Memoir on Slavery!

Front matter

ADDRESSED TO

THE GENERAL, CONSTITUENT AND LEGISLATIVE

ASSEMBLY

Translator's preface

TRANSLATOR's PREFACE.

At a moment when the "Gradual Abolition of Slavery," as a state question, occupies the public mind, it seemed to me that I could not render a more essential service to the friends of humanity, than present to them the sentiments of an enlightened foreigner on that important subject, derived from local observation and experimental results, the only means by which correct opinions on so extensive and complicated a measure, as the one now under parliamentary discussion, can possibly be obtained. Theories, when applied to legislative acts, are generally found delusive; facts and practice, therefore, may be considered as our only safe and unerring guides.

Such were the motives which first induced me to undertake the translation of the follow- ing pages. I read the original with pleasure, and deemed its publication, in an English dress, a timely and valuable acquisition. The author is a native Brazilian, and lately held one of the highest offices of trust and confidence near the person of his sovereign. He is also deservedly venerated by his countrymen, and I consider it no other than an act of justice to make known in Europe the labours of so distinguished and patriotic an individual, in a cause so noble.

The present little work indeed does equal honour to the author and the nation to which he belongs M. Jose Bonifacio D՚Andrada e Silva is not, however, the only Brazilian who has wielded his pen in favour of the slave population of Brazil. Other champions in behalf of suffering humanity have equally stepped forward, and among them is M. João Severiano Maciel da Costa, also late minister to His Imperial Majesty, who has boldly and practically treated some of the most important topics connected with the Abolition of the Slave Trade and the Gradual Emancipation of Slaves. Among other things he has successfully shewn, that the introduction of African slaves into Brazil is opposed to the security and prosperity of the state; he has pointed out the favourable results of the Abolition of the Slave Trade, also the measures by which the agriculture of Brazil may be rendered independent of Africans; and he has besides entered into an elaborate enquiry as to the means by which the slave population may be progressively emancipated.

Both are practical works, and the authors are also zealous advocates for the general civilization of the Indians of Brazil. This new empire in the west is, indeed, now the only country on the globe where slavery is yet seen on a large scale. The present population of Brazil, on the best authorities, is estimated at upwards of 4,000,000 of souls, of which 843,000 are whites, 426,000 free people of colour, and 159,500 free blacks, making the total of free population 1,687,900 persons. The black slave population is rated at 1,728,000 souls, and the mulatto slaves at 202,000, so that this class amounts to 1,930,000. The known and civilized Indians are not calculated at more than 300,000, yet it must be remarked that a large portion of the Brazilian territory is hitherto unexplored. Estimates of this kind also, made in an extensive and thinly inhabited country, and besides founded on data chiefly derived from parish registers, are necessarily under-rated; on this account, intelligent persons are of opinion, that the total population of the empire of Brazil is nearly equal to 5,000,000.

In this amount, the proportion of slaves is considerable—nay awful. In justice to the Brazilian character, it must, however, be confessed, that their slaves are, generally speaking, treated infinitely better than those found in the insular colonies of Europe, or in other portions of the same continent. Although the Brazilian slaves endure many privations and labour under great disadvantages, almost unavoidable in the unhappy condition in which they are placed, and the injustice and cruelties of owners are moreover occasionally heard of, the existing laws nevertheless grant them powerful protection, and this would possibly be rendered more efficient, if the tribunals and magistrates were numerous and accessible in a country so extended. Public opinion has, nevertheless, done more in favour of the slaves of Brazil than legislative acts. The unjust and cruel master is scouted by his neighbours, and this demonstration of correct feeling frequently operates as a check. Many minor institutions and useful customs also tend to mitigate the sufferings and enliven the cheerless and monotonous existence of the Brazilian slaves, of whom those employed in the mining and diamond districts certainly fare the worst.

