from the influence of the slaveholder. But Degler cites many in-
stances of the church's indifferent attitude concerning mistreatment
of slaves in Brazil. ¹⁴

Slaves in South America also resisted bondage, just as they did
in the Old South. They frequently ran away, hoping to escape from
the routine of forced labor on the plantation. "In Brazil, as in the
United States," running away was "the commonest expression of
slave unrest." ¹⁵ The practice of freeing slaves when they became
old or infirm and were no longer profitable for the owner was a
Brazilian system which was not used in the United States. ¹⁶ Aged
and infirm slaves who were of no value to the slaveholder of the
Old South and could not be sold separately in the open market were
sometimes sold with groups of valuable slaves when an agreement
was made that they were to be included in the purchase. Valueless
slaves usually remained on the plantation and were cared for by the
owner.

In summary, what can be said of the differences in treatment of
the Negro slave on the plantations of the New World? First, it
should be remembered that the reason for the slave's bondage was
economic; the profit motive of the owner was the first considera-
tion in any feeling he held for his bondsman. Quite naturally, he
understood the importance of maintaining the slave with the min-
imal necessities of life to insure a profitable output of work and
return on his investment. Would it not be reasonable to assume,
since the system of slavery was based upon economics, that any
variations in treatment of the Negro slave in North and South
America were slight?

For the black, any view of slavery in the New World must neces-
sarily be a dim one; he was exploited, degraded, and stripped of
his cultural heritage while being molded into a new personality type
to insure his inferior status as a slave. For the slaveholder, there
was every advantage: prestige, a working force to develop a large
estate to sustain a money crop, or a force to be hired out for a
reasonable return, and expectancy of natural increase in his slave
population to enhance the investment in slaves.

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