Brazilian vs. American Slavery
Slavery has been a prevalent and controversial topic throughout history, varying in form and degree, but two of the most prominent cases of slavery were those in the United States and Brazil. These two agricultural superpowers needed the slave labor in order to turn their cash crops into profit, and in turn had some of the longest lasting and largest networks of slave trade. The United States and Brazil had similar customs when obtaining and caring for slaves, but the cultural practices surrounding the slaves, including religion, marriage, legal protection, race relations and manumission, greatly differed.
Brazilian slaves were often imported from southwest Africa, primarily from regions where Islam was the predominant
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In some cases, these tensions would overwhelm the slaves, causing them to revolt. Generally, these plans of rebellion were made in haste and weren’t entirely effective, however, some slave revolts made a huge difference. For example, in the United States, the Stono Rebellion was a revolt in which “20 slaves under the leadership of a man named Jemmy provided whites with a painful lesson on the African desire for liberty” (Kemble 39). A decade later, Nat Turner’s Rebellion led by Turner, slaughtered an entire neighborhood of white slaveholders and their families. Although these gory rampages occurred on several occasions, the American slaves’ primary form of rebellion was fleeing. Aided by the ‘Underground Railroad’ and the help of northern abolitionists, many slaves were able to …show more content…
Although slavery in Brazil started much earlier and ended much later “evidence of the relative mildness of slavery in Brazil was the increasing number of manumissions. Far from being frowned down upon, this practice was regarded as meritorious and conferred a certain prestige on its author” (Martin 170). In addition, the minimal racial discrimination aided the Brazilian freedmen when starting their new lives. In the United States, on the other hand, manumission of slaves was a less gradual process. While some slaves could buy their freedom, they were at constant risk of being re-enslaved and were not even granted the full rights of a normal American citizen. This discouraged many slaves, and generally, the slaveholders weren’t very open to manumission anyway. This changed with the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863, which allowed many of American slaves to claim their
Slave insurrection occurred in a multitude of ways. Slaves practiced everyday resistance as well as planned and executed more elaborate forms of resistance. One form of resistance was strikes. During a strike Negros would flee to the swamps or forests and send back word that they would return if their demands were made. Demands would often include food, clothes, fewer beatings, shorter hours, or a new overseer. If demands were met they would return. However during the Civil War the demand of payment of wages. During this era they won “lifting themselves by their own bootstraps from chattels to wage workers”.3
Between 1800 and 1860 slavery in the American South had become a ‘peculiar institution’ during these times. Although it may have seemed that the worst was over when it came to slavery, it had just begun. The time gap within 1800 and 1860 had slavery at an all time high from what it looks like. As soon as the cotton production had become a long staple trade source it gave more reason for slavery to exist. Varieties of slavery were instituted as well, especially once international slave trading was banned in America after 1808, they had to think of a way to keep it going – which they did. Nonetheless, slavery in the American South had never declined; it may have just come to a halt for a long while, but during this time between 1800 and 1860, it shows it could have been at an all time high.
Point One: In both systems of slavery, the term of servitude was for life and the child's status was inherited from its mother. Inherited lifetime slavery was the norm. Manumission or granting freedom was very infrequent in British North America. Sometimes masters who fathered slave children would later grant them their freedom. In Brazil, manumission was more frequent. The practice was a highly favorable social sanction and masters often celebrated national holidays by freeing one or more of their favorite slaves. The law also defended the right of the slave to purchase his own freedom and he also had the right to demand that his master set a fixed price for his purchase which he could pay over a period of years.
In 1619, slaves from Africa started being shipped to America. In the years that followed, the slave population grew and the southern states became more dependent on the slaves for their plantations. Then in the 1800s slavery began to divide America, and this became a national conflict which lead to the Civil War. Throughout history, groups in the minority have risen up to fight for their freedom. In the United States, at the time of the Civil War African Americans had to fight for their freedom. African Americans used various methods to fight for their freedom during the Civil War such as passing information and supplies to the Union Army, escaping to Union territory, and serving in the Union’s army. These actions affected the African Americans and the United States by helping the African Americans earn citizenship and abolishing slavery in the United States.
Although the slaves had families they had no control on whether or not they would stay together. Slaves were sold to different parts of the country in which sometimes they would never see their family members again. Although slavery was accepted, the northern part of America allowed African Americans to be free. This ultimately led to a bloody division between the North and the South. The south led a revolt to go to war against the north, specifically in order to keep their rights to allow slavery.
