Pata Seca: A Slave Transformed into a Human "Production Machine"


 In the 19th century, Roque José Florencio, better known as Pata Seca—"Dry Paw"—lived in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. He stood approximately 2.18 meters tall, and his owners decided to use him as a "breeding bull"—to sire new slaves.


According to legend, he fathered between 200 and 300 children. After slavery was abolished, he received a plot of land, married, and had nine more children. He is said to have lived to be 130 years old, and thousands attended his funeral. Locals claim that up to a third of their town's residents are his descendants.



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