Country: Brazil
Group: Asian
Date Finalized: 11/9/2020
Team: Arisha Khan (lead), Tommy Chia, Alexandra Hager
Content Warning: slavery
Approximate Time Period: 1814-1888
The abolition of slavery in 1888 in Brazil created a large labor shortage, and people looked towards Amerindians and Asians for cheap labor. Although a lot of the elite members called for the mass importation of Chinese labor, only a few thousand came to Brazil under contracts similar to indentured servitude (Conrad, 1975). The idea of importing Chinese workers was discussed in both houses of the Brazilian General Assembly in 1854 and later that year by the Brazilian legation in London. The Brazilian government tried to get more Chinese immigrants to come into Brazil by trying to create an agreement with China, however, the Chinese government refused. Brazil appointed an agent in 1881 that helped negotiate with a Chinese company that would ship 21,000 Chinese workers to Brazil (Conrad, 1975). Attempts to bring Chinese labor were hindered by the members of the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society (BFASS) (Ré & Ré, 2018).
I would give the data quality a 2 because of the depth of information about the immigrants themselves. There were government data and reports of negotiations but not a lot about what Asians suffered in Brazil.
Sources
- Conrad, R. (1975). The Planter Class and the Debate over Chinese Immigration to Brazil, 1850- 1893. The International Migration Review, 9(1), 41–55. https://doi.org/10.2307/3002529
- Ré, H. A., & Ré, H. A. (2018). British Abolitionists’ Attempts to Prevent the Immigration of Chinese to Brazil in the Late Nineteenth Century. Varia Historia, 34(66), 817–848. https://doi.org/10.1590/0104-87752018000300010