Slave Revolts in Brazil prior to 1835

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[edit] Founding of Quilombos

Almost all the slave rebellions have been designed and executed through the Quilombos community. Quilombos was a settlement that was formed by fugitive slaves and free-born Africans. Quilombos came closest to the idea of recreating African societies in a new environment Brazil) and against consistently heavier odds.

[edit] Slave Revolt of 1807

In 1807 slaves were planning a revolt that would take place on May 28, during Corpus Christi celebrations. Six days before the revolt would take place they were betrayed by a slave loyal to his master. The master went to the governor and he was skeptical about the situation. However, he sent his spies out into the community and he learned that a subversive plan was real and growing stronger as the 28th approached. A day before the rebellion took place the governor had mounted specific patrols in the city. With its exits and entrances under surveillance, and rural officers on the roads, the house that was the center of the planning was surrounded and searched.

After being searched the alleged leaders and captains were taken prisoner. Many weapons were confiscated from the house, such as: four hundred arrows, a bundle of rods to be used as bows, piles of rope, knives, and one shotgun. Rural officers caught three of the ringleaders who had fled earlier that afternoon, and military patrols on rounds caught a few more identified as agents or enticers.

The goal of the uprising is believed to have been to capture ships in the harbor and make a massive flight back to Africa.

[edit] Slave Revolt of 1814

The rebellion of 1814 overshadowed the previous ones in numbers of participants and violence. Starting on February 28, slave fishermen began to burn down part of the harbor, killing the foreman and most of his family. The rebels proceeded to head to the village of Itapoan. Resistance was met when they were trying to leave to go the next village. Troops from Salvador then encountered a bloody battle with the rebels, which left the rebels with fifty less men.

Four of the captured slaves were hanged in public and twelve were deported to Portuguese colonies in Africa.

[edit] References

  • Kent, R.K. Palmares: An African State in Brazil. The Journal of African History, Vol. 6, No. 2, 1965. pp. 161-175.
  • Reis, João José. Slave Rebellion in Brazil: The Muslim Uprising of 1835 in Bahia. Johns Hopkins Paperbacks, 1995. pp. 41-43.
  • Reis, João José. Slave Resistance in Brazil: Bahia, 1807-1835. Luso-Brazilian Review, Vol. 25, No. 1, Summer 1988. pp. 111-114.