Extinguishing the “infame” slave trade in the brazilian empire

Abstract

The article analyzed the proposal of extinction of the slave trade to Brazil made by the Brazilian historian Francisco Adolfo de Varnhagen at the Memorial orgânico (1849-1850-1851). In a context of English pressure for its suppression and intense debate about slavery and its impact on the country’s social and economic life in the mid-nineteenth century, Varnhagen defended the need to end this secular practice as one of the ways to assist in the development of slavery. Empire, placing it in the position of strong and respectable nation before the civilized world. To this end, it was necessary to deal more slowly with the Brazilian political conjuncture at the time and how the issues of trafficking and slavery appeared in the debates between prominent figures of the literate scenario such as José Bonifácio de Andrada e Silva, Bernardo Pereira de Vasconcelos and Tavares Bastos. The content of the Memorial, therefore, demonstrated how well the São Paulo historian was up to date with the political agenda of the Empire of Brazil in the mid-1800s, using experience as a historian to address such a pressing issue. In 1850, under the Eusébio de Queiroz Law, the slave trade to Brazil was finally abolished, British pressure, but also the fear of rebellion, the yellow fever outbreak associated with trafficking and an anti-slavery internal opinion contributed to this measure get out of the role at that time of consolidation of imperial power in the Second Reign.