How slavery was abolished in Argentina

On May 1, these demands will be remembered in order to achieve an 8-hour work day, culminating in the Haymarket revolt (Chicago, 1886), with violent repression and a never-ending death toll. This date also marks the anniversary of the abolition of slavery in our country, effective May 1, 1853, when Article 15 of our National Constitution came into effect.

Buenos Aires was part of the vast network of slaves of the world. In El Retiro, more precisely in the Plaza San Martín, was the headquarters of the Compañía del Mar del Sur, a British company which, during the War of Succession, had obtained the right to transport slaves in the colonies of Spain. # 39; Empire. The prospect of extraordinary profits was exaggerated by their owners, they created a financial bubble. This resulted in a fraudulent bankruptcy, which uprooted one of its investors, Sir Isaac Newton, singular expression after losing £ 20,000: "I can predict the star path, but not the behavior men".

Despite this setback, the slave trade flourished in this part of the world. Not so much for intensive agriculture, as in the United States or Brazil, but because it was the gateway to Lima and Potosí, two very important cities of the Empire, where slaves sold with big profits.

Between 1777 and 1812, 700 ships and 72,000 African slaves entered the ports of Buenos Aires and Montevideo.. It should be noted that before arriving at these ports, 15% of these immigrants died in the trip due to the inhuman conditions of overcrowding.

In 1810, Buenos Aires had 40,000 inhabitants, 12,000 of whom came from the distant African continent. In the last census of 2010, the country had about the same number of people of African descent.

While slavery was accepted by all ancient societies, a wave of abolitionism began in 1772 in the western world. That year, Lord Mansfield declared illegal slavery in England after an energetic campaign launched by William Wilberforce. His proposal was approved by Parliament in 1807, although those who were already slaves were not released. In 1831, the abolition was declared, freed slaves and their owners compensated.

Curiously, ten years earlier, Portugal had abolished slavery on the European soil of the Empire. Like this, The two countries where the trafficking of persons badigned to forced labor and servitude were the most important were the champions of abolitionism (Although not all territories dependent on these metropolises have ceased to be slaves).

The French National Convention, in 1794, voted in favor of the elimination of servitude in all its territories, although Napoleon restored it in 1802 and until 1848.

Chile was the first country in South America to declare belly freedomin 1811 (and its abolition in 1823), while in the United Provinces it was declared on January 31, 1813. In Colombia, slavery was abolished in 1821; Uruguay, in 1828; in 1854 in Peru; in 1865 in the United States (after a fierce civil war); in Puerto Rico, in 1873; and in Spain, it was in 1886, an opinion that also spread to Cuba, which was then a Spanish colony. Brazil did it in 1888.

The freedom of the uterus declared in 1813 in the United Provinces left many young children of slaves without the possibility of employment. While their parents remained in bondage, these young people had few opportunities for development. That's why one of the few trades they could live with was that of a soldier. San Martin, on the slope of Chacabuco, was exclaimed: "Poor my blacks". And is it a significant fraction of the patriotic armies consisted of freed slaves. The general knew well the value of all his men, added those who had been slaves, since the famous sergeant Cabral had been mulatto. It should also be remembered the black Falucho, who refused to join the Royalist army and exposed his chest to the bullets exclaiming "I die for Buenos Aires". Of course, the concept of Patria Grande in Argentina was foreign to this soldier.

Over the next 40 years, patriotic armies turned former slaves into cannon fodder. They fought bravely in our civil wars, where some officers distinguished themselves, like Colonel Lorenzo Barcala. At the time of the declaration of abolition, in 1853, the country had very few slaves and African descent.

At the beginning of the Paraguayan war, a large part of the national army was made up of troops of African descent who gave their lives in this war.

An inaccuracy, often repeated, is linked to the theory that the descendants of Africans disappeared during the 1871 yellow fever epidemic. It is enough to consult the archives to discover this inaccuracy. Of the 160,000 inhabitants of Buenos Aires, 14,000 died in the first months of this year because of the epidemic. Among them, 9,000 were Italians, 2,000 of other nationalities and 3,000 of Argentina. Obviously, they were not all of African descent. How many of them died this year? Obviously, the few hundred deaths are not enough to justify the reduction of this ethnic group which was, until recently, a rarity in Buenos Aires, a city that served as headquarters for the slave trade.

Let's remember this May 1st act of our Afro-American descendants, men and women who gave their lives for the fledgling homeland and who have never been duly honored. Serve these words.