INTRODUCING BRAZIL - Brazil - page 47

was believed to have
brought the first coffee beans
into Brazil, from his journey
to French Guiana. The coffee
industry began to flourish,
mainly in Minas Gerais and
São Paulo. Expanding coffee
production in the 1850s and
1860s attracted British invest-
ment in railroads to speed
transport of the beans to the
coast. The coastal Santos-São
Paulo Railroad (1868) was
followed by a series of rail-
roads that linked the north-
eastern coast to the interior.

The Surrender of Uruguaiana , painted during the war

THE WAR OF THE TRIPLE ALLIANCE
From 1864 to 1870, Paraguay and the allied
countries of Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay fought
one of the bloodiest conflicts on the American
continent. Also known as the Paraguayan War, it has
been widely attributed to the expansionist ambitions
of Paraguayan dictator Francisco Solano Lopez, and
the Brazilian and Argentinian meddling in internal
Uruguayan politics. The outcome of the war was the
devastating defeat of Paraguay by the Triple Alliance,
but at the cost of over 100,000 casualties.

SLAVERY ABOLISHED
As coffee exports rose
steadily, so did the numbers
of imported slaves. In Rio de
Janeiro alone, they soared
from around 26,000 in 1825
to 44,000 in 1828. While
slave owners argued that slavery was
not demoralizing, others were in
favor of replacing slavery with
free European immigrant
labor. Eventually, a
contract system that
was little better
than slavery was
established by the
Parliament. New
laws and decrees,
unacceptable to
slave owners, were
simply not enforced,
such as the 1829 order
forbidding slave ships to
sail for Africa. The failure
to enforce these orders caused
regional slave rebellions throughout
the 19th century. In 1850, British and
domestic pressure finally forced the
Brazilian government to outlaw the

African slave trade. Over the next five
years, even clandestine landings
stopped, ending the trans-
Atlantic trade. In 1875, the
cabinet in Rio Branco
approved a law
freeing newborn
slaves and requir-
ing masters to care
for them until they
were eight years
old. Between 1875
and 1887, 156,000
immigrants arrived in
São Paulo to work as free
laborers and fill the void
created by the gradual
decline in the slave population. By
the 1880s, the slave population was
reduced to half its size. In 1888, the
Golden Law was passed, finally
abolishing slavery.

An 1857 portrayal of black
slaves on a plantation

Lady being served and fanned by a black slave

1875 The Rio
Branco cabinet
enacts a law,
ensuring the well-
being of children
born to slaves

1850 British and
domestic pressure
force the Brazilian
government to
outlaw slave trade

1888 The
Golden Law
passed, ending
slavery in Brazil

1850 1860 1870 1880

1864-70 The War of the
Triple Alliance

1875-87
Approximately
156,000 immi-
grants arrive in
São Paulo

1884 Slaves
over 60
years old
emancipated

1868 Completion of the
Santos-São Paulo railroad