page_title: Slavery in Brazil
section_title: Slave identities
hierarchical_section_title: Slavery in Brazil / Slave identities
caption_attribution_description: Español: La cena, una litografía de 1839 que muestra la gran brecha entre amo y sirviente, es obra del artista francés Jean-Baptiste Debret (1768-1848), que pasó 15 años en Brasil capturando la vida cotidiana de una sociedad construida sobre la esclavitud. English: The Dinner, an 1839 lithograph that drives home the great divide between master and servant, is the work of French artist Jean-Baptiste Debret (1768-1848) who spent 15 years in Brazil capturing the daily life of a society built on slavery. Bahasa Indonesia: Makan Malam, litograf 1839 yang menyajikan kesenjangan antara majikan dan pelayan, karya seniman Prancis Jean-Baptiste Debret (1768-1848) yang menghabiskan 15 tahun di Brazil untuk menangkap keseharian masyarakat yang dibangun di atas perbudakan. Sunda: Tuang Wengi, litograf 1839 anu midangkeun jarak antara dunungan jeung ladénna, karya seniman Prancis Jean-Baptiste Debret (1768-1848) anu salila 15 taun ngarékam kahirupan masarakat di Brasil anu diwangun ku ayana perbudakan.
context_page_description: Slavery in Brazil began long before the first Portuguese settlement was established in 1516, as members of one tribe would enslave captured members of another.
  Later, colonists were heavily dependent on indigenous labor during the initial phases of settlement to maintain the subsistence economy, and natives were often captured by expeditions called bandeiras. The importation of African slaves began midway through the 16th century, but the enslavement of indigenous peoples continued well into the 17th and 18th centuries.
  During the Atlantic slave trade era, Brazil received more African slaves than any other country. An estimated 4.9 million slaves from Africa were brought to Brazil during the period from 1501 to 1866. Until the early 1850s, most enslaved Africans who arrived on Brazilian shores were forced to embark at West Central African ports, especially in Luanda.
  Slave labor was the driving force behind the growth of the sugar economy in Brazil, and sugar was the primary export of the colony from 1600 to 1650. Gold and diamond deposits were discovered in Brazil in 1690, which sparked an increase in the importation of African slaves to power this newly profitable mining.
context_section_description: In colonial Brazil, identity became a complex combination of race, skin color, and socioeconomic status because of the extensive diversity of both the slave and free population. For example, in 1872 43% of the population was free mulattoes and blacks. As shown by "Family Dining," a painting created by Jean-Baptiste Debret, Slaves in Brazil were often assigned new identities that reflected the status of their masters. The painting clearly depicts five slaves serving their two masters in a dining room. The slaves are depicted wearing clothing and jewelry which reflect that of their masters. For instance, the female slave on the far left side of the painting is depicted wearing a nice dress, necklaces, earrings, and a headband in the reflection of what the female slaveholder (second from the far left) is wearing: a nice dress, necklace, and headband; this was done to further display the power and wealth of slaveholders. There are four broad categories that show the general divisions among the identities of the slave and ex-slave populations: African-born slaves, African-born ex-slaves, Brazilian-born slaves, and Brazilian-born ex-slaves.
caption: Family dining by Jean-Baptiste Debret (1834–1839). A Brazilian family in Rio de Janeiro
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