Pro-slavery and anti-slavery were groups of advocates who both had a different perspective about slavery. The group of people that believed in slavery were mainly from the South and they were usually businessmen, traders, farmers, and slave traders. They argued that slavery was right; slavery caused a growth in the nation’s economy, it was accepted in the bible, and the slaves were better taken care of in the hands of a master. On the other hand, the Northerners thought otherwise. On their behalf, they argued that the slaves were treated poorly by their masters, it was a sin to be involved in slavery, and the Africans were unhappy because they were forced to move from their homeland. The pro-slavery authors of the articles gave support to their
The first arrivals of Africans in America were treated similarly to the indentured servants in Europe. Black servants were treated differently from the white servants and by 1740 the slavery system in colonial America was fully developed.
Slavery allowed the American economy to flourish for over 300 years. It allowed many Southern states to grow at a furious pace without significantly diversifying their economy. The South relied on the harvesting of cash crops such as tobacco and cotton, which were very labor intensive. Without much cheap labor, slaves were relied on to harvest the crops; this provided enormous value to farmers and plantation owners in the region. However, the institution of slavery was challenged in the 18th century by decades of Enlightenment thought, newfound religious ideals, and larger abolitionist groups. After the American Revolution many states would ban the practice of slavery completely and only a few would maintain the “peculiar institution”.
When slaves became desperate enough, they openly resisted their masters. Numerous examples show how slaves refused to accept punishment and battled with their white masters who were trying to give punishment. Slave resistance was rarely successful because most masters would not tolerate it. Whether slaves physically or verbally opposed a white man it was dangerous.
Slavery was the main resource used in the Chesapeake tobacco plantations. The conditions in the Chesapeake region were difficult, which lead to malnutrition, disease, and even death. Slaves were a cheap and an abundant resource, which could be easily replaced at any time. The Chesapeake region’s tobacco industries grew and flourished on the intolerable and inhumane acts of slavery.
From 1750 until 1800 the colonial United States endured a period of enormous achievement along with a substantial amount of struggle. Before 1750, the new colony’s first struggle was between the colonists and England over who would have leadership within the New World. Once settled, the issues emerged from within the colonies themselves, particularly with the “belongings” they brought and imported. African American slaves were seen as property, and were not given any innate rights such as liberty or freedom when following their master to the New World. The revolution for the colonists from England began, with new freedoms received by the colonists; the slaves began to question their rights as humans. Innate rights such as liberty and freedom
...ideas, however, including individual rights that were similar to what was in the U.S. Constitution. Slavery still remained legal though. Since Europeans had discovered Brazil, slavery had been its history. “The inability or unwillingness of Brazil to abolish this traffic… involved the empire in a bitter and protracted diplomatic controversy with Great Britain.” It was not until 1888 that slavery was abolished in Brazil and it was met with some opposition from major landowners and the military. In addition, Brazil outlawed slavery 25 years after the United States did in the Emancipation Proclamation.
Slavery has been a main problem in the world for centuries. Slavery goes back to Babylon over 2,500 years ago and it is still a growing problem in the modern society. Slavery is not just one dimensional; it involves gender, race and physical appearance of a slave. In this paper, I am going to compare and contrast David Brion Davis’ view of ancient slavery along with modern day slavery by Ryan J. Dalton, and discuss why they are not similar with each other. In Modern Day Slavery by Ryan J. Dalton, discuss the problem of human trafficking in Tennessee. Dalton mention that women and children were forced into prostitution by gangs and other organized crime groups to earn money. This is different from ancient slavery discussed by David Brion Davis in Inhuman Bondage, slaves were captured and they could be raped and quickly sold. The difference between modern and ancient slavery in sex are modern slave trafficking’s main goal is to earn profit by the owner while ancient slave owner rape their slave without profit.
Slavery in the new world greatly differed from slavery in the old world as both systems followed different dogmas. Slavery in the old world was composed of war captives and criminals. When slave routes were closed by opposing empire such as the Ottoman Turks, many European slave traders opted to trade with Africans. Early slavery in the Americas wasn't that much different from slavery in the old world, as many Africans would sell war prisoners from other tribes or nations. Criminal were also sold into slavery. However, as time passed and an increasing amount of black slaves were being imported, a new doctrine was formed. To justify most of the acts performed on Africans, a caste system was set up. Many believed that they were superior to black
The concept of the slave trade came about in the 1430’s, when the Portuguese came to Africa in search of gold (not slaves). They traded copper ware, cloth, tools, wine, horses and later, guns and ammunition with African kingdoms in exchange for ivory, pepper, and gold (which were prized in Europe). There was not a very large demand for slaves in Europe, but the Portuguese realized that they could get a good profit from transporting slaves along the African coast from trading post to trading post. The slaves were bought greedily by Muslim merchants, who used them on the trans-Sahara trade routes and sold them in the Islamic Empire. The Portuguese continued to collect slaves from the whole west side of Africa, all the way down to the Cape of Good Hope (South Africa), and up the east side, traveling as far as Somalia. Along the way, Portugal established trade relations with many African kingdoms, which later helped begin the Atlantic Slave Trade. Because of Portugal’s good for...