The Africans in Costa Rica: Slavery to Prosperity

Sept. 18, 2008 - PRLog -- Like the most of the other Latin American countries, the story of Africans in Costa Rica started from slavery. Be it the agricultural chores or the back breaking work at cacao or the banana plantations, the black population was indispensable in the region. There were significant contributions by the blacks to the economy and the progress of the nation. They formed an important percentage of the inexpensive labor force in Costa Rica.  Because of Costa Rica's location, material, and labor forces in need of work, the real estate developers, like Ed Mercer, (besides low taxation in Costa Rica) found a place to grow. Born in Ontario (Canada), Ed Mercer came to Costa Rica for a for the Iron Man competition in 1988. Not only did he make Costa Rica his home, Ed also came to be fondly known as Mr. Costa Rica for his impeccable contribution in solving the infrastructural problems of the region. A part of each sale of Ed’s real estate company goes towards reforestation efforts and solving such problems galore.

Ed has been induced into the Environmental Hall of Fame for saving the endangered wild life species of Costa Rica. Ed observed that the scarlet macaws were being hunted for their colorful plumage, capuchin monkeys for pet purposes and the sea turtles for eggs. Ed planted thousands of almond trees that served to increase the macaw and the monkey population. Besides, Ed ensured that the sea turtles got the fresh protected beaches to hatch and return to year after year. A self taught entrepreneur, Ed Mercer, one of the best salesmen in the world, showed his true talents when he joined Herbalife Company to earn over $100,000, a month employing the self acquired multilevel marketing strategies.

Committed to the betterment of his society, Ed has been associated with the organizations like Scared Straight, Feed the Child, Missing Child, Crippled Child, battered housewives and the suicide hotlines. A natural flair for being passionate, this caring millionaire Ed Mercer speaks on the topics of Personal Growth and Development, Wealth Enhancement, Mentoring Millionaires, Environment Issues and Costa Rica.

Whether a buyer is interested in buying a vacation home/custom made home or looking out to invest in exotic/ocean view property, Ed’s company offers a wide range of real estate investment properties. Many buyers find their wishes of a dream home (in lush greens overlooking beaches/ a perfect mountain view as per the site) come true. Ed’s team of professional designers, architects and engineers help the buyer envision their own custom made homes respectively with added inputs from the team to optimize the best features of the property and hence get real return in turn for their valuable investment. Ed Mercer considers the formation of his own foundation (Edward R. Mercer foundation) as his greatest achievement. The foundation is devoted to the fact that via ecological conservation and education, a perfect planet for generations can be prepared to be left as a true legacy.

The Spanish brought the first slaves to Ed’s adopted home. With the acquisition of African countries by Spain, the slave trade had already become the norm. The equatorial and the western regions of South Africa were considered being ideal for bringing slaves as robust, physically active and hard working persons were known to hail from such regions. However, slavery was a disintegrating institution as Costa Rica got its independence from Spain in1821.

In 1824, the law for abolition of slavery came to be fully enforced in Costa Rica although the Federal Assembly had passed the law years before. An American hired by the Costa Rican government, Henry Meiggs Keith had been assigned the monumental task of laying down a railroad that shall connect the interiors of the Costa Rica to the coast. It was Henry who first suggested deploying the African population for the twin –purposes of laying down the rail road tracks a well as clearing the forests. However, through their jobs in the banana companies, the economic status of the black population improved overtime around the era of 1920s. After that, their rights were protected as per their own union law and the Africans started prospering in Costa Rica.

For more information about the great humanitarian Ed Mercer and his noble deeds, visit www.mrcostaricasproperty.com