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.