Story of Moral Reasoning

It was a hot day in the middle of June when I first arrived in Brazil. The reason why I chose to sail from my estate in Portugal was because my younger brother, Leo, wanted me to join him by helping him run his sugar plantation. At first I was opposed to the idea but after he explained to me how much money he was making, I decided it was at least worth me taking a visit. Upon my arrival it was easy for me to tell that the majority of the labor done on his plantation was being handled by black slaves.

When finally meeting up with Leo I had the opportunity to ask him how his business was going, along with other questions that pertain to the topic. I finally asked him where he had received his slaves from and how he was able to keep them working for him without any revolt, and he answered by saying

The majority of the slaves that I own today came from Northern Angola, but not all of them of course. As for keeping all of them working, the only thing you need to know is to keep them fearing you. I keep their fear alive by beating, whipping, and performing other disciplinary act whenever I catch one acting up or not working hard enough. The thought of revolt runs heavy in my mind though, but you almost have to ignore that fear by instilling more into them.

He went more into detail for me about how he would keep them working in such poor conditions everyday without remorse or pay. Then he explained to me that he was keeping a lot of these people in tiny homes found around the plantation. After hearing this I asked him if I could visit them at night, after they were done working. He said that I could but advised me not to do so, just in case they decided to revolt and I would end up dead.

A couple of hours from then it was nighttime and slaves were in there tiny homes, so I decided this would be a good time to visit them before they were asleep. In order to gain the respect from these people I decided bring a couple loaves of bread that I found in Leo’s house. When I approached one of the houses I could hear singing in both Portuguese and other languages that I have never heard before. When I first opened the door the entire place went silent, and I could see many sad and fearful looks upon many of their faces. It was easy to see that this was the building where the children were being kept, since there were about 20 children and several women who look like they were in charge of these children’s care.

After a few moments of silence I said “I’m not here to hurt you, I’m simply here to learn from you”. Soon after what I said was translated to the ones who did not understand Portuguese and then the mood seemed to be lifted as I started handing out bread to all of the children. Smiling faces seemed to become the new fad around the building as the children took some bread then crowd around me as I started to introduce myself. By saying that I was Leo’s brother and I was only here to visit for a couple of days before continuing on my travels. After hearing the word travels it was easy to see that the children became excited, so I decided to expand on the idea of one of my travels.

Before you knew it all of the children were standing around me, along with some of the women as I told them the story of my trip to Egypt. Since I was found in the moment I explained this story with many exaggerated details, and some made up side adventures. I soon found myself explaining to these people a story that would resemble one being told by a great fictional adventurer, but it was easy to tell that these people were believing everything I was telling them, even the part of me fighting a desert monster. After I finished my half made up story the children were excited to hear another, but I told them that I was off to bed, and that I would have another story for them tomorrow.

The next morning Leo was happy and surprised to see that I have come back unharmed. When he asked what happened I told him that I only told them the story of my travels in Egypt, and that I told it in a way that would make white people seem to be all powerful so any fear of a revolt should be gone. Then next question he asked me was If I was going to join him by working on his plantation with him. I answered this question by saying

No, I do not think that my hands would be able to deliver pain to these people in order to force them to work. Even though these people are lesser to us Europeans, I still believe that this treatment for others is not worth the wealth you are receiving, and I do not want to be a part of it. Sorry for disappointing you but I will be returning to Portugal.

My brother was stunned by my response, and then told me to suit myself before hopping the best for me on my future. It was obvious to see that my decision that these people should not be receiving the treatment they are did not change Leo’s mind, but I hope that my influence will at least convince him to be more merciful to them.