African Slavery In Brazil

Evidence of African roots are identifiable throughout Brazil. Brazil is the second most populated country of Blacks. Many different tones from mulatto to caboclo to black are present with culture that has flourished since African slaves first arrived to the country. The slaves that came to South America, brought their religion, gods, and music along with them, giving Brazil a cultural identity and a place among other nations. The profits of African slavery have allowed Brazil to gain capital and build a government based mainly on sugar exports. Although Brazil was the first to claim themselves free of racism, throughout history they often put slaves in even worse conditions than the US. Easy accessibility to import African slaves, meant that

slave-owners could easily replace unwanted slaves with new ones. However, racial mixing was widely accepted in Brazil, which furthermore contributed to their racial democracy. The lightening and blending of blacks with whites, assisted in diminishing some of Brazil’s African heritage, in effort to improve their global image. Blacks in Brazil have contributed their labor and culture to shaping a country that is built on the hardship of their ancestors, but through miscegenation they have improved racial relations making it a better place for all races today.

Brazil’s global presence is completely derived from African slavery. As early as 1530, African slaves and sugar were imported into the country by the Portuguese to establish the sugar plantation systems that become the country’s main luxury resource. Ten times more Africans were brought to Brazil than America, providing a large amount of labor that quickly built its economy. This was due to Portuguese’s dominate control over the ports where slave trades occurred and the short voyage to the Caribbean indifference to the US. Even though US slavery is criticized as inhumane, slaves often had even more harsh conditions in Brazil, where they were treated less materially significant since slaves were so accessible. Evidence of this can be seen in the housing, clothing, and feeding of slaves between both countries. Furthermore, the result of their labor can be seen in cities like Salvador, Bahia where the The Church of South Francisco Convent stands in grandeur and opulence.
Slavery was indeed beneficial for Brazil, but ultimately more brutal and less known throughout history.

However, out of slavery comes culture which is common for most countries who capitalized on it. Africans brought their religion and music on the slave ships and continued to practice their beliefs in their new locations. African culture can definitely be observed in Brazil, where some people have continued to keep their ancestral culture alive while making integrations of new practices that reflect their reality. Capoeira and candomblé are examples of this. Capoeira is a Brazilian art form that combines dance and rhythm in a coordinated fashion. It was initially practiced by slaves, as a way to teach others how to defend themselves with martial arts without the slave-owner knowing their actions; fighting was disguised as dancing. Candomblé is a dance to honor the African gods. Capoeira and candomblé both keep African heritage present in Brazil, passing this culture down as their ancestors once

did.

It’s not uncommon to hear slavery once existed in a country but realizing that slavery was more barbaric than US slavery is appalling. Since there was more supply of slaves in Brazil, slave-owner’s took less care and concern over their slaves’ well being. This can make anyone look at Brazil in an entirely different way. The country is perceived as a racial paradise today, claiming itself free of racism but its past is much darker. Instead, it seems as if they’ve hidden their past and asserted themselves as a racial safe haven, yet they were the last to abolish slavery. Interestingly, even with the plethora of slaves available, Brazil is still not at the economic heights as the US. Sugar plantations were certainly profitable, but Haiti surpassed Brazilians with their sugar production during the 18th century, and Brazil eventually loss some of it’s economic strength.1 Brazil should still be commended for their progression in eliminating racism, unlike more developed countries like the US. However, they’ve taken other steps that may have lead to such a great social improvement like racial mixing. Culture continues to be a defining aspect of African heritage in areas that have experienced slavery. In Brazil, slavery not only effects music, which can be found in slave songs of the US, but also dance and fighting in capoeira. Capoeira is a very intuitive way that slaves practiced martial arts concealing it in dance, showing not only their cleverness but willingness to still learn and allow their culture to flourish against their masters.

Part of Brazil’s racial democracy comes from racial mixing.

The Brazil government brought many White European immigrants over in effort to “lighten the population”. The intentions were to make Brazilians less Black, hoping that the incoming whites would bear children with the blacks already present there. This would overtime make the population lighter and possibly remove black heritage. Chica da Silva is an example of racial mixing among an affluent individual. Silva was a Brazilian slave who gains her freedom and marries a wealthy white man in diamond mining. She bears children with him and ultimately adopts the role of a white women, in appearance and

behavior.
This was the expected outcome of having whites in Brazil. By lightening the population, Brazil would be more globally accepted and appealing. In addition to acceptance, this also made it easier to eliminate racism. If most Brazilians were mixed with European and African descent, then almost everyone would be mixed in race and color. Racial mixing was the beginnings of eliminating racism and part of their society today.

Slavery and racial mixing are the main components of Brazil’s history. However, Brazil has still made incredible strides in making a country that is less based on race and more on character. Racial mixing may be the answer to eliminating racism in other countries like the US, but the results of this are still uncertain. However, Brazil is proof of a rough past that overtime has created a pleasant future for its citizens.