M igraedm a fi-o w
th eP o r t u g u e s eA tla n ticI s l a n d s
4 3
to itsv e ry early settlem en t, M ad eira intu rn becam ean o te d reserv o ir
o fp o p u la tio n
fro m
w h ic hp e o p les ta rte d c o m m u n itie so n th e n e w -
foundis la n d sa n d s h o re so f th e A tla n tic w o rld . M a d e ira n s a p p e a r e d
inth e A z o re s, th e C anaries,S2oT om t an d P rin c ip e , a n dB ra z il.T hey
fo rm e dth e m ain la b o u rfo rc e inth e n e w , d y n a m ic s u g a r in d u s try .
T h e th r e e a rc h ip e la g o s ofth ew e s te rn A tla n tic , M a d e ira ,th e A zores
a n d th e C anaries,h a d been thef i r s t islands to fo u n d perm anents e ttle -
m e n ts . I tw as l o g i d , th e r e f o r e , th a t th e y s h o u ldta k eth e le a di n s e ttlin g
o th e rp o in ts in th e P o rtu g u e s e A tla n tic e m p ire , ju s t a s th eC a n a rie s
w e reth es p e a r h e a dfo r p e o p lin go f th e S p a n is h e m p ire .
T h u sah ig hle v e lo f s o c ia l m o b ilityi so n eo f th e p r in c ip a l c h a r a c -
te ris tic so fis la n d s o c ie ty . T he is la n d s w e re s im u lta n e o u s lyp o le so f
a ttra c tio n and of d iv e rg e n c ei n so c ia l m o v e m e n t a r o u n d th e A tla n tic .
T he a ttra c tio n o f th e in itia l m ig ra tio n to th e M a d e ira sa n d th e A zores
re s u lte d
fro m
n o v e ltya n d t h e o p p o r tu n ity tos e ttleth e la n d , w h ile
d is illu s io n m e n ta n d th es c a r c e a n dlim ited e c o n o m ic p o s s ib ilitie s m u s e d
th e second surge onw ard tow ards th eric h e so fth e Indies.'
D uring the slow
p ro c e s so f th ea b o litio no fs l a v e r ya n d th ed is a p -
pearanceo f the slave tradei nth ey e a r s1 8 5 0t o
1 8 7 0 ,the needso f
econom ic developm ent in the W est and East Indiesw ere transform ed,
a n d theirdem ands fo rf r e s h sources of la b o u r in c re a ~ e d .~
F o r th ea b o litio n is ts , E u r o p e a ne m ig r a tio n s e e m e d to b eth e o n ly
s o lu tio n w h ic hw o u ld fin a lly b rin ga n e n d to t h es l a v e tra d e .3 E m ig ra -
tio n in th e s e c o n d h a lfo f th e n in e te e n th c e n tu ry th u s assum edi n th e
is la n ds o c ie tie sad iffe re n t d im e n sio nfro m
th ep re v io u s s itu a tio n .
I nth e three archipelagoes th e re w as a shared atm osphereo f c r is is
a n d th es e a rc hfo r s o lu tio n s w h ic h w o u ld overcom e th e d iffic u ltie so f
th eis la n d p e o p le : in M a d e irath e rew as th ew in e c ris is ,a n d in th e
A zores th ec u ltiv a tio no fo r a n g e s d e p e n d e d on ane x p o rt m a r k e t w h ic h
th e i s k n d c o u ldn o t c o n tro l.T he e c o n o m ie so f th e is la n d sw ere u n a b le
to s u p p o rtth e b u rg e o n in g
p o p u la tio n , a n de m ig ra tio na p p e a r e da s
th es o lu tio nto th is d iffic u lt ~ i t u a t i o n . ~
T h e s e c irc u m s ta n c e s th u s m a d e a v a ila b leas o u rc e th a t s a tis fie d th e
n e e d so fth e N ew W orldfo r a c h e a p la b o u r fo rc e tow o r ko n th es u g a r
crop, to b a c c oa n d m in in g ,o n c e th e s la v e t r a d ee n d e d . B u to n efo rm
of slavery
w as only replacedb y another.T he s h ip s th a t transported
th eh u m a n cargo w ere th e s a m e e v e nth o u g h re c ru itm e n t w as n o t th e
r e s u lto f a s s a u lto rp u r c h a s eb u to f t h e a c tio no fe m ig ra tio n a g e n ts
(d a c ~ e s ).I fb e fo re
th es la v e w as b o u g h t, n o w
th e e m ig ra n t p a id
th e price of ensIavem ent in th e formo f th e expenses of th e passport.
T heo rg a n iz e rs ,o ss d o r e s ,a n d a b o v e th e m
th es ta te its e lf, fin a n c e d
h is tra n s p d rta tio n
to th e m o s t d is ta n to f d e s tin a tio n s .T he E n g lis h a n d
th eD u tc h , lo n g -tim es p e c ia lis ts ins h ip p in gb l a c k s , a p p e a r e d a s th e
m a in in te rm e d ia rie s in th is o p e ra tio n .O nlyi n th is w ay c o u ld th en e e d s
o f th ec o f f e e , s u g a r a n d c o tto ne c o n o m ie sb e m et.
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