From security to greed: a brief account of the transition from abolitionist arguments to legislative proposals in Parliament

The vivid parliamentary debates in Brazil regarding the prohibition of slave trade and the abolition of slavery challenge the idea that the parliament was apathetic or faked its commitment only to impress the international arena – there were sincere concerns regarding the future of the nation. In this article, I systematize both the ideas that thrived in parliament and the drafts regarding slavery and slave trade, in order to entangle laws and concepts. With this in mind, I conclude that, whilst the idea of abolition was ripening, the speeches changed their focus from security concerns to the condemnation of greed