“Fighting for their freedom, slaves played a crucially important role in winning independence for Spanish South America, and in so doing they triggered the programs of gradual emancipation enacted during those years.”
-George Reid Andrews, “An Exterminating Bolt of Lightning” (Page 64)
Asynchronous Blog Post
Instructions:
Pick ONE of the following four reflection options and post your answer in the comment section down below. 200-word minimum. Deadline: 10/7 before the class
OPTION ONE
.What were the different takes about whether or not to arm enslaved people? (Pages 60-62)
.Discuss the importance of military service, the free womb laws, and manumission for the decrease of the enslaved population in Latin America? (Pages 62-65)
OPTION TWO
.Explain why the institution of slavery was re-inforced in Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Brazil (Pages 67)
.How does the expansion of the slave trade during the early 18oos intensified “all the conflicts and divisions of a slave-owning society” in Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Brazil (Page 77)
OPTION THREE
.Describe the final days of slavery in Brazil? What factors contributed to the final “strike” and exodus to quilombos? (Pages 82-3)
.Andrews analyzes that the triumph against slavery in Cuba and Puerto Rico was a product of a large political crisis that “broke the unity of ruling elites and created openings through which the slaves could strike for freedom.” Expand. (Pages 83-4)
OPTION FOUR
Respectfully interact with ONE of your classmates’ responses. Do you agree with their arguments and interpretations? Do you disagree? What other observations about George Reid Andrew’s chapter do you want to bring into the discussion?
OPTION ONE
What were the different takes about whether or not to arm enslaved people? (Pages 60-62)
If the whites arm the slaves, then they will have a private army when and ready to serve them and will wither help defend and attack. The only drawback is that they can rebel as they were given weapons and can easily revolt against their master instead of fighting and dying for them. Most Slaves would not lay down their lives unless the incentive of freedom is dangling over their heads.
Discuss the importance of military service, the free womb laws, and manumission for the decrease of the enslaved population in Latin America? (Pages 62-65)
Military service was very important as it provided a way out for slaves to become free if they complete military service in 5 years or more if they got in trouble This would allow them to have a trained army loyal to them. The free womb laws were for the children of slaves born free and when they reached the age of maturity, they are free. This would allow them to have an increase in the young slave population as they are born free but as indentured slaves. Manumission is slaves being freed by the owner. Overall, they are all important as they each offer a way to decrease the enslave population either by years in military service for males or if you are children then you are free when you reach a certain age. Lastly, a slave can be free by their owner.
Option 3
.Describe the final days of slavery in Brazil? What factors contributed to the final “strike” and exodus to quilombos? (Pages 82-3)
The political and legal system concluded to make it harder for Brazilians to vote by cutting down the number of voters from 1 million to only 150,000. This resulted in abolitionists planning to engage in civil disobedience. Francisco do Nascimento and José Napoleão led black portworkers to stop the shipment of slaves from being sent to southeastern coffee zones. As a result of their work, slavery was abolished in 1884 in the northeastern state of Ceara. In 1887, the countryside slaves were urged to leave their plantations by radical abolitionists with the help of activists and agitators. This major event was led by white aristocrat Antonio Bento in São Paulo, Afro-Brazilian journalist Jose do Patrocinio in Rio de Janeiro, and Afro-Brazilian physician Luis Anselmo da Fonseca in Bahia. By the end of that year, approximately 10,000 slaves ran away from their coffee plantation in São Paulo to the quilombo of Jabaquara. On May 13, 1888, Princess Regent Isabel established and signed the Golden Law. This was the moment that abolished Brazilian slavery.
.Andrews analyzes that the triumph against slavery in Cuba and Puerto Rico was a product of a large political crisis that “broke the unity of ruling elites and created openings through which the slaves could strike for freedom.” Expand. (Pages 83-4)
Slaves were closely watched, were vastly outgunned, and not united. Slaves could not have attempted to rebel unless there was a large political crisis that caused disorder within the higher classes. The independence wars created that window of opportunity for the slaves. The war produced questions of national sovereignty. At first, Brazilian whites and freed blacks prevented rebellions by African slaves. Later on, they noticed that the population of African slaves were shrinking, while the population of Brazilian slaves increased. This caused them to take action against slavery and decided to create an alliance that resulted in the “mass revolt” of 1887-88.
