Many runaway enslaved Africans organised themselves in quilombos in order to negotiate from a position of force to obtain better terms of living under slavery in Brazil.

Many runaway enslaved Africans organised themselves in quilombos in order to negotiate from a position of force to obtain better terms of living under slavery in Brazil. 

For instance in Bahia, Brazil, maroons from the Santana plantation produced a detailed "peace treaty" demanding more land be provided for their gardens and "that they be allowed to sing and dance any time that they chose." 

In Rio de Janeiro they demanded that family members not be separated by sale and that undesired overseers be fired. Settlements of this type were numerous - but short lived.

Photo: Enslaved 19th Century Brazilian tending her 'negotiated garden'