Brazil, declaring their independence in 1822, was one of the last countries to abolish slavery in 1888. The image dates back to 1824, two years after Brazil’s independence and yet slavery was still present. With that, this illustration depicts a slave market in Rio de Jainero where black slaves are sitting and children are being sold to their soon to be white owners. One of the children is being held aggressively by a man in which the buyer is seen pointing at them as he chooses the child to buy. To the right of this, is another man picking out a slave who is also being held with a hand on their head showing the mistreatment and inhumanity and how they were only seen as property. While the men are dressed respectfully, the slaves and children are dressed in cloths and not proper clothing. Once again, this depicts inhumanity and how they are seen as property even after Brazil was declared independent.

In 1808, Emperor João VI moved the royal court to Rio de Janeiro making the city the “official center of the Empire” that led to an increase of trade (Dawson 14). With the Spanish intrroducting slavery into the New World (Townsend 299), slavery was important for Brazil as it was beneficial to their economy. As other countries were declaring their independence and abolishing slavery, Pedro I of Brazil, son of Emperor João VI, had declared independence and established a constitutional monarchy which saved slavery (Dawson 15). As slavery was saved due to the benefits like the agricultural economy, citizens had acknowledged that slavery had to be present.

The correlation between the image of Slave Market at Rio Janeiro and the events that eventually led to the independence of Brazil is the drawing depicting the auction between slaves and buyers and how declaring indepdence did not abolish slavery as citizens saw the benefits slavery had.

Works Cited

Dawson, Alexander S. “Independence Narratives, Past and Present.” Latin America since Independence: A History with Primary Sources, Routledge, 2022. 

Townsend, Camilla. “Angela Batallas: A Fight for Freedom in Guayaquil.” The Human Tradition in Colonial Latin America, edited by Kenneth J. Andrien, Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham, MD, 2013.