Option 1:
Many new world colonies are having a dilemma of whether to arm slaves or not. This is risky to them because if they do arm the slaves, the owners might get turned on against because the slaves would own weapons. However, if the new world colonies don’t arm the slaves, they might get attacked one day without having any defense. Some slave owners hide their slaves after hearing about the debate over drafting slaves. They do not want to take the risk of getting rebelled. However, someone suggested the idea that slaves would gain their freedom if they become drafted. Acknowledging the path to become free, many refuse to serve for their masters if they cannot become drafted.
Military service is important to the slaves because if they complete five years of service, they will earn their freedom. The Free Wombs Law is created for children that were born by slaves. They would have to serve their mother’s master for the first 18-21 years of their life (depending on which country they are born in), then they would earn their right to become a free citizen. These children are known as Libertos or Manumisos. The manumission for the decrease of slaves starts to cause some problems for the slave owners after the Free Womb Law is enacted. This is because there are fewer and fewer slaves to serve for the slave owners as the year passes. Many countries decided to extend the freedom age to 25, but Peru, being an extraordinary country, extended the freedom age to 50.
Option 1
The difference between the two situations is that from pages 60-62, the salves were armed with weapons that they took when destroying the plantations that they worked on; the slaves took these weapons and used them as an act of vengeance towards the colonizers that came and pillaged there history linage and traditions. Revenge being the reason became vividly apparent when the slaves devastated “much of the plantation sector, the weakening and impoverishing of the planters as a class, and the destruction of the Spanish state.” These actions sparked created desire within slaves to revoke all the work they had done on the plantations from the planters.
The most significant difference in 62-65 is the reasoning behind the slaves getting armed because differently, the slaves were armed to fight for freedom with gradual emancipation, which gave them the right to choose why they fought. “Slaves remained, libertos born under the laws had to wait 18 years or more to claim their freedom, and their owner retained the labor of both groups.” With this becoming common practice, it gave slaves what they desired, which is freedom in gave slave masters the right to all the profits from said salve after emancipation
option 2
Explain why the institution of slavery was re-inforced in Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Brazil (Pages 67)
The institution on slavery was reinforced in Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Brazil to simply avoid war and violence. whilst wanting their freedom, they looked back a saw how Haitian rebels were hurt by their rebellion against the plantation owners. Haitis sugar economy was severely effected, so other countries saw this as an opportunity to become the top sugar and coffee manufacturers,(taking the place of Haiti).The slaves in these countries wanted to avoid war at all cost because they werent armed like their owners.
How does the expansion of the slave trade during the early 18oos intensified “all the conflicts and divisions of a slave-owning society” in Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Brazil (Page 77)
The expansion of the slave trade during the early 1800s intensified the conflicts in these countries because it divides everyone into groups of rich or poor, black or white,
slaves and masters .slave rebellions had no support from free population, the Government attempted to integrate groups but it did not work. slavery maintained and more africans were brought over during the 1840s. During the first half of the century cuban elites remained loyal to Spain.In Cuba the independent sugar and coffee plantations weren’t meeting the market margin amounts and was eventually granted independence from Spain.
OPTION 1
The essay “An exterminating bolt of lightning” explains that during wartime there were debates on whether to arm enslaved people or not. New world colonies knew that arming slaves had risks. They believed that “slave soldiers could just as easily turn on their masters” (60). There were instances of revenge against slave owners. Slaves would fight their slave owners. Arming soldiers would also increase the chance of slaves fleeing. The new world colonies did not want to take those risks but they needed help winning the war.
Military service was extremely important for the decrease of the enslaved population in Latin America. Laws were passed where slaves could gain their freedom as long as they served 5 or more years in the military. This process made the idea of freedom or liberation real for slaves. As the war continued, more laws were passed. The free womb laws allowed children of slave mothers to be born free. These children were referred to as libertos or manumisos. They were not completely born free, they had to work until they turned 18 and others had to wait a few more years. After 18 years (or more) of work, “they became free citizens of the republic” (64). These laws were programs of gradual emancipation. Slaves finally had real opportunities to become liberated. These programs allowed for slavery to decrease as years went by, it became inevitable.
