Simón Bolívar and José Bonifácio Against Slavery: An Analysis of Latin American Abolitionisms

Abstract

In the first half of the 19th century, Latin America went through the cycle of independence and the construction of new states. In this process, the existence of slavery was also intensely debated. The work presented here aims to establish some approximations around these debates about Latin American slavery and the proposals for its abolition in the first half of the 19th century. The analysis focuses on comparing the position on the subject involving two important personalities in the cycle of independence: Simón Bolívar and, the Brazilian, José Bonifácio de Andrada e Silva. The questions that the article seeks to answer involve the search for the reasons that led both to defend the abolition of slavery. How should this emancipation be implemented? What is the fate of (former) slaves in the new independent nations?