Why did African Muslims in Brazil stage the Bahia Slave Rebellion?
Since the introduction of slavery into the New World, there have always been slave revolts, attempted conspiracies, and a fear of slave revolts. Brazil alone faced at least seven revolts between 1807 and 1835. The largest of these revolts was the Bahia Rebellion of 1835. It was largest and best planned revolt after the Haitian Revolution. It involved more than three hundred people and was planned in advance.
It was planned over the course of several months in spite of strict surveillance by the authorities. All of the leaders and most of its participants came from the African Muslim community which itself lived in secret. This blog explores the role of Islam in the Bahia Rebellion and how it affected the sense of identity among slaves.
Shareef, Muhammad. The Islamic Slave Revolts of Bahia, Brazil. Pittsburg: Sankore Institute, 1998. Print..
Lago, Bia Corrêa do. Os fotógrafos do Império: a fotografia brasileira no Século XIX. Rio de Janeiro: Capivara, 2005
Bibliography
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Reis, Joao Jose. 1988. “Slave Resistance in Brazil: Bahia 1807-1835” Luso-Brazilian Review no. 1: 111.
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Kent, R., K. 1970. “African Revolt in Bahia: 24-25 January 1835”Journal of Social History 3, no. 4: 335-356.
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Graden, Dale T. 1996. An Act “Even of Public Security”: Slave Resistance, Social Tensions, and the End of the International Slave Trade to Brazil”The Hispanic American Historical Reviewno. 2: 249-282.
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Walker, Dennis. 1970. “Black Islamic Revolts of South America”; Islamic Review (03027570) 58, no. 10/11: 9-11.
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Reis, Joao Jose. “Slave Rebellion in Brazil”: the Muslim Uprising of 1835.
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Shareef, Muhammad1418/1998. Islamic Slave Revolts of Bahia, Brazil.Sankore’Institute of Islamic-African Studies
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Lovejoy. Paul E. 1994. “Background to Rebellion: theOrgins of Muslim Slaves in Bahia.” Slavery and Abolition 15, no. 2: 151180.