Option One
The decision about whether or not to arm enslaved people for war in the New World colonies was a controversial one. Sides turning to enlist slave soldiers considered the possibility of slaves turning on slave owners, as well as the slaves expecting an incentive in the form of freedom which would be their main interest. In addition, slave owners were not too happy about mandatory conscriptions of their slaves, choosing to hide them in the forest to avoid giving their service. On the other hand, they were a convenient and large population to benefit from, potentially giving one side a sole advantage enlisting them as soldiers.
At varying times during the wars in Spanish America, many changes were enacted that gradually led to the decrease of the enslaved population. There was emancipation granted to slaves based on the successful completion of their military service terms, though many did not survive until then. In addition, many governments enacted Free Womb laws, deeming the children of slave mothers libertos or freedmen once they reached a certain age. These changes directly chipped at the enslaved population, making it a timely decision for places such as Chile, the Central American Federation, and Mexico to be the first Spanish American nations to grant full emancipation.
Option One
Each New World Colony was faced with the issue of whether or not to arm slaves. They saw it as a really high risk since slave soldiers could easily turn on their masters. On the other hand the slaves can be a private army that can help to defend and fight against their colony’s enemy. Most slaves looked for freedom if they fought and armies depended on slave soldiers to help them fight. From 1813 to 1818 about 4,000 to 5,000 slaves joined the rebel forces in Argentina and between 1819 to 1821 about 5,000 slaves joined Bolivar’s forces. (Andrew 62) Military service, the free womb laws and manumission helped aid in the decrease of the enslaved population in Latin America. Military service promised a slave their freedom if they fought for five years. Free womb laws promised libertos their freedom after they work for 18 or more years. Manumission was the release and freedom of slaves. Between 1840-1854 “some 1,300 manumissions were recorded in the province.” (Andrews 65) A person in Barbacoas explained that this “leads me to believe that slavery will soon be extinct.” (Andrew 65) Due to all these events a lot of slaves were finally able to be given freedom.
The hard decision on whether to arm their own slaves was just one of many ways to allow a slave gain their freedom. I agree on the high risk these slave owners faced on having their own slaves rebel if they were armed but the incentive of gaining their freedom after military training could be enough to deter many slaves from rebelling. However, this is a case-by-case observation, meaning that any slave could’ve still planned a rebellion due to the unfair treatment he has dealt with and the people around him as well. The new laws put in place in order to lessen the number of slaves were also a big way to calm down rebellion whispers. The thought of “we’ll be free in a couple of years” or this person will be free in a couple of years, maybe I should look for ways so I can also be free, must’ve been thoughts floating amongst slaves. Even though their treatment would barely get better, no one else would hire them, their freedom was enough incentive to keep slaves in line.
Option 1
What were the different takes about whether or not to arm enslaved people?
There was heavy opposition by slave owners to arm the enslaved people because they feared how easy it would be once armed for the enslaved people to turn on their own masters instead of just fighting the enemies. Arming the enslaved people was also seen as a heavy financial burden because they didn’t want to fight and endanger their lives without some promise of freedom once the fighting was over. This in turn made the enslaved people more expensive to recruit and to fight then those of their white and free black people counterparts. However, they were still seen as a viable option by the rebels since as the war continued to go on these counterparts were becoming harder and harder to find.
Military service played a vital role in Latin America for the decrease of the enslaved population as there was a law passed where if a slaved served in the military for five years they would be granted freedom. However, the conditions in the military were very poor and many of them died before their five year service was completed, this led to a heavy decrease in the number of enslaved people. Furthermore, the Free womb laws were enacted at both the beginning and the end of the war stating that any child born from a slave mother would be born free and manumitted ones. As minors they would still have to perform labor for their masters but once they reached the age of majority that being 18 or 21 they would be free. This also led to a massive decrease in the number of enslaved as now many slaves were no longer being born but were free. All of these things happening made it an easier decision for Latin American countries to grant full emancipation.
