Abolition of Slavery and the Aftermath of Emancipation in Brazil

In May 1888 the Brazilian parliament passed, and Princess Isabel (acting for her father, Emperor Pedro II) signed, the lei aurea, or Golden Law, providing for the total abolition of slavery. Brazil thereby became the last “civilized nation” to part with slavery as a legal institution. The freeing of slaves in Brazil, as in other countries, may not have fulfilled all the hopes for improvement it engendered, but the final act of abolition is certainly one of the defining landmarks of Brazilian history.
The articles presented here represent a broad scope of scholarly inquiry that covers developments across a wide canvas of Brazilian history and accentuates the importance of formal abolition as a watershed in that nation’s development.

List of contents

A Note of introduction / David Bushnell v

Exploring the Meaning of Freedom: Postemancipation Societies in Comparative Perspective / Rebecca J. Scott 1

Brazilian Abolition in Comparative Perspective / Seymour Drescher 23

Beyond Masters and Slaves: Subsistence Agriculture as Survival Strategy in Brazil during the Second Half of the Nineteenth Century / Hebe Maria Mattos de Castro 55

Black and White Workers: Sao Paulo, Brazil, 1888–1938 / George Reid Andrews 85

"Mud-Hut Jerusalem": Canudos Revisited / Robert M. Levine 119

Index 167

Notes on the Contributors 174

About the author

Rebecca Scott, Seymour Drescher, Hebe Maria Mattos de Castro, George Reid Andrews, and Robert Levine

Product details

• Authors: Seymour Mattos De Castro Drescher, etc., Scott, R Scott, Rebecca Scott, Rebecca J. Scott
• Assisted by: Rebecca Scott (Editor)
• Publisher: Duke University Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 31.12.2022
• EAN: 9780822308881
• ISBN: 978-0-8223-0888-1
• No. of pages: 182
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > History > Modern era up to 1918; Non-fiction book > History > Miscellaneous; Social sciences, law, business > Political science > Political science and political education