The individual situation of the slave depends principally on the character of the owner to whose lot he has fallen, and hence, no country in the world presents so many singular phenomena, in the disposition and conduct of these unhappy people, as Brazil. The natural mildness and generosity of some owners endear them so much to their slaves, that instances have been known of the latter refusing to accept their freedom, when offered. Slaves are there seen rich and also the owners of other slaves, yet refusing to buy their own freedom. Slaves sometimes even join in adventures to Africa, and send over thither beads, looking-glasses and other trifles, to purchase and then enslave men of their own country and species. Most of the slave-ships still trading to Africa from Rio de Janeiro and Bahia, are manned by African slaves, and there are instances of indemnities granted by the British government for illegal seizures of some of the above class of vessels, in which the value of the crews, as well as of the cargoes, have been paid for.

Amidst so many singularities and contrarieties, Brazil, consequently is, the most interesting country, as regards slavery, that possibly can be contemplated. It will also be seen that this is a subject that begins to be popular, and must continue to be so, as the principles of a liberal and constitutional government extend and are understood by the people. The late declaration of independence has worked wonders in favour of the slave population, by giving more action to public opinion and the press.

The necessity of putting an end to the slave trade is indeed confessed by every Brazilian, however humble his sphere and limited his understanding.The upper classes are decidedly opposed to its continuation, and the late Constituent Assembly was prepared to decree the abolition within a stated period, by granting a sufficient time to those engaged in the traffic, to withdraw their capitals and supply the temporary want of field-labourers, when the short duration of that body of representatives, on the one hand, and the negociations carrying on for the acknowledgment of Brazilian Independence, on the other, prevented the measure from being carried into full effect. These negociations in fact, embarrassed the Assembly, as it was early seen from the professions made by the cabinet which then offered its powerful mediation, that the abolition of the slave trade would necessarily constitute one of the leading objects of the final treaty about to be concluded, as in reality was the case, according to the document found in the Appendix. It was therefore deemed advisable to wait for the completion of the treaty, in order that any legislative act adopted on the subject, might accord with the stipulations it contained.

Such was the state of the question in Brazil, when the Assembly was dissolved. The emperor, however well disposed, has not been able to advance it any further, because, besides not being empowered by the Constitution to legislate on a matter of such importance, without the concurrence of both Chambers of the Legislature, the embarrassment arising out of the protracted state of the negociation, still exists. This being the only cause of delay, it is very certain that, as soon as the approaching assembly opens its sittings and the treaty with Great Britain has been ratified, a decree for the abolition of the slave trade will be immediately promulgated and enforced.

The readiness with which the Emperor assented to the abolition, is the best proof he could have given to his people of his humane and benevolent intentions; it is also a pledge that he will continue to do every thing in his power to enforce the proper treatment and moral improvement of the slaves, as a preparation for their future deliverance from the galling chains of bondage. Policy and interest have a stronger hold on the minds of men than abstract appeals made to their justice and feelings, and if the agriculturists and growers of colonial produce can only be convinced, that it is dangerous and contrary to their advantage to employ slaves on their estates, the wished-for measure of gradual emancipation will then be easily and triumphantly carried into full effect.

London, April 25, 1826.

Original preface

ORIGINAL PREFACE.

he present Memoir was ready to be laid before the General, Constituent and Legislative Assembly of the Empire of Brazil, when, for reasons, the details of which belong to another place, it was dissolved, and the author, among other deputies, arrested and banished. A MS. copy, however, was left in the hands of a person to whom it had previously been confided, and from this, it is, that the present publication is taken, and now ushered to the world, from no other motive than such as the love for one's country would inspire.

The necessity of abolishing the slave trade and gradually emancipating the existing slaves, is so imperious, that we cannot conceive there is a Brazilian, wicked and ignorant enough, to deny it. Under this supposition, whatever may hereafter be the fate of Brazil, that country can never improve and become civilized, without removing, as early as possible, this deadly cancer, which corrodes its vitals and will inevitably bring it to ruin and destruction.

