page_title: Slavery in Brazil
section_title: African-born slaves
hierarchical_section_title: Slavery in Brazil / Slave identities / African-born slaves
caption_attribution_description: Português: "Negres a fond de calle" ("Navio negreiro") de Johann Moritz Rugendas. Imagem da tela de Johann Moritz Rugendas, de 1830, que representa o poema épico "Navio Negreiro", do poeta Castro Alves, a qual faz exaltação do povo africano e narra um episódio da história em que os negros eram trazidos em navios negreiros após a capturação na costa da África. Esses navios tinham um grande problema com a higiene, todos os escravos vinham amontoados e fazendo suas necessidades fisiológicas no mesmo local em que estavam. Muitos morriam. English: Negros in the cellar of a slave boat. Français&#160;: Navio negreiro (Nègres à fond de cale) de Johann Moritz Rugendas.
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: A slave's identity was stripped when sold into the slave trade, and they were assigned a new identity that was to be immediately adopted in stride. This new identity often came in the form of a new name, created by a Christian or Portuguese first name randomly issued by the baptizing priest, and followed by the label of an African nation. In Brazil, these "labels" were predominantly Angola, Congo, Yoruba, Ashanti, Rebolo, Anjico, Gabon, and Mozambique. Often these names served as a way for Europeans to divide Africans in a familiar manner, disregarding ethnicity or origin. Anthropologist Jack Goody stated, "Such new names served to cut the individuals off from their kinfolk, their society, from humanity itself and at the same time emphasized their servile status".
  A critical part of the initiation of any sort of collective identity for African-born slaves began with relationships formed on slave ships crossing the middle passage. Shipmates called each other malungos, and this relationship was considered as important and valuable as the relationship with their wives and children. Malungos were often ethnically related as well, for slaves shipped on the same boat were usually from similar geographical regions of Africa.
caption: This painting by Johann Moritz Rugendas depicts a scene below deck of a slave ship headed to Brazil. Rugendas was an eyewitness to the scene.
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