Petitions involving slaves and forros (free man) in São Paulo (1808-1822)

• Grant number: 21/03562-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: July 01, 2021
• End date: June 30, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - History - History of Brazil
• Principal Investigator: Andrea Slemian
• Grantee: Fabiane Silva Peruzzo
• Host Institution: Escola de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (EFLCH). Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP). Campus Guarulhos. Guarulhos , SP, Brazil

Abstract

This research project aims to analyze how slaves and forros (free man), understood as social agents, were mobilized through petitions (representations and requirements) to request their demands. This proposal will be made from the survey of these demands and the speeches identified in that documentary type. Also, it is proposed to understand how this social sector appropriated a forwarding of demands via petition, which existed concurrently with the judicial channels. For this study, the selected documentation is in the Public Archives of the State of São Paulo and will prioritize the São Paulo space, from 1808 to 1822, considering that, in this context, the captaincy was undergoing a great growth phase. Thus, it is intended to see if in this spatial section, there is a politicization of enslaved people and forros (free man) and if there is a reinforcement of the demands of this group in the proposed periodization.