Fully sensible of this truth, and anxious also to see our country free from the dangers by which it is threatened, we have resolved not to withhold the present effort from the press, regretting at the same time that it is not in our power to confer with the author on the subject of any alterations or improvements he might be disposed to make in the MS. In the mean while, as the Memoir is written with manly eloquence and combines so much local knowledge and experience, we do not hesitate to send it forth in its original form, without studiously seeking to recommend it, as it bears upon the very face of it the stamp of wisdom, and besides breathes the language of patriotism. In short, we shall consider ourselves amply rewarded if the present publication redounds to the advantage of Brazil, and we are well assured that the author, who ever laboured for the welfare of his country, will be perfectly satisfied.

A. D.

Paris, Oct. 4, 1825.

pt:Representação de José Bonifácio sobre a escravatura/1

Memoir on Slavery!

he happy period, marked by the political regeneration of Brazil, having arrived, and it being also the duty of every honorable and well-informed citizen to contribute as far as lays in his power, to a work so laudable and great, as is the happiness and improvement of his fellow beings, I flatter myself that I shall be able to submit to the General Constituent and Legislative Assembly some useful ideas on the subject, derived from study and experience.

After successfully securing to ourselves a constitution, suited to our habits and wants, as a free citizen and a national representative, it appears to me that two objects, of the greatest importance to the future prosperity of this empire, call for our immediate attention, The first is, a new plan to promote the general civilization of the Indians in Brazil, who, in the course of time, will enable us altogether to dispense with the use of slaves, and of the one I propose I have already submitted a sketch to this Assembly. The second is, a new law on the Slave Trade and the treatment of the unhappy bondmen now among us. The latter is exclusively the subject of the present appeal, in which I undertake to shew the necessity of abolishing the slave trade, improving the situation of the slaves we already hold, and of promoting their progressive emancipation.

When true Christians and Philanthropists, for the first time, in England, raised their voice against the trade carrying on in African slaves, there were many persons, either interested or prejudiced, who cried out that the abolition measure was impossible, or impolitic, because, as they alleged, the British colonies could not be deprived of this traffic without being driven to destruction; yet the bill eventually passed—and the colonies were not ruined. Subsequently, when the Wilberforces and Buxtons again appealed to Parliament in favor of the progressive emancipation of slaves, the enemies of humanity, as before, took the alarm, and made a bold stand; but I still hope and trust in the justice and generosity of the British people that an act in favor of emancipation will be obtained and triumphantly carried into effect, in like manner as was done for the abolition of this infamous traffic. Why, therefore, should the Brazilians alone continue deaf to the voice of reason, of the Christian religion—I will say more, of national honor and glory? for we are now the only nation, derived from European blood, that still publicly and unblushingly trades in African Slaves.

I also am a Christian and a Philanthropist, and God emboldens me to venture to raise my weak voice in the midst of this august assembly, in behalf of the cause of justice and sound policy—a cause the most noble and holy that possibly can animate generous and humane hearts. Legislators! do not fear the clamours of sordid interest; it is your duty to proceed on, undismayed, in the road of justice and political regeneration; yet still, circumstanced as we are, it behoves us to be guarded and prudent. If among us a reckless despotism has hitherto been insensible to every call on behalf of the nation, it was because such was the immediate interest of those who established it. They wished us to be a mixed and heterogenous people, devoid of nationality and kindred feelings, in order the better to enslave us, Thanks to heaven and our geographical position, we are now a free and independent nation. Nevertheless, how can we expect to enjoy the benefits of a liberal and lasting constitution, in a country continually inhabited by an immense multitude of debased and hostile slaves? Let us, therefore, from this moment, commence the grand work, as an expiation for our past crimes and offences. Yes, we ought not only to be just, but also repentant. We ought to shew, in the face of God and other men, that we repent of all we have done for ages, in this respect, contrary to justice and religion. Let us shew that we really practice the precept of not doing to others, that which we do not wish done to us. It is, consequently, necessary that those robberies, devastations and wars, which we encourage among the African savages, should at once cease. We must no longer bring to our ports thousands and thousands of negros, dying of suffocation in the holds of our ships, huddled together closer than bales of merchandize. Let us put an end to those numberless deaths and martyrdoms with which we have, and still do, scourge those unhappy beings on our own land. It is time, and more than time, for us to cease carrying on a trade so barbarous and butcher-like; it is time also for us gradually to efface every vestige of slavery among us, in order that we may be able, in a few generations, to form an homogeneous nation, without which we shall never be truly free, respectable and happy. It is urgently necessary that we should go on putting an end to so much physical and civil heterogenity. Let us therefore take care, henceforwards, wisely to reconcile and combine so many discordant and clashing elements; let us amalgamate, if I may be allowed the expression, so many different metals so as to make an uniform and compact whole, such a one as will not be rent asunder at the first sound of political convulsion. What chemical science—what dexterity will not be requisite for those employed in so great and difficult an amalgamation! Successfully to attain our object it behoves us, nevertheless, to be wise and prudent in our undertaking yet always constant in its advancement.

