This week’s reading provided insight into the development of rights and citizenship within the Americas. The comparison between slavery in the Latin America and slavery in the United States was an important aspect of the reading because it gives the reader a stepping stone to a greater understanding of the situation. The environment and conditions the African slaves were treated in American is somewhat common knowledge so the reader can imagine the extent of the slavery from some previous understanding. 

From this comparison, I was not only able to understand how slavery worked in Brazil, but also how it compared to other infamous instances of slavery within a country. Compared to United States, the slavery in Brazil had its ups and downs. In the United States, race was heavily intertwined with slavery. The main aspect being that the skin colour and origin of the slaves in the United States was the same. In Brazil, however, race and slavery were barely related. In Brazil, any race had the ability to become free, own land, and even own slaves themselves. When it comes to the treatment of the slaves, however, Brazil falls far behind the United States. In the United States, slaves were considered more human and were treated somewhat humanely with the hopes of keeping them alive for longer periods of time so they would do more work. They were also encouraged to have families of their own. However, when I read about the treatment of slaves in Brazil, I was a bit taken by surprise in the worst way possible. Dawson states the working conditions in the fields as horrific and the life expectancy of the slaves after arriving being an extremely short three years. The slave system in Brazil was atrocious even without comparison because they viewed human lives as nothing; they viewed human lives as dispensable.