THE abolition of slavery, which happened in Brazil in May 13, 1888, it was one of the most important events in our history. This was a subject that crossed the political debate in Brazil throughout the 19th century, and abolition only happened through a popular campaign allied to slave resistance.
With abolition, slaves won their freedom and their former owners did not receive any compensation for that. A very important question that arises from this subject is: How was the life of ex-slaves after the Golden Law? Thus, in this text we will try to bring some clarifications about the living conditions of freedmen after May 13th.
Context
First of all, it is necessary to understand a little of the post-abolition context. The struggle to end slavery in the country was something that lasted throughout the nineteenth century. Throughout that century, slaves resisted in different ways and in different parts of the country. be through leaks, either through riots, the slaves demonstrated their dissatisfaction several times.
Slavery in Brazil was an institution that existed since the mid-16th century, having been introduced by the Portuguese during the colonization. with our Independence, this institution grew and became deeply present in our society. The number of slaves who entered Brazil via the slave trade, from the 19th century onwards, shows this.
Three important data that reinforce the presence of the slave trade in Brazil are:
In the first half of the 19th century, around 1.5 million Africans landed in Brazil;|1|
Between 1831 and 1845, around 470,000 Africans were sent to Brazil through the drug trade;|2|
Between 1841 and 1850, 83% of Africans sent to America came to Brazil.|3|
The first step towards the abolition of slavery in our country came with the prohibition of trafficking through the Eusébio de Queirós Law, in 1850. This law was approved as a way to avoid a conflict with England – a country that had been pressuring Brazil for decades to end the slave trade. If you are interested in knowing more about the overseas slave trade, access this text: slave trade.
The prohibition of the slave trade started a slow process that resulted in the abolition of slavery almost four decades later. The abolitionist movement gained real strength in Brazilian society from the 1870s. The mobilization for the end of slavery took place at different levels and had the participation of intellectuals, classespopular and, mainly, with the involvement of the slaves.
Also access:Caifazes and the popular struggle for abolitionism in the 19th century
The slaves organized and prepared individual or mass leaks and, for this, they met in quilombos that grew around the big cities. Other times they organized riots against their masters. The African resistance had the support of society groups that sheltered it when it was on the run, encouraged it to rebel, gave legal support, defended the cause politically, etc.
The weakening of slavery in Brazil, a result of the efforts of the abolitionist movement, is clearly identified through the population of slaves that decreased considerably throughout the 19th century, according to a survey by historian João José kings|4|:
1818: 1.930.000
1864: 1.715.000
1874: 1.540.829
1884: 1.240.806
1887: 723.419
At the end of the 1880s, the maintenance of slavery was practically unfeasible, since at the same time it affected the international image of Brazil (the last country in the America to still use slave workers), affected the internal order of the country, as the Empire could no longer control the situation and the escapes were frequent.
Thus, on May 13, 1888, the Golden Law. This law was first passed in the Senate and then forwarded to the princess regent, Princess Isabel, sign it. The Lei Áurea guaranteed freedom for slaves immediately, and slave owners did not receive any compensation.
With this law, freedmen were now free to seek a better life. The life of post-abolition slaves it was not easy, mainly due to the fact that prejudice in society was evident and because there were no measures to integrate them economically into society. Below, let us see how the immediate context of the life of slaves was like after abolition.
Read too: Six Fun Facts About Princess Isabel
the day after abolition
On the day that the Lei Áurea was being approved, the popular expectation in the streets of Rio de Janeiro was gigantic and people gathered around the Senate and the Imperial Palace. The agglomeration of people counted on the realization of marches by abolitionist groups, as pointed out by historian Walter Fraga.|5|
After being approved in the Senate, the Lei Áurea was sent to be signed by Princess Isabel — which took place in the mid-afternoon of May 13, 1888. As soon as the news came out that the abolition of slavery had been decreed, the party spread by the capital of Brazil. The celebration in Rio de Janeiro was so big that it lasted for seven days.
The celebration in the capital mobilized thousands of people and this scenario was repeated in other large cities in Brazil, as was the case in savior and Recife. In both cities, street commemorations were held, which included demonstrations by associations abolitionists, fireworks, parade of bands and the involvement of thousands of people who partied for days.
The festivals in both states merged with other popular celebrations typical of these places. In the case of Salvador, the commemoration of abolition was mixed with celebrations on July 2, 1823 (the date on which Bahia achieved its independence from Portugal in the context of independence wars), and in the case of Recife, the commemorations of abolition were associated with March 25, 1884 (the date when slavery was abolished in Ceará).|6|
The party in the three places mentioned was attended by freedmen and were as effusive as the records count because, as explained by the historian Walter Fraga, symbolized the popular victory and brought a strong expectation for better days for the slaves and for the whole parents.|7|
This concern and this desire for better days are very well represented by a record retrieved by historian Wlamyra Albuquerque. In this record, a group of freedmen from Paty do Alferes, in Rio de Janeiro, wrote a letter to Rui Barbosa showing concern for the future of her children: “Our children lie immersed in profound darkness. It is necessary to clarify them and guide them through instruction”.|8|
The report in question is from 1889 and shows great concern for the future of the children of slaves born after the law of the free womb, of 1871, and with the lack of instruction given to them. This clearly demonstrates that ex-slaves were concerned about their future and the lack of government actions to promote better living conditions for freedmen after 1888.
