Slavery

Abstract

For almost a century and a half during the colonial period — 1680–1810 — the Colombian Chocó became an important source of gold in the Spanish empire. But guarded by towering mountains and dense tropical rain forests, the Chocó is an area of heat, humidity, jungle, rivers, and rainfall. Because of geography and climate the Spanish themselves rarely attempted colonization, although those who came succeeded in extracting millions of pesos’ worth of precious yellow metal. These same Spanish officials and mine owners constituted a ruling elite exhibiting little interest in anything other than accumulating wealth. Laws were violated, Indians and blacks mistreated, and bullion was produced in large quantities.