Lords of slaves: trajectories, disputes and solidarity in the West Paulista, 1845-1880

Author(s)

Juarez Françoia

• Document type: Master's Dissertation
• Press: Campinas, SP.
• Institution: Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Instituto de Filosofia e Ciências Humanas
• Defense date: 2009-12-14

Examining board members

Robert Wayne Andrew Slenes; Sidney Chalhoub; Hebe Maria Mattos; Sheila de Castro Faria; Jefferson Cano

• Advisor: Robert Wayne Andrew Slenes

Abstract

This study focuses on the landed and slaveholding elite of western São Paulo during the second half of the nineteenth century, especially their daily life and their relationships of solidarity and divergence among their peers and with other social agents. After defining, as my object of study, a specific group of large slaveholders, I analyzed the importance of marriage strategies among this group as a necessary point of departure for obtaining socioeconomic mobility, strengthening political power, and reaffirming status before their peers. Then, from an analysis of probate records, it was possible to understand the investment preferences of this local elite and their changes over time. The "new wealth", such as real estate, stocks and bonds, investments in banks, interest income from loans, etc, does not replace the elite's investment in slaves beginning in the early 1870s, as has been argued by some authors. In fact, the investment in slaves continued to grow in relation to other assets until 1884. I also showed that the Land Law of 1850 did not bar the occupation of public land, much less put an end to boundary disputes between members of the dominant group. Conflicts over land were resolved before local judges, with outcomes based largely on the links of loyalty and solidarity between the parties involved. In this situation it became clear that the political and personal conflicts between members of the elite were gradually undermining seigneurial power, since many slaves, mostly urban ones, somehow found ways to take advantage of the feuds and intrigues in their masters' world to formulate strategies for freedom and demand better social conditions (AU)