Free pardos in a field of tensions: militia, labor and power (São Paulo, 1797-1831)

Author(s)

Fernando Prestes de Souza

• Document type: Doctoral Thesis
• Press: São Paulo.
• Institution: Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (FFLCH/SBD)
• Defense date: 2017-09-06

Examining board members

Pedro Luis Puntoni; Wilma Peres Costa; Miriam Dolhnikoff; Rafael de Bivar Marquese; Luiz Geraldo Santos da Silva

• Advisor: Pedro Luis Puntoni

Abstract

This doctoral thesis is about the Pardo militiamen of São Paulo who acted in the Regimento dos Úteis (1797-1831). That Pardo and Black militias dates back to the seventeenth century and were characterized as a fundamental military force for the State. Moreover, they were a sort of a canal of social and political expression for its members until they were extinguished in 1831. The problems in question unfold in three articulated issues: military, social and political history. In the first one, the Pardo militia is examined in the midst of the colonial military structure and the trajectory of the Luso-Brazilian militias. In addition, its operational structure and its role in the military activities of São Paulo are discussed. In the second one, it will be explored the origin of the Pardo and they social status as militiamen. This aspect emphasis the formation of the group of free and liberated Pardo, also the linking of militiamen to forms of compulsory labor and the Indigene, African and Mestizo universes, and formation of families. It also deals with the socioeconomic condition of the militiamen, considering their occupational profile, levels of wealth and the possession of slaves. Finally, the last aspect considers the articulation of the militia with politics and regards the military universe as a field of tensions. The problems of color officers and the existence of their military corps, which are fundamental to understanding the actions of the Free Colored militia in the context of independence in Sao Paulo, are examined from the intertwined dimensions of the State, the local military authorities, the competition between White and Free Colored officers, and from internal power relations to the brown militia. Eliasian sociology is the main theoretical reference, and the thesis is based on a large and diversified primary documentation, with special emphasis on the nominative lists, parish sources and especially the records produced from the daily activities of the militia, such as the requirements and the book of Registration of the Pardo militiamen of São Paulo. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 13/22236-6 - Pardos militiamen on the eve of liberalism. Color, work and politics (São Paulo, 1797-1831)
• Grantee: Fernando Prestes de Souza
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate