The Sacred Cause : The Abolitionist Movement, Afro-Brazilian Mobilization, and Imperial Politics in Rio De Janeiro

This work is focused on the abolitionist movement in Rio de Janeiro. It offers a careful reconstruction of the movement’s context and evolution in Rio, and the related formal parliamentary history. An understanding of the nature of the political parties of the Brazilian monarchy, the role of the crown, and the significance of ideology and individual statesmen has been brought to bear in order to comprehend how the regime actually interacted with abolitionism and how both the movement and the regime shaped each other as a consequence. One cannot understand the movement’s history as something apart from the elite political world that it challenged and changed. A central element in this study is an examination of the role of racial identity and racial solidarity in the abolitionist movement’s history. Previous analyses of the movement have always argued that the movement was an urban, middle-class, white movement (with a few significant Afro-Brazilian leaders), one that only gathered Afro-Brazilian mass support over time. A more careful analysis of the evidence transforms our understanding, disclosing Afro-Brazilian middle-class membership and the Afro-Brazilian masses present and mobilized in the movement from its beginning to its end. This study interweaves the imperial capital’s Afro-Brazilian components, its parliament and monarchy, and the nature and evolution of a reformist movement. It explains how the seemingly impossible was made possible: how an urban political movement ended slavery and did so within the confines of a monarchy dominated and maintained by elite For centuries, slaveholding was a commonplace in Brazil among both whites and people of color. Abolition was only achieved in 1888, in an unprecedented, turbulent political process. How was the Abolitionist movement (1879-1888) able to bring an end to a form of labor that was traditionally perceived as both indispensable and entirely legitimate? How were the slaveholders who dominated Brazil's constitutional monarchy compelled to agree to it? To answer these questions, we must understand the elite political world that abolitionism challenged and changed--and how the Abolitionist movement evolved in turn. The Sacred Cause analyzes the relations between the movement, its Afro-Brazilian following, and the evolving response of the parliamentary regime in Rio de Janeiro. Jeffrey Needell highlights the significance of racial identity and solidarity to the Abolitionist movement, showing how Afro-Brazilian leadership, organization, and popular mobilization were critical to the movement's identity, nature, and impact. For centuries, slaveholding was a commonplace in Brazil among both whites and people of color. Abolition was only achieved in 1888, in an unprecedented, turbulent political process. How was the Abolitionist movement (1879-1888) able to bring an end to a form of labor that was traditionally perceived as both indispensable and entirely legitimate? How were the slaveholders who dominated Brazil's constitutional monarchy compelled to agree to it?0To answer these questions, we must understand the elite political world that abolitionism challenged and changed-and how the Abolitionist movement evolved in turn. The Sacred Cause analyzes the relations between the movement, its Afro-Brazilian following, and the evolving response of the parliamentary regime in Rio de Janeiro. Jeffrey Needell highlights the significance of racial identity and solidarity to the Abolitionist movement, showing how Afro-Brazilian leadership, organization, and popular mobilization were critical to the movement's identity, nature, and impact Cover 1 Contents 10 Acknowledgments 12 Names, Spelling, and Translation 14 Maps 15 INTRODUCTION: Another Political World 22 1. The Land of the Dead: The Imperial Capital, 1822–1871 30 2. The Alliance with the Future: The Movement Emerges, 1871–1881 73 3. Retreat, Renewal, and the “New Phase,” 1882–1883 116 4. The Field of Agramante: The Liberals Attempt Reform, 1884–1885 143 5. The Fate of the Black Race: Radicalization and Its Failed Containment, 1885–1888 187 6. Sacred Abolition: The Triumph, 1888 222 7. Legacies and Oblivion 245 Illustrations 286 Notes 294 Sources Cited 352 Index 366 A 366 B 368 C 369 D 371 E 372 F 372 G 373 H 373 I 373 J 373 K 374 L 374 M 374 N 375 O 376 P 376 Q 378 R 378 S 379 T 382 U 382 V 382 W 382 Y 382 Z 382 A Political History Of The Abolition Of Slavery In Brazil, This Book Looks Closely At Both Afro-brazilian Political Mobilization And Parliamentary Politics To Shed Light On The Origins Of The Abolitionist Movement And Its Impact On Race Relations In Brazil.