“Everyone should come out between 2:00 a.m. and 4:00 a.m. stealthily, and after doing what they could, they should gather at Cabrito opposite Itapagipe, in a large hollow there. There would be people from another nearby engenho (plantation), because they had been alerted. In the event they did not come, they would proceed to the engenho, taking considerable care in steering clear of soldiers until they had all left town.” –Seized document from a conspirator Colonel Malenfant, Des colonies et particuliere de selle de St Domingue (Paris: Audibert, 1814)       The Bahia Rebellion The rebellion was meant to begin at 4:00 a.m. on Sunday January 25 1835. Unfortunately, the rebellion was betrayed by a woman who was married to one of the conspirators. A house belonging to one of the conspirators was raided by the authorities three hours before the scheduled time...

Aisha Raheel is a sophomore in Wagner College. She is a history major. She is currently enrolled in History of New World Slavery. Her primary interests are the history of the Islamic world as well as anything else that involves Muslims. She currently lives in Staten Island, New York with her parents and three siblings.    

Most of the slaves who lived in northeastern Brazil worked on sugar plantations. They worked between sixteen to eighteen hours a day. They had to plant, fertilize, pick, and cut sugarcane. Then they also had  to work in sugar mills turning sugarcane juice into sugar. Injuries, particularly the loss of an arm, were common. The typical life expectancy of slaves on sugar was five years. Masters believed that it was more effective to work slaves to death rather than allow them to start families and raise children. Slaves were an expendable property. If they died or suffered an injury that prevented them from working, their masters could always import more from Africa. As a consequence, most enslaved people were African men who would never be able to have families. Slaves who lived in cities had more freedom of movement and were more likely to live apart from their masters. Male slaves...