Almost half of West African slaves went to Brazil
Almost half of all West African slaves transported across the Atlantic — some 4 to 5 million people — ended up on Brazilian plantations.
Snapshot · The Rest Is History
681. Brazil: The Emperor’s Anthem (Part 5)
Explore episode
Jun 21, 2026
Where this was said
A Tour of Brazil's History: Colonialism, Slavery and Identity
At 9:07 · chapter starts 6:58
Before reaching the anthems, Dominic Sandbrook lays out the full arc of Brazilian history in compact, powerful strokes. Before 1500, some 7 million semi-nomadic indigenous people — the Tupi, Guarani and others — inhabited a vast tropical landscape. [1] — Dominic Sandbrook "7 million indigenous people pre-1500: Before European contact in 1500, Brazil was home to approximately 7 million semi-nomadic indigenous p…" 07:17 Portuguese nobleman Pedro Álvares Cabral arrived in 1500, naming the territory first Ilha da Vera Cruz, then Terra de Santa Cruz, before the land became known as Terra do Brasil after the crimson-dye-producing brazilwood. Under the Treaty of Tordesillas, miscalculations gave Portugal jurisdiction over a territory that projects further east into the Atlantic than Spain realised. The Portuguese treated Brazil as an extractive cash cow — sugar, gold, coffee — and when indigenous populations were decimated by disease, they turned to slavery on a scale that dwarfs the United States. Nearly half of all Africans transported across the Atlantic — 4 to 5 million people — ended up in Brazil, [2] — Dominic Sandbrook "Almost half of West African slaves went to Brazil: Almost half of all West African slaves transported across the Atlantic — some 4 to 5 mil…" 09:07 which was the last Western Hemisphere nation to abolish slavery in 1888. At least 60% of Brazilians today are descended from enslaved Africans, and the average life expectancy of an enslaved person in Brazil was just 25, a decade less than in the United States. [3] — Dominic Sandbrook "Slave life expectancy: 25 in Brazil vs 35 in USA: A slave in the United States died on average at age 35; a slave in Brazil died on average…" 10:56 Schwartz and Starling's history of Brazil, the only major English-language work, describes plantation life as 'hell on earth, a frenzy of cruelty'. The hosts make the pointed observation that Brazil's national anthem — born in this society — never mentions slavery once.
7 million indigenous people pre-1500
Before European contact in 1500, Brazil was home to approximately 7 million semi-nomadic indigenous people including the Tupi and Guarani.
Brazil and Slavery: A Scale Most People Don't Know
Brazil wasn't just a slave society — it was the slave society of the New World. Nearly half of all Africans transported across the Atlantic ended up there, and Brazil was the last Western Hemisphere country to abolish slavery in 1888. Today at least 60% of Brazilians are descended from enslaved Africans.
Slavery abolished last in Western Hemisphere — 1888
Brazil was the last country in the entire Western Hemisphere to abolish slavery, doing so in 1888.
60%+ of Brazilians descend from African slaves
At least 60% of Brazilians today, and probably more, are descended from African slaves, making Brazil sometimes called the world's second largest African country after Nigeria.
Slavery in Brazil vs America: A Brutal Comparison
If you were an enslaved African in the 19th century, where you ended up determined how long you lived. In the United States, enslaved people died on average at 35. In Brazil, at 25. The violence was more extreme, the abolitionist movement almost nonexistent, and slave revolts far more frequent.
Slave life expectancy: 25 in Brazil vs 35 in USA
A slave in the United States died on average at age 35; a slave in Brazil died on average at age 25, illustrating how much more brutal Brazilian slavery was.
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