Andre Pinto Rebouças
Inventor of a Working Torpedo,
Water Engineer and Opponent of Slavery
By L,J., Grade 7
I am supposed to write about an African-American. Well, guess what?
I will talk about a Brazilian African-American. Keep in mind, Brazil is
in America (South America, to be exact) ( USAisNotAmerica.com).
The inventor that I have selected who should be remembered during
Black History Month is Andres Pinto Rebouças. He was an African-American
who pushed the Brazilian government to abolish Slavery in Brazil.
Andre was born in 1838. By 1863, he developed a solution to fix the water
supply problem in Rio de Janeiro. He is known for this great work because
he improved the lives of many Brazilians.
A second reason for remembering this guy is about his invention of a
working torpedo when he was a military engineer during a war in Paraguay.
The third reason for remembering Rebouças was he helped create the
Anti-Slavery Society in Brazil. Here is a quote by Rebouças:
“Slavery is not only a name but in fact the exploitation through work of
the desperate without having to pay a salary, or paying the barest minimum
so they don’t die of hunger” (Gaspar).
But the big part is that he succeeded to work with others to persuade
the government to abolish slavery in Brazil on May 13, 1888. That
was 23 years after the U.S. government abolished slavery.
He died in Funchal, the capital of Madeira (an island in the Atlantic).
He is buried in Rio de Janeiro (Gaspar).
You might wonder, “How did Rebouças influence Florida?”
My answer is another question: What if slavery was still happening
in Brazil? I looked up a list of “Brazilians of Black African descent”
and I found famous black people from Brazil who came to the USA.
For example, Janeth dos Santos Arcain played for the Houston
Comets in the Women’s National Basketball Association.
What about Gilberto Gil, the Brazilian singer and songwriter?
He wrote songs that people in Florida enjoy today. The successful
work of people like Rebouças removed slavery. Their work made
it possible for many Brazilian African-Americans to find success.
Their success helps the economy of Florida. Over a million tourists
from Brazil visit Florida each year and many of them are black
(Orlando Sentinel).
For these three reasons, Andre Rebouças should be remembered
as a famous Brazilian African-American inventor. He should also
be remembered for helping to abolish slavery.
References
USA is not America,
“Indeed, U.S.A. is not America!” Retrieved on 27 January 2018 from
