The Internal Slave Trade from Rio de Janeiro, 1809-1833

Abstract

This paper examines the internal commerce of slaves departing from Rio de Janeiro between 1809-1833. Our data shows the movement of 247,663 slaves who left the city in a total of 49,349 shipments. Nearly all (95%) went to the provinces of Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and the so-called Southern Ports (Montevideo, Rio Grande and Porto Alegre, among others). We studied the demand for slaves in these territories, especially the number of slaves received, regional market trends and diachrony, the size of participating of trading companies and the demographics of the enslaved individuals (place of birth, sex and age group) sent. The evidence suggests that slave masters in the four territories tried to anticipate the end of the legal Atlantic trade by increasing their purchases, many of whom were children. At the same time, we identify important differences among the regions examined, in terms of when their periods of growth occurred and in terms of the genders of enslaved children shipped there.