Every colony in seventeenth and eighteenth century Latin America possessed its own unique social structure; these dynamic hierarchies varied from area to area but were markedly consistent ... on the property belonging to the mill owner. Naturally, the proliferation of the Portuguese plantations necessitated a great deal of slave labor and slaves in Brazil, as everywhere else, occupied the bottom-most level in the colonial social hierarchy. While slaves in Brazil were considered citizens, not property, and entertained the rights to marry, buy ... white workers to mulattoes and other citizens ...

• Word Count: 933
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: Graduate