a vigorous internal slave trade broke up many families, whether the
unions had been solemnized by the church or not." ¹¹ Slave families
suffered disruption in other ways, as in the case of a white coffee
planter who sold his mulatto child to a passing slave-trader. Brazilians
were aware of this inhuman practice, as was evidenced in an address
to the Senate by João Mauricio Wanderly in 1854: "It is a horror,
gentlemen, to see children ripped from their mothers, husbands sep-
arated from wives, parents from children! Go to Law Street . . .
and be outraged and touched by the spectacle of such sufferings.
And this happens at the Court of the Empire! I am not given much
to sentimentalism, but I confess that I am disturbed; it horrifies me
when I consider all the consequences of this barbarous, inhuman
traffic, and I will say, even more barbarous, more inhuman than
the traffic from the coast of Africa." ¹²

Concerning manumission, Degler states that "despite tradition and
the assertions of some historians, there was no law requiring a
master to permit a slave to buy his freedom, though many un-
doubtedly did." Manumission was easier to obtain and occurred
more frequently than in the United States, since "Brazilian law con-
tained none of the limitations on manumission that prevailed in the
southern United States, especially after 1830." The assertion that
the slave's right to hold property made it easier for him to obtain
freedom is also challenged by Degler: "Actually, the law in Brazil did not permit slaves to possess property -- or a peculium -- until
near the end of the slave era," though slaves were permitted to keep
property gathered (a small percentage of their wage from hiring
themselves out). ¹³ x

There were other similarities in conditions and treatment of
slaves. In the Old South the slave was given religious instruction,
generally presented by a Baptist, Methodist, or Presbyterian minister,
depending upon the owner's church affiliation. From the owner's
view, religion was a necessary emotional ingredient for the slave
since justification of bondage was reinforced through biblical in-
terpretation. However, the church of South America was a body
which governed spiritually in a way completely separate and away

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