This article analyzes the involvement of one of the Brazilian Empire's richest families in the illegal trade to Africa. The brothers José and Joaquim de Souza Breves, men of prominence in 19th Brazilian century politics and society, built a territorial and human empire that included thousands of slaves in numerous real estate properties. In an area ranging from the coastal areas of the southern Fluminense region to the Paraíba valley, they had dozens of plantations in which enslaved Africans formed a marked presence. This article seeks to understand how the Breves brothers' relationship to the illegal slave trade led to the specific characteristics of their coastal properties, thus raising new questions about the last years of the Atlantic slave trade to Brazil.
illegal slave trade; slavery; liberated Africans; Breves family