Slavery, Freedom, and Abolition in Latin America and the Atlantic World

Even as political and economic liberalism, which viewed the enslavement of Africans and their descendents as incompatible with the liberal project, grew in Latin America and the centers of imperialism, the institutions of slavery persisted almost to the end of the 19th century, particularly in Cuba and Brazil. Schmidt-Nowara (Spanish culture and civilization, Tufts U.) examines the reasons for this persistence and how it was eventually overcome examining local factors together with broader dimensions and developments of the Atlantic World. The chronological narrative follows the institution of slavery from its introduction under Iberian colonization to Brazil's eventual abolition of slavery in 1888. Annotation c2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)