Ideas about Brazilian Abolition and Immigration: A Franco-Brazilian Public Sphere 1871 - 1889

Abstract

In this paper, I argue that Brazilian abolitionists dialogued with French ideas regarding slavery and its imminent demise to a much greater degree than has previously been acknowledged by historians, and that French support for the Brazilian cause was as crucial as the more celebrated British role in the eventual success of the abolitionist movement. I build upon previous research regarding a little known polemic between the Brazilian abolitionist José do Patrocínio and the French doctor Louis Couty. Also featured in the paper is in-depth analysis of two French periodicals, Le Revue du Monde Latin and Le Revue Sud-Américaine, along with important primary source works by the Brazilian Frederico José de Santa-Anna Nery and the French intellectual L. Michaux-Bellaire.