions. Following the harsh slavery conditions, slaves started escaping from the firms in Brazil and forming their own settlements. Despite the escape, slave owners, such Freidrich Won Weech, saw their escape attempts as another process of initiating into a new form of slavery. This is because as soon as they escaped, they were pursued and caught and thereafter subjected to some worse kind of