O Abolitionism it is the movement that emerged at the end of the 18th century, in Europe, with the objective of putting an end to slavery.
In Brazil, the ideal emerged in force in the second half of the 19th century and collaborated with the end of slavery in the country.
Popular Movements
There were many popular movements that had an abolitionist character, such as the Bahia Conjuration or Revolta dos Alfaiates (1798), which took place in Bahia.
This movement was formed mainly by blacks and liberal professionals, from tailors to shoemakers. They sought to end Portuguese rule and, consequently, put an end to slave labor in the country.
Likewise, the Malês revolt it is part of the slaves' struggle to obtain better conditions of treatment and freedom.
the abolitionists
Abolitionists were opposed to the slave regime and were individuals from different social classes. They ranged from religious, republicans, political elite, white intellectuals, manumitted, among others. Women also played a big role in this struggle.
One of the most prominent abolitionists was the diplomat and historian Joaquim Nabuco (1849-1910), founder of the “Academia Brasileira de Letras” and articulator of anti-slavery ideals.
Thus, Nabuco was the main parliamentary representative of the abolitionists for a decade (1878–88) when he fought for the end of slavery.
The journalist and political activist José do Patrocínio (1853-1905), collaborated with the campaign for abolition of slavery in Brazil and, together with Nabuco, founded the “Brazilian Society Against Slavery” in 1880,.
In addition to them, the Brazilian abolitionists are worth mentioning: André Rebouças (1838-1898), Rui Barbosa (1849-1923), Aristides Lobo (1838-1896), Luis Gama (1830-1882), João Clapp (1840-1902) and Castro Alves (1847-1871).
Note that several abolitionist leaders were Freemasons, such as José do Patrocínio and Joaquim Nabuco.
Acting
The abolitionist movement was plural and had several ways of expressing its support for the end of slavery. Normally, they were organized in clubs and Abolitionist Societies that had male and female sections.
From then on, they organized collections to buy slaves' manumission, sent petitions to the government demanding abolitionist laws or proposed modifications to projects that were being processed in the Chamber.
Some printed their own newspapers and promoted events in order to spread to the greatest number of people the reasons why slavery should end.
Abolitionist Laws
In Brazil, abolition occurred gradually and through laws that gradually benefited slaves:
- Eusébio de Queirós Law(1850): which put an end to the traffic of slaves transported on “slave ships”.
- law of the free womb (1871): which freed, from that year, children born to slave mothers.
- Sexagenarian Law (1885): which benefited slaves over 65 years of age.
- Golden Law: promulgated on May 13, 1888, by Princess Isabel, it extinguished slave labor in Brazil, freeing about 700,000 slaves that still existed in the country.
Abolitionism in the World
Other countries, before Brazil, went through the process of abolitionism.
In this sense, Denmark deserves to be highlighted, the first country in the world to abolish slavery, in 1792, a law that only came into force in 1803.
Portugal
There are controversies about Portugal being considered the pioneer country of Abolitionism, since in 1761, it put an end to slavery in the country, a law sanctioned by the Minister Marquês de Pombal (1699-1782).
However, the Portuguese empire continued to transport slaves in the slave ships until the Portuguese colonies and the definitive abolition only occurred in 1869.
Spain
Before African slavery, Spain benefited from Muslim slave labor especially for domestic purposes. However, the country was home to around 58,000 enslaved people at the end of the 16th century.
Only in the 19th century, with the restoration of King Fernando VII, did he prohibit the slave trade in 1817. However, Cuba and Puerto Rico, the colonies that most depended on the slave arm, only abolished slavery in 1873 and 1886, respectively.
France
After the French Revolution (1789), France decided to abolish slavery in the country in 1794.
In 1821 the Society of Christian Morals was founded in Paris and, a year later, the Committees for the abolition of trafficking and slavery were created.
However, under pressure from the landowners of the colonies, Napoleon Bonaparte decreed the return of slavery in these domains.
It was only in 1848 that the slave regime disappeared from the French colonial empire
UK
At the beginning of the 19th century, several British intellectuals, many linked to the Anglican Church, mobilized against the trade in human beings.
The United Kingdom through the “Act against the Slave Trade”, in English, Slave Trade Act (1807), banned the slave trade.
Later the “Act of Abolition of Slavery” (Slavery Abolition Act), from 1833, freed slaves definitively throughout the British Empire.
Note that England was one of the countries to pressure the Portuguese government to end slavery in its colonies, including Brazil. That kind of pressure would continue to post independence.
Spain would also suffer all sorts of threats to do the same from England, as well as its former colonists who were gaining their autonomy.
U.S
Some northern states were abolishing slavery between 1789 and 1830. However, the freedom of slaves was only declared in the year 1863, through the law promulgated by the president Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) that dissatisfied the southern states. Lincoln's attitude would lead the country to secession war.
Curiosities
- the anthem "Amazing Grace" was composed in 1773 by John Newton, a slave dealer who repented, converted, and spent the rest of his life fighting to end slavery in England. The song is so popular that even members of the racist Ku Klux Klan they use it in their ceremonies.
- Camellias were the symbol of abolitionism in Rio de Janeiro as they were cultivated by former slaves from the Quilombo do Leblon.
read more:
- slave ships
- Black Consciousness
- slavery in Brazil