The take on arming enslaved seemed spot on to what will go through your mind if having to make this decision. Too many things can go wrong if the enslaved people really turned on their masters. Sometimes the pros would have to outweigh the cons even if it meant putting the masters at risk of rebellion. Many slaves also new that most deaths would happen in the war so it seemed fitting for them just to stick being slaves and have they opportunity of survival. Around this time, unlike before there was more ways of being a free slave if you just waited your sentence out. Like Logan said, the normal age of adulthood is 18-21, and that was the time they were set free. Also if you had kids, it was a law that the kids will not be slaves but free. The last one was going to war but, if you knew your abilities and knew you were set to not survive these conditions of war then is best to stick with the option of being slaves and protecting yourself. The questions still stand, is arming the enslaved a right choice. At the time, it’s the best option they had but their would definitely be some people who don’t settle for either of these choices and will rebel.
Option 1
The question of whether to arm slaves was disputed and debated. Because arming slaves was two-sided, it allowed slaves to protect their homes, but it also allowed slaves to rebel against their masters and planters. If slaves were not armed, they would not be able to defend the colonies from outside invasion when they were attacked. Armed slaves were then used for protection. Even so, planters also had to worry that armed slaves might rebel and retaliate against them.
There were many new policies that led to a decline in the slave population, including the Military Service and the Free Womb laws. The policy of military service meant that slaves could be freed after five years of military service. It was the harsh conditions of military service and that led to many deaths. Free Womb Laws mean children born to slave mothers are not slaves but Free citizens. But before the children are minors, they still have to finish their work. Until they are 18 to 21 years old, when they are adults, then they are free and liberated. As these laws were enforced, the number of slaves continued to decline as more slaves and their children were freed and liberated.
Option 1
The takes on whether or not slaves should be given arms is a conflicting one. Obviously, if they allow slaves to be armed they could easily have the thought to rebel against their master. As stated on page 61, it said that slaves wouldn’t put their lives in danger if they did not receive anything from it like their freedom. However, if they were not armed then they wouldn’t be able to protect their homes. In a way, the issue of whether they should allow slaves to be armed is a double-edged sword. (60-62)
The military service gave slaves the option to become libertos (freedmen) as stated on page 62. If they were able to serve five years in the military then they were able to obtain their freedom. However, not many survived the military and it wounded up have very few survivors. The Free Womb Act allowed the children of a slave mother to be free but had to serve their mother’s master until adulthood. (62-65)
OPTION ONE
What were the different takes about whether or not to arm enslaved people? (Pages 60-62)
As the Spanish state fought wars in South America and their authority weakened, they faced a conflicting issue: arming enslaved people. There were risks and gains to both. One risk was that enslaved soldiers could turn on their owners. Further, there would have to be a reward to convince slaves to put their life on the line. A reward convincing enough would be freedom, but this puts the Spanish’ at risk as they rely on the exploitation of black people for their income. Further, owners also wanted a say in this decision. Most opposed the idea, and many appealed to their local government officials to make exceptions for their slaves. The resistance was intense as slaves “formed the heart of the plantation” (61). However, as the war went on, it was harder to find white people who wanted to volunteer, so arming enslaved people was a solution to this issue.
Discuss the importance of military service, the free womb laws, and manumission for the decrease of the enslaved population in Latin America? (Pages 62-65)
Slaves played a significant role in winning independence for South America, which brought about the programs of gradual emancipation established in the years to come. One program was the free womb laws, in which children of slave mothers were born free. As minors, they had to serve their mothers’ masters, but once they reached the age of 18 or 21, they became free citizens of the republic. A compromise between the owners and the slaves was necessary and a step closer to liberation—progress. Moreover, the right to manumission encouraged slaves to continue to pursue freedom. Many collected money to free themselves, their partner, or children from slavery, and “between 1840 and 1854 some 1,3000 manumissions were recorded” (65). All these acts or policies played a vital role in the decrease of the enslaved population.
Option One:
Most colonies that sought independence through warfare was conflicted on if they should arm slaves. While arming enslaved people can build a strong defense for war and service, it is dangerous for them to be in possession of weapons. They would want freedom more than anything else and arming them would allow them to build an army against their masters and revolt. It’s a big risk but a necessary one if the colony needs defense against colonizing nations.
