Published on Jul 8, 2013
From the BBC Timewatch Series
While the history of slavery in the US is widely known, few people realize that Brazil was the largest participant in the slave trade. Forty percent of all slaves that survived the Atlantic crossing were destined for Brazil, while only four percent were sent to the US. At one time half of the population of Brazil were slaves, and it was the last country to officially abolish slavery in 1888.
While the history of slavery in the US is widely known, few people realize that Brazil was the largest participant in the slave trade. Forty percent of all slaves that survived the Atlantic crossing were destined for Brazil, while only four percent were sent to the US. At one time half of the population of Brazil were slaves, and it was the last country to officially abolish slavery in 1888.
This well-researched BBC production charts Brazil's history using original texts, letters, accounts, and decrees. From these original sources, we learn firsthand about the brutality of the slave traders and slave owners, and the hardship of plantation life. With the Portugese colony of Angola acting as a "factor" supplying Africans to Brazil, it was cheaper to replace any slave starved and worked to death than to extend his life by treating him humanely. Few plantation owners sent for their wives to live in this hot climate, so the softening effect of family life was absent among the rough white settlers.
Historians Joao Jose Reis, Cya Teixeira, Marilene Rosa Da Silva, anthropologist Peter Fry, and others recount the effect of centuries of slavery on Brazil today.This is an important documentary for Black history, African history, and Latin American studies.
Historians Joao Jose Reis, Cya Teixeira, Marilene Rosa Da Silva, anthropologist Peter Fry, and others recount the effect of centuries of slavery on Brazil today.This is an important documentary for Black history, African history, and Latin American studies.
9 comments:
The first time I saw this video was in my Race and Ethnicity class my freshman year of college. This has a lot of great information regarding Brazil's participation in the slave trade. Although it was a sad time in history, the slave trade has always been interesting to me and I would definitely love to see more videos like this on your page.
Wow! I ca not stop feeling bad for the slaves. A lot of cruelty times. The colonial era is not my favorite. :(
Wow. I had no idea how huge slavery was in Brazil. I didn't think it could have been bigger or worse than slavery in the US but it probably was. This helped with my essay as well so thanks for posting it!
-Michelle N. Diaz
Huh...the first slaves were bribed into slavery. Quite the odd sentence, how cruel of the Portuguese but then again I am talking about humans here...cruelty is what we are best at.
This was a very informative video. I had no idea that Brazil was one of the many countries countries to import more African slaves. The it was also upsetting to see that the Blacks are still suppressed in a more sophisticated way. They are still slaves of the system
Wow this video does a really good job describing slavery in Brazil. It is very sad to see the way slaves were treated. This video provides very important information that all student should know. Thank you
I feel Brazil and many of the other Latin American nations have an unstable government due to the huge dependency on slavery. If South America would have stood up only on European labor, expanding its economies beyond sugar and the gold available, maybe South America would be different today.
it's so unfair how millions of Indians died and lost their territory because of foreign empires who put emphasis on money and power instead of getting along with the other human beings. It is like someone coming to your house and stealing it, oh and give you a bad disease just because they want to show off that they have another house. Not fair. Not good. And we do that to animals too.
Slavery in Brasil was harsh... Especially when cultivating sugar! As it is Brasil and Cuba were the last 2 countries in the New World in the late 1800's to give up slavery.
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