Perhaps no nation, gentlemen, ever sinned so much against humanity as the Portuguese, of whom we once constituted a part. They went on devastating not only the lands of Africa and Asia, as Camoens justly remarks, but those also of our own hemisphere. The Portuguese were the first who, from the time of the Infante Dom Henrique, made it a branch of legal commerce to go and seize on free men and carry them to sell in the markets of Europe and America. Even up to the present day, more than forty thousand human creatures are annually torn from Africa, deprived of their homes, of their parents, children and brothers, and conveyed to our shores, without the smallest hope of ever again breathing their native air, here destined, during the remainder of their days, to work and toil under the cruel lash of their masters—they and their children, and their children՚s children, for ever!

If the negros are men like us, and do not constitute a separate race of irrational animals; if they think and feel as we do, what a picture of sorrow and misery do they not exhibit to the feeling and christian mind? If the groans of the brute creation affect us, how is it possible that we can avoid also feeling and expressing a degree of sympathetic grief at the hardships and misfortunes of slaves, continually before our eyes? Such, however, is the effect of custom, and such also the stimulus of avarice, that men see tears flowing in torrents from the eyes of those of their own species, without calling forth a single sigh of compassion or tenderness from their flinty hearts. Avarice, however, never thinks and feels like reason and humanity. In order to repel the accusations justly raised against its proceedings, it resorts to a thousand captious pleas, to serve as an apology. It says that it is an act of charity to bring slaves from Africa, because those miserable beings by this means escape from falling victims to despotic chieftains. It equally asserts that if these slaves did not come over here, they would be deprived of the light of the Gospel, the knowledge of which every good christian is bound to promote and spread. It says these wretches change from a horrid and burning climate to a mild, fertile and enchanting country—finally, it adds that, as criminals and prisoners of war are condemned to immediate death by the barbarous customs of Africa, it is a service rendered to humanity to purchase them, with a view to preserve their lives, although they may have to live in captivity.

Wicked and foolish men! All these arguments would be worth something, if you were yourselves to go to Africa in search of negros to give them their freedom in Brazil, and establish them as colonists; but, to perpetuate slavery, to render those unhappy people more wretched than they would have been if some of them had died by the sword of injustice, or even to be the cause of these horrors being continued, is, most assuredly, a manifest crime against the eternal laws of justice and religion. And why, let me ask, are the children of these same Africans, whom avarice would thus seek to befriend, to continue to be slaves? Did they commit any crimes? Did they also change from a bad to a better climate? Were they brought from the darkness of paganism to the light of the Gospel? Most assuredly no, and yet they, as well as their children and children's children, are, according to you, condemned to wear the chains of bondage for ever. The voice of justice and religion proclaim ye insincere, and only in the barbarous public law of ancient nations, and particularly of Rome, can ye find a plea for your depravity. With the authority of the Greeks and Romans, it is, that the advocates of slavery usually seek to shield themselves; without adverting that, among the Greeks and Romans, the eternal principles of natural right and the divine precepts of religion were not properly understood and established; and still as the slaves of those times were of the same colour and origin as their lords, and likewise had attained the same, or at least nearly the same, degree of civilization, their industry, good behaviour and talents, which depended on themselves, easily enabled them to find and deserve the love of those to whom they were bound, as well as the consideration of other men, advantages which can never fall to the lot of African savages.

