Among all the nations of the American continent, Brazil was the last to end the slave regime. We know this happened in May 13, 1888, when the Princess Isabel, exercising the functions of head of state in place of D. Pedro II(which was outside the country), sanctioned the Imperial Law no. 3.353, known as Golden Law.
We also know that abolition, coming with the Golden Law, was the result of a constant struggle waged by abolitionist groups of different hues. These groups became very active during the second half of the 19th century and were made up of journalists, politicians, nobles (such as Princess Isabel herself), lawyers, etc. Among the main historical characters active in Brazilian abolitionism were three blacks: Luizgamma, JosephofSponsorship and AndrewReeds.
Luiz Gama (1830-1882)
the baiano Luiz Gonzaga Pinto da Gama, born in 1830, was the son of a white Portuguese father and a free black woman. Therefore, Gamma was born free. His mother, Luiza Mahin, participated in the famous Revolta dos Malês, in Salvador, in 1835. Luiza had to flee Bahia, leaving her son with his father. The father, in turn, would have, according to some scholars of Gama's biography, sold his own son as a slave at the age of 10 – even though he was free.
Luiz Gama stood out in journalism and law
Luiz Gama remained a slave until he was 17 years old, when he managed to escape from his master's domains, having also managed, some time later, to prove that he had been born free. Freed again, Gama became literate and began to study self-taught, becoming a journalist and lawyer. It was precisely through journalism and law that he exercised his fight against slavery.
In the 1860s, Gama, who lived in the city of São Paulo, met personalities such as the caricaturist angeloAgostini and the diplomats RuyBarbosa and JoaquimNabuco, regulars, at the time, of the America Masonic Lodge. It was through the members of this Lodge that the abolitionist and republican ideals gained volume in Luiz Gama's thought.
As a journalist, Gama worked in periodicals such as the lame devil, in which he satirically defended the end of slavery and fiercely criticized the rural aristocracy of the Empire. As a lawyer, he defended, usually for free, countless freed slaves and blacks. He even managed to obtain manumission for more than 500 captive blacks in Brazil. However, Gama died in 1882, before seeing the abolition accomplished.
José do Patrocínio (1853-1905)
the fluminense José Carlos do Sponsorship, born in Campos de Goytacazes, in 1853, was the son of a vicar with a slave (servant of the latter) named Mine. His childhood and adolescence were exactly the opposite of what Luiz Gama lived. Patrocínio was born as a slave, but was raised as a freedman. His father, even though he did not formally assume him as a son, gave him the necessary protection so that be able to educate themselves (formally educate themselves) and get started in the world of work, starting with functions modest.
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Patrocínio was known for his defense of both abolitionism and republicanism.
Migrating from Campos de Goytacazes to the city of Rio de Janeiro, Patrocínio managed to enter the Pharmacy course, then linked to the Faculty of Medicine in the capital of the Empire. It was during this period of college that he came into contact with the call republican club, which also brought together young people with republican ideas. Sponsorship did not take long to articulate with personalities like thunder lopes, Quintino Bocaiuva and Mallet sparrow.
In 1875, José do Patrocínio became known for commanding, with Dermeval da Fonseca, the satirical newspaper the Stingers, which, like the lame devil, by Luiz Gama, was also loaded with criticisms and ironies against the slave society. It was through journalism that Patrocínio managed to propagate his views on both slavery and the republican regime. In 1880 he founded, with other leading abolitionists, such as JoaquimNabuco, The Brazilian Society Against Slavery.
André Rebouças (1838-1898)
Just like Luiz Gama, André Rebouças he was also from Bahia and was born free, in 1838. he was the son of Antônio Pereira Rebouças, black, son of freed slave and a Portuguese tailor, becoming an outstanding lawyer and politician of the Empire. André, in turn, received great intellectual and technical training. He was an engineer and distinguished himself in this role for having undertaken the following works: 1) solving the water supply problem in Rio de Janeiro; 2) development of a torpedo model used in the Paraguayan War; 3) construction of a railway connecting the state of Paraná to Mato Grosso do Sul.
André Rebouças was an engineer and had a vast culture
André Rebouças also had a cosmopolitan culture for having known some countries in Europe and the American continent up close. He was a friend of the musician Carlos Gomes, author of the romantic opera The Guarani, to whom he provided financial assistance more than once. He was also a member of Brazilian Society Against Slavery and from other bodies, such as the abolitionist society and the Central Immigration Society.
In addition to criticizing the slave regime, Rebouças was concerned with the fate of blacks after abolition, when it occurred. It was necessary to plan for the insertion of freed slaves in the Brazilian economy and society. Furthermore, such insertion should take into account the massive migration of Europeans to Brazil in the second half of the 19th century.
By Me. Cláudio Fernandes
