Thread by @marinamaral2

Alberto Henschel was a German photographer. These photographs taken in the years leading up to the abolition of slavery in Brazil are an important contribution to the history of photography.

You can now see them in color for the 1st time.

marinamaral.com/in-color-slave…

The portraits of people of African origin, slaves and free, that he took in 1869 in Recife and Salvador, Brazil, “differed him from other photographers because he tried to portray them with dignity, as people and not as objects”.

marinamaral.com/in-color-slave…

Four to five million Africans were shipped overseas to work and live as slaves in the plantations, mines, and cities of Brazil.

"Until the early 1850s, most enslaved Africans who arrived on Brazilian shores were forced to embark at West Central African ports, especially in Luanda (present-day Angola)."

"In the first 250 years after the colonization of the land, roughly 70% of all immigrants to the colony were enslaved people."

"It is estimated that 560,000 Central African slaves arrived in Brazil during the 17th century in addition to the indigenous slave labor that was provided by the bandeiras."

"Things dramatically changed with the discovery of gold and diamond in the mountains of Minas Gerais in the 1690s. Slaves started being imported from Central Africa and the Mina coast to mining camps in enormous numbers."

"Between 1700 and 1800, 1.7 million slaves were brought to Brazil from Africa."

"By 1819 the population of Brazil was 3.6 million, and at least one third were African slaves. By 1825 the figure may have been as high as 56%."

"Escaped slaves formed communities which played an important role in the histories of other countries. In Brazil, the settlements were called quilombos and the most famous was Quilombo dos Palmares."

"Though Palmares was eventually defeated and its inhabitants dispersed across the country, the formative period allowed for the continuation of African traditions and helped create a distinct African culture in Brazil."

Slavery was not legally ended nationwide until 1888, when Isabel, Princess Imperial of Brazil, promulgated the Lei Áurea ("Golden Act").

Brazil was the last nation in the Western world to abolish slavery, and by then it had imported an estimated +4,000,000 slaves from Africa.

This was 40% of all slaves shipped to the Americas.

"The mixture of African religions that survived the years has created very interesting and diverse cultural aspects in Brazil.

In Bahia, statues of Orishas (Orixás) pay homage to the unique African presence in the nation's largest Afro-Brazilian state."

Though much progress has been made since abolition, the consequences of this period are felt in Brazil still today.

Resources for the study of slavery and abolition in Latin America: guides.library.yale.edu/c.php?g=296376…

Another gif showing a few parts of the process.