By ANTONIO BENTO*
Every foreigner has his consul who complains about any injustice he may suffer, and the Brazilian, especially the freedman, does not find support and justice here when he asks for it.
After the Law of May 13, 1888, it has been noted that the black race has gradually disappeared from this state.[I]
Some pessimists and former slave owners claim that the black race is disappearing from this state because it has died out by abusing its freedom and giving in to the vice of drunkenness.
Lies and slander against this unfortunate race that was the cause of all these riches that place this State above all others.
The excessive barbarity used by former slave owners; the horror that these poor people had of coffee, which, being the basis of all their masters' wealth, was nevertheless the origin of all the punishments against the unfortunate slaves; the arrogance of the police authorities who understood that they should persecute the freedmen, making it impossible for them to form a family; the audacity with which the Judges of Orphans took the children of the freedmen, even if they were married, to place them as slaves in the homes of their former masters, forced the freedmen to choose other States where they naturally found better authorities, better employers and easier means of living.[ii]
Furthermore, most of the slaves came from the old northern provinces to be sold here and in the southern provinces.
The barbarity of trade meant that children were separated from their mothers, husbands from their wives, sisters from their brothers, and the ease with which registration numbers could be falsified meant that all of this became a normal occurrence, despite laws to the contrary.
Given the Golden Law that brought all Brazilians together, the freed northerners decided to leave for the states from which they had come, in search not only of their relatives, but also of a life better than the one they were living in this state.
The abundance and fertility of the northern lands for basic necessities, the little work they need to get from the land what they need to live, is making the freedmen of the north seek out their old homelands to be happier than they have been here.
Furthermore, in this state, foreigners are happier than nationals.
Every foreigner has his consul who complains about any injustice he may suffer, and Brazilians, especially freedmen, do not find support and justice here when they ask for it.
This explains, therefore, the reason why the freedmen are gradually disappearing from this state.
* Antonio Bento (1843-1898) He was a public prosecutor, judge, journalist and abolitionist.[iii]
References
BENTO, Antonio (1897a). Blacks disappear from this State, The Redemption: abolitionist newspaper, June 27, 1897, p. 1-2. Available at: https://www.arquivoestado.sp.gov.br/uploads/acervo/periodicos/jornais/BR_APESP_IHGSP_003JOR50953.pdf
BENTO, Antonio (1897b). Enslaved orphans, The Redemption: abolitionist newspaper, July 17, 1897, p. 2. Available at: https://www.arquivoestado.sp.gov.br/uploads/acervo/periodicos/jornais/BR_APESP_IHGSP_003JOR50954.pdf
BENTO, Antonio (1897c). Abolitionism reduced to a plate, The Redemption: abolitionist newspaper, August 22, 1897, p. 1. Available at: https://www.arquivoestado.sp.gov.br/uploads/acervo/periodicos/jornais/BR_APESP_IHGSP_003JOR50955.pdf
FERNANDES, Florestan (1955). Color and changing social structure. In. BASTIDE, Roger; FERNANDES, Florestan. Race relations between blacks and whites in São Paulo. New York: Routledge, p. 67-122. The Redemption: abolitionist newspaper, May 13, 1899, p. 3-4. Available at: https://www.arquivoestado.sp.gov.br/uploads/acervo/periodicos/jornais/BR_APESP_IHGSP_003JOR50958.pdf
Notes
[I] Research, editing and notes by Paulo Fernandes Silveira.
[ii] In the later edition, A Redemption he resumed this complaint about the enslavement of the children of freed slaves: “We continue to receive complaints from all parts of the State that the Orphan Judges hand over the children of freed slaves as slaves to the former farmers. These unfortunates work from sunrise to sunset without receiving any other reward than a little food and some rags to wear” (BENTO, 1897b, p. 2).
[iii] In the texts prepared for the Unesco Research, Florestan Fernandes analyzed the actions of Antonio Bento and the group of caiphazes in the capture and escape of enslaved people in the State of São Paulo: “The movement led by Dr. Antonio Bento had a broad popular base and had the means to reach the slave quarters, within its radius of agitation, as it managed to do. It had an abolitionist agenda, The Redemption, and had the support of the Brotherhood of Our Lady of Remedies, of which he had become one of the mentors. After the Abolition, many members of the ruling classes claimed to be former collaborators of Antonio Bento, who claims, however, that he had not received help from the rich. Contributions were obtained from the most active abolitionists, almost all of them poor” (1955, p. 84, note 70). In an article from 1897, Antonio Bento reports: “The rich and powerful avoided having contact with the abolitionists. (…) Abolition was carried out by the poor, with the greatest sacrifice imaginable” (1897c, p. 1).
In the last edition of The Redemption, when Antonio Bento had already passed away, at the age of 55, his abolitionist companion Hipólito da Silva made the following report:
“There were no more bosses, except for Antonio Bento. All the others were caiphazes. (…) We all worked secretly, with this sole purpose: to remove slaves from the power of their masters. (…) The coachman in the square, the porter, the clerk, the businessman, the worker, the academic, the journalist, the lawyer, the doctor, everyone, everyone, who did not have slaves, wanted to live up to the title of caifaz, stealing a slave – from his brother, his father, his mother-in-law, whoever it was, as long as the owner lost his head looking for him, without knowing how he escaped and going to complain to the police, to ask for action!
The police, outraged, surrounded Antonio Bento's house, who had already cautiously made those who were in the house escape through the neighboring yards, through the back, through the roofs or imaginary trapdoors, when he didn't make them leave quite naturally, through the street door, disguised!
It was then that the chief's head was at risk.
Anonymous letters, threats, and attempted assaults rained down, and caiphazes dedicated, fearing the cowardly attacks of slavery, they no longer abandoned their leader” (1899, p. 4).
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