THE abolition of slavery in Brazil it was a belated achievement, which took place on May 13, 1888, with the signing of the Golden Law. This event was the result of intense popular mobilization so that black slavery ceased to exist in the country. This mobilization was part of the abolitionist movement that grouped people from different classes of society against slavery.
Read more:Learn details about the overseas slave trade that existed in Brazil until 1850
Abolitionist movement in the 19th century
The abolitionist movement, which emerged in the 19th century, played a fundamental role in the approval of the Lei Áurea, in 1888. This movement brought together people from different groups in society who acted in different ways to defend the end of black slavery in Brazil. Within the abolitionist movement is also the resistance of the slaves.
The abolitionist movement gained strength in Brazil from the 1870s onwards and this is well exemplified by the fact that, between 1868 and 1871, 25 associations advocating abolition emerged in the country |1|. During this period, the ways in which these groups acted against slavery were diverse. The growth of the abolitionist agenda also occurred in Brazilian politics, although resistance was still great.
These associations brought together people who debated strategies and who acted publicly in defense of abolitionism. These associations brought together people who played an important role in the defense of abolition as AndrewReboucas, Luísgamma, JosephofSponsorship, AbilioCaesarBorges, JoaquimNabuco, between others.
The associations continued to grow in the 1870s and 1880s and only between 1878 and 1885, 227 abolitionist associations emerged in Brazil in the country|2|. These abolitionist associations organized conferences that debated the cause, held public events, encouraged slaves to flee, sheltered runaway slaves, transported runaways to safer places etc.
There were abolitionists and associations that wrote leaflets and publicized them, as was the case of “abolitionism”, written by Joaquim Nabuco, in 1883. Newspapers were also an important resource in promoting the cause, and newspapers like the abolition, the Federalist it's the Jornal do Commercio published texts with pro-abolition articles.
The abolitionist movement gained two facets in the 19th century: one that acted through legal means and the other radical, that acted through illegal actions (according to the law of the time). Among the legal actions were the distribution of pamphlets, publication of articles, holding public events, opening lawsuits, etc. Among the illegal actions were the civil disobedience actions against slavery.
Abolitionists encouraged slaves to flee and helped them by providing them with shelter or transporting the escapees to states like Ceará (which abolished slavery in 1884), or quilombos that were in the vicinity of the place that acted.
Abolitionist attacks were organized who “stole” the slaves and then took them to safe places and set them free. | There were even cases where abolitionist groups advocated an armed uprising to end slavery.
Among the abolitionist associations, the most prominent was the Abolitionist Confederation, created in 1883 by José do Patrocínio and André Rebouças, who advocated abolition without compensation for slave owners. The Abolitionist Confederation played an extremely important role and coordinated the campaign for the liberation of slaves at the national level.
In the 1880s, slave flight and revolts became common in Brazil and were supported by abolitionists.
The action of the abolitionist movement encouraged slaves to rebel against their masters, and numerous reports show us that the action of slaves went from individual escapes to collective escapes and constants as a way to put pressure on their owners. There were also slave revolts against their masters, which resulted in the death of their owner and his family.
The actions of slaves, in this context, were seen by historian Walter Fraga as anti-systemic rebellion, that is, the action of the slaves aimed at breaking with the slave system and conquering their freedom. This action happened because the slaves realized that the action of the abolitionist movement weakened the institution of slavery in the country|4|.
Many of the fleeing slaves gathered in quilombos, and places such as Rio de Janeiro and Santos were surrounded by several quilombos that emerged as the slaves fled. One of these quilombos - the Quilombo do Leblon – he became known for having “created” the symbol of abolitionism in Brazil: the camelliaWhite. This flower became a symbol of the cause and wearing it on a brooch or growing it at home became a sign of support for abolitionism.
In the long run, the joining of the abolitionist movement to the resistance of the slaves managed to force the Empire to pass the Golden Law, on April 13, 1888, which decreed the abolition of slavery immediately and without compensation.
abolitionist laws
As the abolitionist movement gained strength in Brazilian politics, changes were taking place, but slowly. In the interest of extending current slavery as much as possible, slaveholders advocated a transition gradual and, for this, the abolitionist laws had an important weight, as they ensured this graduality in the transition.
During the period 1850-1888, that is, the period between the Eusébio de Queirós Law and the Áurea Law, two abolitionist laws were approved: the law of the free womb, from 1871 and the LawFromSexagenarians, from 1885. Each of the laws decreed the following:
law of the free womb(1871): declared that every child of a slave born after 1871 would be free after a certain period of time. According to this law, the slave's son could be released at the age of eight and the owner would receive compensation of 600 thousand réis or else he could be released at twenty-one, and the owner would not receive indemnity.
Sexagenarian Law(1885): stated that every slave over the age of sixty would be freed after working for three years as a form of compensation.
Also access:Understand the life of ex-slaves after the abolition of slavery
Who were the leaders of the abolitionist movement?
The abolitionist movement did not have the leadership of one person in articulating the cause as a whole, but it counted with the involvement and leadership of different people who acted in different ways, in different spaces and regions. Among these people we can highlight the following names:
JoaquimNabuco: abolitionist who tried to win the support of European abolitionists and was an advocate of carrying out agrarian reform after abolition.
AndrewReboucas: engineer and black who was treasurer of the Abolitionist Confederation.
JosephofSponsorship: black and journalist who wrote the manifesto of the Abolitionist Confederation.
Luísgamma: black, sold into slavery by his father. After winning his freedom, he became a journalist and a shyster (untrained lawyer).
|1| ALONSO, Angela. Political processes of abolition. In.: SCHWARCZ, Lilia Moritz and GOMES, Flávio (eds.). Dictionary of slavery and freedom. São Paulo: Companhia das Letras, 2018, p. 359.
|2| Idem, p. 360.
|3| FRAGA, Walter. Crossroads of freedom: stories of slaves and freedmen in Bahia (1870-1910). Rio de Janeiro: Brazilian Civilization, 2014, p. 49-50.
|4| Idem, p. 84.