Slaves had several ways of gaining freedom whether it be through military service, the Free Womb Laws, or manumission. Slave recruits can service in the military for at least five years and become free after completing their enlistments. Slaves would voluntarily join because it was the only means of freedom from slavery at the time. The Free Wombs Law allows children of slave mothers to be born free but serve for their mothers’ masters until age of majority while getting paid. After they reach the age, they become free citizens of the republic. Lastly, slaves had rights to manumission after independence and sought ways to pursue their own freedom like self-purchase or family arrangements. With these ways for slaves to seek freedom, it collectively helped decrease the number of enslaved people in Latin America during and after independence.
OPTION TWO
Institution of slavery was reinforced in Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Brazil to provert another liberting but unforgiviable event in Haiti. The government and plantation owners use the remains of Haiti’s destruction to build their own sugar production. Futhermore, for the sugar production to thrive they would need to have slaves. This shows me that no matter the sitution black are constantly being used. The system of slavery is ONLY beneficial to the white people because they want to make sure they’re in a comforterable position. This example convey that, the white people only care about themeselves and don’t care about the people they hurt. In pg 77, the expanision of the slave trade during the 1800s intensified in Cuba, Puerto Rico and Brazil because slaves wanted to abolish slavery but they have failed. For example,” These division contributed in no small measure to the defeat of no support from the free population.” What this shows is over the years enslaved people were trying to be free, even if the gain their freedom, it seems people lost hope. Lost hope of their goal.
.
Slavey has taken place in many parts of the world. For example we saw the effects of the Haition rebels against slavey. The institution of slavey re enforced in Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Brazil to avoid many conflict Haiti went through. They wanted to avoid war and violence. They saw how rebels in Haiti affected not only the people, their peace but also plantations. This meant the economy went down. This was a chance for many other countries to step up and try to increase their economy. They wanted to increase the sales of sugar and coffee and try to replace Haiti and exceed. Slaves in these particular countries did not want to start war simply because they did not have the resources to sight back.
How does the expansion of the slave trade during the early 18oos intensified “all the conflicts and divisions of a slave-owning society” in Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Brazil (Page 77)
During the early 1800s the expansion of the slave trade intensified “all the conflicts and divisions of a slave-owning society” in Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Brazil. This was because it created a “placement” for everyone. For example it divided everyone into classified groups. Either you were rich(plantation owner), poor, black, slave or white. As usual slaves did not have any reinforcement from the government or people who “were free”. Although the government intervened and tried to blend all “social classes” together it did not work. This led to an increase of slavey during the 1840s.
Option two:
The institution of slavery was reinforced in Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Brazil to help plantation owners take advantage of the destruction of Haiti’s sugar economy. Plantation owners took the opportunity of increasing their own levels of sugar production, but in order to do that, they needed more slaves. Since there was an absence of the destabilizing effects of war, slavery expanded to higher levels than ever before. The slave trade helped plantation owners by putting more Africans into those three countries, but there was also a risk that there would be a successful slave revolution and slaves would get emancipated. Slaves became more and more violent during their resistance and were eventually able to be emancipated in the late 1880s. The expansion of the slave trade during the early 18oos intensified “all the conflicts and divisions of a slave-owning society” in Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Brazil by increasing the tensions between slaves and masters, rich and poor, and blacks and whites. Slave rebellions were receiving no support from the free population or even Creole slaves, thus leading to slavery being maintained. Plantation slavery generated social and political pressures in Brazil as well, but those pressures were solved by separating the free and slave populations so that they weren’t able to unite against the forces oppressing them.
OPTION 1
What were the different takes about whether or not to arm enslaved people? (Pages 60-62)
The situation regarding whether slave owners in Latin American countries should allow their slaves to possess firearms during times of turmoil against the Spanish was a major dilemma. If one had given their slaves weapons, there was always a chance that these slaves could rebel against their owners in order to gain their freedom. However if worded properly, these slaves would fight for their owners with the price being their freedom and if exploitation were to occur, then no doubt the slaves would rebel. However if the slaves were not given weapons then the fighting force of the Latin American colonies would go down significantly and the slaves could be given the opportunity to escape. With no means of defense for these plantation owners, it would be the only choice for them to give their slaves weapons otherwise they’ll lose all.
