Why did Portuguese traders capture Africans and bring them to Latin America?
1 Answer
Slave labor
Explanation:
The Portuguese had a colony in Brazil. The local indigenous people refused to work on the plantations for the Portuguese. The Portuguese did not want to do the hard manual labor in the hot humid climate. Not only was the work unpleasant many Portuguese died not being well adapted to hard labor in that difficult climate.
The Portuguese had explored Africa and had colonies and outposts all along the coast of Africa. The Portuguese were able to use their influence and contacts in Africa to buy slaves from the warring African tribes and Islamic traders. There was a long standing slave trade between the African and Islamic Empires. The Portuguese were able to use their superior wealth and military might to buy into this trade.
The slaves purchased for very little in Africa were worth a fortune in Latin America. The plantations in Latin America needed laborers. The slave trade bringing Africans to Latin America supplied the needed laborers.
