Brazil was initially home to approximately two and a half million indigenous people, a number that was quickly reduced to near zero by smallpox, measles, and the inhumane labor forced upon them by European colonists. The majority of these Brazilian colonists hailed from Portugal, with large numbers also migrating to the colony from Italy, Germany, and Spain. In addition to the European immigrant population, a total of over eighteen million African slaves were imported into the colony before

In conclusion, the social hierarchies of Brazil and Cuba differed slightly but can trace their origins to the same basic factors and achieved essentially the same results. Both were the result of the proliferation of huge plantations owned by the Portuguese and Spanish colonists, respectively. These wealthy landowners occupied the top positions in society, and their presence both facilitated the immigration of less affluent whites and necessitated the importation of huge numbers of African slaves. While the Brazilians placed more emphasis on financial status and the Cubans stressed racial classifications, the societies’ social structures both ended up with descending classes of prosperous, foreign-born whites (or blacks), Creoles and white workers, persons of mixed ancestry (such as mestizos and mulattoes), and multitudes of oppressed, enslaved blacks. Fortunately these rigid social hierarchies have evolved over time and are, while still existent, much more uncommon and much less powerful in the world that we know today.

the practice was abolished in 1888. The social structure in Brazil was composed of two main sub-hierarchies: those of ethnicity and economic standing. The Brazilian multiracial system was divided, in the broadest sense, into divisions of whites, blacks, and mulattoes, yet dozens of other subtle local or regional classifications existed as well. H

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