.Discuss the importance of military service, the free womb laws, and manumission for the decrease of the enslaved population in Latin America? (Pages 62-65)
These military services, free womb laws, and manumissions provided to the slaves of Latin American countries gave the slaves multiple opportunities to gain their freedom. Military services were free to enroll and had a slave join and fight for only 5 years would win them their freedom and hence gave the slaves a incentive to fight while also increasing manpower in army forces. The Womb Laws allowed children of slave mothers to earn their freedom after serving a specified amount of time serving under their mother’s owner. This allowed all slaves to gain access to freedom after a certain number of generations. Because of these acts, slavery eventually began to cease as all these manumission acts allowed slaves to gain access to freedom easily and within a short period of time, slavery was no longer in the Latin American colonies.
Option 1- While slaves were commonly used as soldiers in the wars going on all over Latin America, there were concerns about arming them. This is because New world colonies knew that slaves had very little/no loyalty to their masters, and once armed would most likely rebel. They were correct to assume this, because with their masters distracted by the widespread violence, slaves would escape, or break into their master’s house to arm themselves.
Under the policy of Jose Artigas slaves were able to volunteer or be drafted to the army and fight for their freedom. They would only be freed after serving 5 years in Argentina and elsewhere, and many slaves died before they were freed. Slave owners were upset by this policy, and tried to hide their slaves from recruiting agents. The free womb law granted freedom to any child of an enslaved woman from that point. They would serve their mother’s master until 18 or 21, and were then considered free. Slave owners wanted to prevent this from happening, and right as the first libertos were reaching the age threshold, it was increased. Slaves were still able to free their families through sacrifice, from working in the city, a slave could save up to free his wife and kids. The government helped these slaves buy back their freedom, and officially emancipated slavery in Chile, Mexico, and the Central American Federation.
What were the different tales about whether or not to arm enslaved people?
Arming slaves is a very risky thing, because slaves want to be free. Once they have weapons and equipment, they are likely to begin to resist the slave owners, but if the slaves are not provided with weapons, the combat effectiveness of the Latin American colonies will be greatly reduced, and the slave owners have no defense means, and they can only arm the slaves to protect them.Most slaves cannot give their lives to fight for the slave owners without the encouragement of rewards.
Discuss the importance of military service , the free womb laws ,and manumission for the decrease of the enslaved population in Latin America?
Military service is important to reduce slavery in Latin America, because slaves can be free after only five years of military service, although the death rate of military service is high. The free uterus law can also reduce the slave population. Normally, children born to slave mothers are also slaves. Under this law, children born to adults will no longer be slaves, although they still have to work for their masters before they reach adulthood. But at least they are no longer slaves.
OPTION ONE
.What were the different takes about whether or not to arm enslaved people? (Pages 60-62)
When independece was won every New World “faced the issue of whether or not to arm slaves.” (60)The benfit part of having the slaves carry weapons is for protection. Sometime in the future an attack could happen and the whites would have no one to defend them. However there was also the bad side of it. This is because of the risk arming slaves could bring. One risk was that the “slave soldiers” (60) would go against their masters. If they rebel then slaves could go free and flee.
.Discuss the importance of military service, the free womb laws, and manumission for the decrease of the enslaved population in Latin America? (Pages 62-65)
Military service was important because it was a way that slaves could go free. This method decreased the amount of people enslaved as slaves gained their freedom if fought for five years. There were other laws passed that also decreased the amount of people enslaved such as the he Free Womb law. The Free Womb law “…children of slave mothers were born free, as libertos or manumisos…As miniors, they were required to serve their mothers’ masters…” (64) When the slave mothers children reached the age of 18-21 they would become “free citizens of the republic.” (64) “Manumission, freedom through military service, high rates of mortality…and the absence of any further slave births all combined to greatly reduce the numbers of slaves in the years after indepence.” (65) With the military service and Free Womb law both gave slaves their freedom but they still had to work for it (i.e serving the country, working for their slave mothers master)
Most of the new colonies were divided on the arming slaves issue. If slaves were armed, problems could arise and they might fight back in their owners. Also, it could be beneficial if the doves had weapons to make them an army protecting their owners property.There was a point in the reading where it mentioned that slaves could be free if they become drafted.And many slaves did not want to be there if the possibly of drafting was gone. It was their only escape out of the torture that they were facing. The free wombs law was created and it was created for people who birthed slaves. It said that they would have to serve their master for 18-21 years and then they would have the chance to be free.