How was the life of ex-slaves after the Golden Law?
The first great reaction of freedmen with the Golden Law was, of course, celebrate. As the news spread, big celebrations were held and parties took place both in big cities and in rural areas of Brazil. Once the euphoria had passed, the new situation led the freedmen to look for better alternatives to to live, and Walter Fraga, using the scenery of the Recôncavo Baiano, says that one of the reactions of the freedmen was move from place.|9|
Thus, many slaves ended up abandoning the farms on which they were enslaved and moving to others or to cities. These ex-slaves migrations happened due to multiple factors. The freedmen moved to distance themselves from the places where they were enslaved, or else they went to other places look for relatives and settle down together with those or even Search forbetter salaries, as described by Walter Fraga.
These migrations, in most cases, were an action more carried out by young men, as they had better chances of settling in a land to cultivate it. Women who had children and the elderly were less likely to migrate in search of better conditions.
The migration of ex-slaves generated a reaction from large landowners and authorities at that time, bringing them a lot of dissatisfaction, especially because the former no longer accepted the degrading working conditions that existed before 1888 and because they were always looking for better salary. Thus, the large landowners, especially in the interior of the country, began to pressure the authorities to repress this movement.
As a result, groups of ex-slaves who migrated began to suffer from repression and were being taxed from loitering and vagabond. This measure focused, above all, on freedmen who were more insubordinate and who tended not to accept the conditions imposed by the large landowners.
Also access:The trajectory of three great defenders of abolitionism in Brazil
Often too, the large planters and former slave owners prevented freed slaves from making their changes. Many of these were physically threatened so that they would not move, and another strategy used was to take over the guardianship of the children of former slaves. Countless large landowners sued the courts to have guardianship over the children of freedmen and thus forced these to remain on their property. There were even cases of children of freedmen who were kidnapped.
There were slave owners who did not accept to pay salaries to ex-slaves, but there was a lot of resistance on the part of freed slaves in this regard. After the Golden Law, the freed began to question the conditions offered to them and this attitude came to be seen as insolence. The repression mentioned above was a response by the large farmers to this.
If the freedmen did not find conditions that pleased them, and if they had other conditions, migration was always an option. The required payments were made daily or weekly and the workday was supposed to have a limit. Those who moved to the cities ended up learning different trades, such as carpentry, cigar maker (cigar maker), servant, bricklayer, etc. Women, in most cases, assumed positions related to domestic care.
Right after the abolition of slavery, one of the most important issues, and which was defining to guarantee the maintenance of the freedman as a marginal and subordinate individual in the social pyramid, was the land question. Agrarian reform was not carried out and, thus, the vast majority of the 700,000 freedmen, from 1888 onwards, did not have access to land, these being forced to subject themselves to the low wages offered by the big owners.
THE lack of access to education by the freedmen, as mentioned in a previous quote, was a concern for them and was a fundamental issue for keep this marginalized group. Without access to study, this group remained without opportunities to improve their lives.
After abolition, many freedmen ended up choosing to return to the African continent, given the difficulties encountered here for them. All the difficulties, however, were not an impediment to making the freedmen remember and celebrate May 13th as a milestone in Brazilian society.
|1| KINGS, John Joseph. We find ourselves in the field dealing with freedom: the black resistance in nineteenth-century Brazil. In: MOTA, Carlos Guilherme (Org.). trip incomplete: the Brazilian experience. São Paulo: Senac, 1999. P. 245.
|2| ARAÚJO, Carlos Eduardo Moreira. End of trafficking. In: SCHWARCZ, Lilia Moritz and GOMES, Flávio (Org.). Dictionary of slavery and freedom. São Paulo: Companhia das Letras, 2018. P. 232.
|3| SCHWARCZ, Lilia Moritz and STARLING, Heloísa Murgel. Brazil: a biography. São Paulo: Companhia das Letras, 2015. P. 274.
|4| KINGS, John Joseph. We find ourselves in the field dealing with freedom: the black resistance in nineteenth-century Brazil. In: MOTA, Carlos Guilherme (Org.). trip incomplete: the Brazilian experience. São Paulo: Senac, 1999. P. 245.
|5| SON, Walter Fraga. Post-abolition: the next day. In: SCHWARCZ, Lilia Moritz and GOMES, Flávio (Org.). Dictionary of slavery and freedom. São Paulo: Companhia das Letras, 2018. P. 352.
|6| Idem, p. 354.
|7| Idem, p. 353.
|8| ALBUQUERQUE, Wlamyra. Abolitionist social movements. In: SCHWARCZ, Lilia Moritz and GOMES, Flávio (Org.). Dictionary of slavery and freedom. São Paulo: Companhia das Letras, 2018. P. 333.
|9| SON, Walter Fraga. Migrations, itineraries and hopes for social mobility in the Bahian Reconcavo after abolition. notebooks — work and politics. Accessed on: 30 Apr. 2019. To access, click on here.
By Daniel Neves
Graduated in History
Source: Brazil School - https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/historiab/como-ficou-vida-dos-ex-escravos-apos-lei-aurea.htm