.

             Among the initial industries that pumped life into the Brazilian economy was sugar cane, but there were not enough Portuguese colonists, nor native Brazilians, to do the work, so slaves were brought over from Africa beginning in 1538 (61). They were brought in huge numbers; 3.5 million Africans were put into slavery in Brazil over a period of 300 years, Page writes. That number is "six times" the number of slaves shipped to the U.S. The treatment of the male slaves in Brazil appears to be very much like the way in which slaves were treated in the U.S. â€" where cotton was the crop that drove the early American economy â€" which was "appallingâ€like beasts of burden." The women were "forced to slake the carnal appetites of their masters.".

             Corporal punishment "at times sunk to the level of blatant torture" (61). And still today, Page writes (60), "â€racism deeply permeates Brazil's social fabric"; and of every 10 Brazilians, four are black, but "out of every ten poor Brazilians, six are black." On page 86 the author points out that in terms of national priorities, "Brazil's elite have always put their own comfort and enrichment ahead of the native Brazilians' struggles to preserve their way of life.".

             Blacks from Africa were not the only peoples forced to change lifestyles in order to satisfy the economic strategies of the Portuguese. The native Indians were subjected to "involuntary servitude" (87) to work the sugar plantations, which had a "catastrophic impact on native Brazilians." The arrival of more Portuguese and other Europeans, and the slaves brought in, forced some tribes of native people inland, and "put them in conflict with other tribes." The native Indians helped European settlers (conquerors) in other ways: they provided "indispensable service in the opening of the interior of Brazil" (90) through "native guides, bearers, hunters and canoers.