The Yankees and the Fazendeiros: The Role of American Technology and Applied Sciences in the Process of Slave Emancipation in São Paulo, Brazil

Coffee agriculture in the Brazilian province of São Paulo went through a revolutionary change during the 1870s and 1880s. And the fuel of such transformation came from the northern states of the United States. Whereas major planters imported coffee hulling machines and gang plows from New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Illinois, their sons enrolled in American universities such as Cornell and Syracuse to study engineering and agricultural sciences. By closely observing the trajectory of the United States, the São Paulo elite understood that to maintain the institution of slavery worked against their best interest. By adapting American techniques and technologies to their needs, they were able to move toward a more efficient mode of production. This paper ultimately argues that labor-saving machinery and advanced applied sciences imported from the United States allowed the São Paulo planters to phase out slavery without major disruption and transform their region into the richest society south of the Equator.