Option 3
According to G.R.Andrews, the final days in Brazil reminded me of a pre-revolution time in America. At first, abolitionists and slaves tried to reach their goal of abolishing slavery in Brazil through political movement, but it was unsuccessful because of a Electoral Reform of 1881. This event caused chaos and disobedience in the country, for example on page 82 it says, “In the Northeastern state of Ceara, black port workers under the leadership of former slaves Francisco do Nascimento and José Napoleao organized work stoppages and refused to load slaves on cargo ships headed for the southern coffee zones.” (Andrews 82). And this wasn’t the only example of protest and rebellion at that time. Supporters of abolition also started to go around the country to urge agitated slaves to flee the plantations. That was the final push as the slaves chose to be free and nothing could’ve stopped them, so the Parliament signed the Golden Law in 1888 to finally get rid of slavery.
Andrews states that triumph against slavery in Cuba and Puerto Rico was a product of a large political crisis that “broke the unity of ruling elites and created openings through which the slaves could strike for freedom.” By which he means that the elites of the countries were busy fighting between themselves, so this created gaps and weak spots at the government which were exploited by the slaves and abolitionist to fight against slavery. Otherwise nothing would really work out because this movement was even stronger and more influential in the early 1880s but was completely unsuccessful because they were suppressed by the government and slave owners.
There were different reasons as to whether or not to arm enslaved people. There were several risks as Enslaved people would turn against their owners and their owners enemies. This was also a financial problem because no slave would want to put their life on the line without some sort of “reward.” the reward would turn out to be for their freedom. But because African slaves were no longer being imported and plantation owners relied on slavery for income, this was a financial risk for owners.
The military service, the free womb law, and manumission all played an important role in the decrease of slavery. When slaves would sever for the military service, before completing enlistment several of slaves had already died. Also of the two to three thousand enslaved people, only 150 came back from fighting against Indians. Lastly, in winter, they fought under terrible conditions, one could possibly say some froze to death.the free womb law allowed any child with a free mother to become free themselves. Of course this had some ties with military service as that was one way to gain freedom, or manumission. With manumission, enslaved people were allowed to buy their freedom. they would save up their money and free their wives so that their child would also be born free under the free womb laws. With all of these ways to be “freed,” within 30-50 years the number of enslaved people dropped tremendously.
Option two:
The institution of slavery was reinforced again in Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Brazil to help benefit the plantation owners who seek to profit and takes notes on what not to do so a rebellion like the Haitian one doesn’t happen again. The plantation owners seek the opportunity to increase sugar production by enslaving more people. They thought of an idea to profit on the chaos and demise of Haiti and become the biggest sugar company however they hoped no rebel would happen again and they wouldn’t be free.
The increase amount of slave trade in the 1800’s intensified in Cuba, Puerto Rico and Brazil because many places were considering this as unjustified inhumane acts towards humans because they are treating them as objects. Many tried protesting but not many free slaves wanted to help or they separated the slaves and the freed slaves so they can’t work together or communicate and form another rebellion thus maintaining slavery.
Option 1:
The ongoing war in Spanish America allowed slaves to have an opportunity for their freedom. Many slaves turned to joining the military. The risks however of these military forces allowing slaves to join was that the slave could turn on them and they would have to offer freedom to them. There was also risk of these slaves simply fleeing but they needed to take this risk to win. Conscription was not favored by slave owners though because they wanted to keep their slaves and many hid their slaves from recruiters.
Military service was important because the incentive for the slaves were that they would officially be freed if they completed 5 years of service. The free womb laws were implemented for children of slaves. Once this child of a slave reached 18-21 after serving their mother’s master they earned their freedom. Manumission was official freedom from slave owner.
People had many different ideas as to whether slaves should be armed or not. If slave owners were to arm their slaves they had their own soldiers that were able to protect them however there was always the possibility that when arming the slaves they can always turn against them and use the same weapons on their owners. Due to the mistreatment of slaves by their slave owners the possibility of slaves turning against their owners was very high and the idea that slaves were willing to risk their lives for the slave owners was not Berry likely. Military service was important to the slaves because in order to get the free the freedom they were told that if they were to complete five years of service it would be able to do so. With the free womb laws created it allowed children of free slaves to be free from slavery however that was not the case they were still required to be slaves for 18 or even more years before they were able to be free.