If at least the owners of slaves in Brazil treated those miserable wretches with more humanity, most assuredly I might be inclined to excuse, although I never could be induced to pity, their blindness and injustice. The greatest part of the free inhabitants of Brazil, however, and more particularly the Europeans, are not only deaf to the voice of justice and the precepts of the Gospel; but they are even blind to their own pecuniary interests and the domestic felicity of their families.

It is well known that immense capitals annually go out of this empire to Africa, and immense capitals also are sunk within this extended country, by the purchase of slaves, who either die, are taken ill and become disabled, or if they survive and enjoy their health, perform very inadequate labour. What an useless luxury in slaves do we not behold in our towns and cities, without which evil, our wants would be confined to a few and necessary servants? And, let me ask, what kind of education can those families expect to have which avail themselves of the services of these miserable beings, devoid of honour and religion—of female slaves, for example, who prostitute themselves to the first man who solicits their favours. Every thing in this life meets with its return, in some way or other. We tyrannize over our slaves and reduce them to the state of brutish animals, and they, in return, initiate us in their immorality and teach us all their vices.

If, gentlemen, it is a fact that the social mo- rality and justice of a people depend, partly on their religious and political institutions, and partly, if I may be allowed the expression, on the domestic philosophy of each family of which society is composed, what a picture does not the Brazilian territory present to the contemplative mind, if we consider it in these two points of view? What is the religion we have among us, notwithstanding the beauty and holiness of the Gospel which we profess to follow? The religion of which we boast, if only carefully examined, will be found to be in reality little else than a system of antisocial superstitions and abuses. Our clergy, with only few exceptions, ignorant and corrupt, are the most eager to become possessed of slaves, and they increase their numbers, in order to add to their own riches, by hiring them out to labour or employing them in tilling the ground, although frequently out of the chosen females who may have had the misfortune to fall to their lot, they form Turkish haarems to gratify their own licentiousness. Families, however rich and respectable, can never receive the advantages of education with such examples constantly before their eyes—they never can expect refinement in countries where the traffic in slaves is always going on. Nothing can habituate them to know and love virtue and religion. Riches, and more riches, do our pseudo-statesmen cry out, and their call is re-echoed by the buyers and sellers of human flesh, by our ecclesiastical blood hounds, by our magistrates—if it were possible to give a title so honourable to men, mostly venal, who wield the sword of justice only for the purpose of oppressing such unhappy people as are unable to satisfy their avarice, or contribute to their welfare. How, therefore, can justice and virtue prevail, or how can moral habits flourish among us? Gentlemen, when I give way to bitter reflections of this kind, I nearly lose all hopes of ever seeing our country regenerated and happy, for who is not aware that the order of human vicissitudes is entirely inverted in Brazil? Luxury and corruption sprung up among us before civilization and industry, and what can be the principal cause of so alarming a phenomenon? Slavery, I answer, Gentlemen—slavery, because the man who relies on the daily earnings of his slaves, lives in idleness, and idleness brings all other vices in its train.

