Slave Rebellion in Brazil: The Muslim Uprising of 1835 in Bahia

"This is a book that has followed me for a very long time. João José Reis is, I would say, the most important Brazilian historian of slavery alive. He worked specifically in the region of Bahia in Brazil. This book is about a rebellion that happened in 1835 which was the largest urban slave rebellion in the Americas. It gathered together mainly African-born men who were formerly enslaved or enslaved and had common ethnic origins. They came mostly from the region that is called the Bight of Benin, which is present day Republic of Benin, Togo and Nigeria. They were people who were captured in that area and brought to Brazil. Many of them were Muslims and Yoruba speakers—they had already converted to Islam—and this brought them together. Religion and ethnic origins often played an important role in bringing people together in rebellions to resist against slavery. Even though some people came from the plantations to the city, the rebellion took place in the city of Salvador in Bahia. The plot was eventually dismantled. What happened after the rebellion, which is similar to what happened elsewhere as well, is that fearing that other rebellions like this would happen, there were a series of measures repressing people who were born in Africa. This led to some of the people who were allegedly involved in the rebellion being deported to West Africa as punishment. Many others followed them. This led to the creation of an Afro-Brazilian community in countries such as present-day Republic of Benin, Togo, and Nigeria. Towards the end of my book, I write about this return to Africa, because we hear a lot about Marcus Garvey and the ‘back to Africa’ movement as a phenomenon of the 19th and 20th centuries. But here we already have it happening in the early 19th century, so it’s important to include Brazil also in this conversation. Some of the people who allegedly participated in the rebellion had already purchased their freedom but were born in Africa. They had a legal status in terms of their citizenship that was in limbo because they were free, but they were born abroad. They were not Brazilians, so they were deported. Many people around them followed them, either because they were part of their families or their networks. Others decided to return to Africa because the repressive measures that followed the rebellion were so bad. For them it was perhaps an opportunity to try to rebuild their lives elsewhere. There were several measures preventing them from purchasing property, they needed to have their papers all the time. There was a growing surveillance. That’s what led to this migration that started, especially after 1835, but would continue until the end of the 19th century."