Travels in Brazil

by Henry Koster

CHAPTER XX.

IMPOLICY OF THE SLAVE TRADE.

FEW persons in Great Britain have now any doubts of the inhumanity of the slave trade, and none would presume to come forwards as its defenders. It is a great moral evil, perhaps the greatest in the world, from which England has at last been delivered. But her work is not yet done, other nations continue to transport the natives of Africa from their own shores to those of South America; and even when her efforts have succeeded in persuading them to forbid this trade, the plan of abolition must be followed up in her own colonies; she must atone for the crimes which she has committed, and prove to other countries her sincerity in the cause, by her zeal in rooting out a most execrable system with all prudent and possible expedition.

In Brazil there are several excellent men who still entertain the idea that the Africans are saved from death by the slave-dealers, and that if they were not purchased by Europeans, their countrymen would murder them; this was the opinion in England a few years ago, and therefore we cannot be surprised that the Brazilians should still consider it as being founded upon truth. It is their interest so to think, (or at any rate, they imagine that it is their interest) and they have no books or other means by which they might be undeceived. To the planters I fear that scarcely any arguments would be of any avail; they imagine that without slaves their estates must decay, and therefore they fortify themselves under the notion of the humanity of the trade by which they obtain their supplies. If the chief body of the priests could be convinced of its cruelty,—of the effect which this trade has to render still more prominent than they would otherwise be, the bad qualities of the natives of Africa in their own country, and to check every thing that is good;—of its direct tendency to increase the manifold evils of the state of society existing in the parts of that continent which are subject to the resort of slave-dealers;—if the clergy could be made to believe that by their voice they were sanctioning one of the most shocking systems under which the world ever laboured, I know that their aid would be given to the abolition. I am aware likewise of the weight which their opinions carry with them among all other descriptions of persons. One of the chief arguments with the priesthood is the advantages which the Africans receive from their entrance into the Catholic church;—how much better would it be to teach them the Christian religion upon their native soil, without all the miseries to which they are subjected by their transportation!

Another opinion has also been adopted, which induces the Brazilians to suspect the motives of Great Britain in urging their government to abolish the trade. They say it was from policy alone that she abolished the slave trade, because her colonies were fully stocked; and that now she wishes to accomplish the abolition among all other nations who are not so well provided with labourers, that they may not rival her transatlantic possessions, and ultimately surpass them by the increased number of workmen[250]. It is clear that those who hold out that upon such principles as these the abolition was effected in England, know nothing of its history;—for if they did, they would soon see from what pure motives the zeal for the prohibition of the slave-trade proceeded; they would read of the exertions and perseverance of Clarkson, the great apostle in this cause, and they would be convinced that the eloquence of Wilberforce could only emanate from the most disinterested sources. It would be perceived that these two individuals whose names will for ever be connected with the famous law to the passing of which they contributed so materially, were followed by a train of advocates in this glorious struggle, whose aid was afforded under circumstances which were as little liable to suspicion as the conduct of their great leaders. The proofs of the unstained principles upon which this act was carried through Parliament are so decisive, that a plain statement of facts would convince all those who were not previously determined to believe the contrary.

The government of Brazil has a difficult part to act; it rules a numerous body of slave-owners, who are scattered over a very extensive country, in which the authority of the sovereign will only of necessity be loosely recognized; the possibility of resisting his commands does exist, and though his mandates are issued in the style of despotism, still he must be careful not to go too far; for he has not the means of enforcing obedience to his edicts in the chief provinces, if any one of them chose to withdraw its allegiance. The government would be, I rather think, inclined to follow the example of the chief powers of Europe; but it must not be precipitate, the people must be prepared for the change, and have time given them to think upon a subject, which, under their present impressions, is supposed to injure them so materially. It is at Bahia that the slave-dealers and planters have shewn themselves most violent in favour of the slave-trade; it is from that place that the most extensive traffic is carried on to the coast of Africa. In the province of Bahia there are great estates, possessing two, three, and four hundred slaves; the owners of these are consequently rich, and they possess power over the free population as well as over their own immediate dependents. It is in that quarter that the greatest inclination to resist whatever its people does not relish, has been experienced. Petitions containing forcible language have been made to the government at Rio de Janeiro, against the abolition and against the proceedings of the British cruisers stationed upon the coast of Africa, by which several slave ships have been captured[251]. The government of Brazil may, and ought to be persuaded by all peaceable and friendly means which independent States possess of urging each other, to do its utmost in accomplishing the much to be desired end; but still whatever our wishes may be, and however much the inclinations of the Portugueze ministry may coincide with them, they must consult the state of the country over which they rule.

A Brazilian writer who has published several pamphlets at Rio de Janeiro with the permission of the Regent, has spoken against the trade, as far as it is possible under present circumstances. Slavery he styles “a terrible cancer in the body politic, which tends to impede the increase of the white race,” and as he rather quaintly expresses himself “to Africanize the New World[252].” This is not the only place in which the same writer speaks of slavery, and of the trade in these terms. A Portugueze writer of much reputation among his countrymen, says, “if we have never feared the power of the government, neither ought we to hesitate in combating the erroneous opinions of the people; confident that although he who opposes himself to the prejudices of a nation, renders his name odious, still he may be quite certain that posterity will do him justice[253].” Another Journal of equal reputation states, that “it is a great evil for the chief strength of an empire to consist in the number of its slaves; and if Brazil had once reflected, that each negro which she exports from Africa, is necessarily an enemy whom she is nurturing, she would perhaps not have dared to employ them at all; or at any rate she would have made use of them in smaller numbers[254].” I hope that other individuals of the same nation will see the subject in the same light, and will give their assistance in leading their countrymen to a knowledge of the equity, humanity, and good policy of abolishing this detestable traffic.

The ruin of Brazil is predicted, the decay of its agriculture and of its commerce are supposed to be inevitable from the want of labourers if the trade is prohibited. This is generally asserted wherever I have been, without the least consideration, without a thought being given to the possibility of employing the free population of the country in daily labour. It is said, that if Africans are not to be obtained, every thing must be at a stand, and the country can make no progress. This argument against the abolition, the Brazilians bring forwards even with much less plausibility than the planters of the Columbian islands. In these the number of free persons of colour, is comparatively very small, whereas in Brazil, a great proportion of the population consists of free persons in the lower ranks of life. In some parts of the country which I have visited, the free people preponderate considerably, and in none of those districts which I saw, do I conceive that the slaves outnumber the free people in a greater proportion than three to one. It will have been seen from foregoing chapters, that the sugar plantations are not largely stocked with slaves, and that no estate is without some portion of its lands which are occupied by families who are in a state of freedom. The villages too contain free persons almost exclusively, and even in the large towns, the major part of the mechanics are free.

The slave trade is impolitic with regard to Brazil on the broad principle, that a man in a state of bondage will not be so serviceable to the community as one who acts for himself, and whose whole exertions are directed to the advancement of his own fortune, the increase of which, by regular means, adds to the general prosperity of the society to which he belongs. This is an undoubted and indisputable fact, to which every person assents, owing to the self-evidence of its truth; and which must be still more strongly imprinted on the mind of every one who has been in the habit of seeing the manner in which slaves perform their daily labour. Their indifference, and the extreme slowness of every movement, plainly point out the trifling interest which they have in the advancement of the work. I have watched two parties labouring in the same field, one of free persons, and the other of slaves, which occasionally, though very seldom, occurs. The former are singing, joking, and laughing, and are always actively moving hand and foot; whilst the latter are silent, and if they are viewed from a little distance, their movements are scarcely to be perceived.