Before long, significant
numbers of African slaves were to be found in both Portugal and
Spain. When the South American planters began importing slaves,
slavery already had a framework and a tradition within which the
planter had to operate .
The Spanish Crown devoted a great deal of time and energy to the
supervision of its overseas possessions. Instead of permitting
considerable local autonomy as the British did, the Spanish
Council of the Indies in Madrid assumed a stance of illiberal,
paternal, bureaucratic control. From the point of view of the
colonial capitalists, the cumbersome royal bureaucracy was
always involved in troublesome meddling which impeded their
progress. As part of the careful management of its colonies, the
Crown strove to control the operation of the slave trade.
Similarly, it was concerned with the treatment of the African
slaves within the colonies. The Spanish Crown included the slaves
as persons instead of relegating them solely to the status of
property at the disposal of their owners.
The Church, as a powerful institution, jealously guarded its
right to be the guardian and protector of social morality.
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