Antonio Bento: abolicionist discourse and practice in São Paulo of the decade of 1880

Author(s)

Alexandre Ferro Otsuka

• Document type: Master's Dissertation
• Press: São Paulo.
• Institution: Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (FFLCH/SBD)
• Defense date: 2016-03-04

Examining board members

Maria Helena Pereira Toledo Machado; Flavio dos Santos Gomes; Lilia Katri Moritz Schwarcz

• Advisor: Maria Helena Pereira Toledo Machado

Abstract

By examining the public life and practices of the abolitionist Antonio Bento de Souza e Castro, this dissertation intends to contribute to the debate on the campaign against slavery held in the province of São Paulo over the 1880s. Antonio Bento was frequently identified as the mentor and leader of the radical abolitionist organization Ordem dos Caifazes, which was composed of free men who aided and planned the flights of enslaved men and women in the interior of the province. The first part of the dissertation analyzes the central role played by slavery and its termination in the national political agenda throughout the 1880s, which affected the activities and strategies of the abolitionist movement developed in the province of São Paulo.The second part of the dissertation revisits the life trajectory of Antonio Bento, reviewing the public memory concerning the abolitionist as well as his participation in the struggles against slavery via activities carried out in the judicial arena, engagement in the Fraternity Igreja da Nossa Senhora dos Remédios and, most importantly, involvement with the press. The abolitionist newspaper A Redempção, created and led by Antonio Bento and published in the city of São Paulo between January 1887 and May 1888, was a fundamental source for this dissertation. A study on the structure of such newspaper and on the multiple political projects of abolition that it gathered can be found in the third chapter. Finally, the last chapter focuses on the analysis of Antonio Bentos views as the editor in chief of A Redempção. This chapter demonstrates that Antonio Bento\'s engagement in the fight against slavery relied on the criticism to the contingencies of the abolitionist movement and on a changeable abolitionist discourse aimed at rushing the downfall of the institution of slavery in the Empire of Brazil. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 13/18314-1 - Antonio Bento: Abolicionist Discourse and Practice in São Paulo of the decade of 1880
• Grantee: Alexandre Ferro Otsuka
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master