ABSTRACT
The discussion on Brazilian slavery involved a myriad of strands, ranging from moral, ethnic, educational, religious, political, cultural and economical. The authors received several influences from foreign debates but adapted to their reality and interests. We selected a group of thinkers or associations that debated economic ideas about work in Brazil from the mid-19th century, whether through newspapers, manifestos, speeches, and books. We consider slavery and national free labor as mutually conditioned by the long period of coexistence since the beginning of colonization. Many Afro-descendants achieved freedom and continued to work in that slave society. The institution of slavery changed from the prohibition of the slave trade to the abolition of slavery through several legal changes. There were intense debates around these laws, about the continuity of slavery and the possible substitutes for this labor.