Blind avarice, however, declares that slaves are indispensably necessary in Brazil, because the natives are weak and lazy. Most assuredly those who argue thus are deceived. The province of St. Paul, previous to the introduction of the sugar-cane, had very few slaves, and nevertheless it increased in population and agriculture; it supplied several other maritime as well as interior provinces with Indian corn, beans, mandioc-flour, rice, bacon, pork, &c. But even granting for a moment, which I am by no means inclined to do, that in reality the free people of Brazil are unable to endure the hard labour of tilling the ground as well as Europeans, I would ask whether when Indian corn, for example, on the best lands in Portugal produces only forty for one and in Brazil upwards of two hundred, with other grains in the same proportion, whilst the hours of necessary labour in tilling the ground are at the same time in an inverse ratio to the proceeds, why is more bodily strength, or why are greater efforts required here? Are the labourers of India, perchance, more robust than a white, a mulatto, or one of the casts in Brazil? Most assuredly no—and yet the people of that country do not die of hunger? And because they have no African slaves among them, are their lands left uncultivated? Is not their country, on the contrary, one of the richest on the globe, notwithstanding their abominable religion and government, and the infernal policy of dividing the population into casts? There the cultivation of the sugar-cane and the making of sugar have increased prodigiously in modern times, and the quantity of that article furnished in the markets of Europe, already competes with the produce of Brazil and the islands situated in the Gulf of Mexico.

In Cochinchina there are no slaves, and yet the annual growth and exportation of sugar, according to the authority of Poivre, as early as the year 1750, amounted to forty thousand hogsheads, weighing 2000 lbs. each, and the price was extremely cheap in the market. It ought further to be observed, that the whole of this sugar was produced in a very small circuit of country, without the necessity of laying waste forests and sterilizing lands, as unfortunately is the case among us.

Besides, when once that abominable method of farming is at an end, by which we go on, in rapid progression, cutting down forests and laying the surface bare to the powerful action of the sun; when once the improvements in European agriculture are introduced among us, no doubt, with few hands and by the aid of ploughs and other useful implements, the cultivation of our soil will advance rapidly, our estates will become more organized and attractive, and the land, by being better worked, will be rendered more productive. Nature, wise and provident, in every part of the globe, affords the means necessary for the ends of civil society, and no country requires forced and foreign labourers to become cultivated and rich.

Moreover, the introduction of fresh Africans into Brazil does not increase our population, whilst it serves only to counteract our own industry. In order to prove the first position, it will only be necessary to notice attentively the census for the last five or six years, and it will there be seen that, notwithstanding the importation into Brazil, as I have already stated, of about forty thousand slaves annually, the increase of this class is not perceptible, or at least it is very trifling; almost all die of wretchedness and despair, and yet they cost immense sums, which are lost for ever, or never repay the interest of the money laid out upon them.

In order to shew the truth of the second position, viz. that slavery cannot fail to counteract our own industry, it will suffice to bear in mind that the owners of slaves mostly live in idleness, as they do not find themselves compelled by hunger or poverty to exert their own industry and improve their mode of farming. Besides, as slaves continue to be exclusively employed in agriculture and the mechanic arts, even if poor foreigners were to come over and establish themselves in our country, in a short time, as is proved by experience, they also would cease tilling the lands with their own hands, for as soon as they are able to provide themselves with two or three slaves of their own, they become unwilling to work, and give themselves up to idleness, influenced most probably by example and the mistaken notions of a false honour. The arts are thus left stationary, and machinery, that great saving in human labour, owing to the extreme abundance of slaves always to be met with near our large towns, is totally disregarded. It excites rage, or rather laughter, to see twenty slaves employed in carrying to market twenty bags of sugar, which might be conveyed thither by one or two well-constructed carts, drawn by two oxen or a pair of mules.

Besides, the cultivation of ground in Brazil, done by raw and lazy slaves, does not yield so great a profit as ignorant and self-conceited men erroneously imagine. If we calculate the actual cost of the purchase of the land; the capitals laid out in providing the slaves intended to cultivate it; the agricultural implements with which each one of these slaves is to work; their food and clothing; their frequent illness, real or feigned, and also the expence of medical attendance; the numerous deaths occasioned by bad treatment and despair, as well as the frequency with which they abscond and fly to the forests or hiding-places, it will appear evident that the profits of tillage in Brazil must be very small, notwitstanding the prodigious fertility of the soil, and this fact is fully proved by experience.