Children of God's Fire

Robert E. Conrad is the author of The Destruction of Brazilian Slavery, 1850-88 (1972; reissued Krieger, 1993), World of Sorrow: The African Slave Trade to Brazil (1986), and translator/editor of Sandino: The Testimony of a Nicaraguan Patriot, 1921-1934 (1990).

• ContentsList of IllustrationsxiiiPrefacexvAcknowledgmentsxxviiPart I."Men of Stone and of Iron": The African Slave Trade1.1.The Beginnings of the Portuguese-African Slave Trade in the Fifteenth Century, as Described by the Chronicler Gomes Eannes de Azurara51.2.The Enslavement Process in the Portuguese Dominions of King Philip III of Spain in the Early Seventeenth Century111.3.A Portuguese Doctor Describes the Suffering of Black Slaves in Africa and on the Atlantic Voyage (1793)151.4.A Young Black Man Tells of His Enslavement in Africa and Shipment to Brazil about the Middle of the Nineteenth Century231.5.An Ex-Slavetrader's Account of the Enslavement Process in Africa and the Illegal Traffic to Brazil (1848–1849)281.6."It Was the Same as Pigs in a Sty": A Young African's Account of Life on a Slave Ship (1849)371.7.A Slave Revolt at Sea and Brutal Reprisals (1845)391.8.A British Physician Describes the State of Africans upon Their Arrival in Brazil (1841–1843)431.9.A British Clergyman's Impressions of the Valongo Slave Market in Rio de Janeiro (1828)48Part II. "A Hell for Blacks": Slavery in Rural Brazil2.1.An Italian Jesuit Advises Sugar Planters on the Treatment of Their Slaves (1711)552.2.A Royal Decree on the Feeding of Slaves and Their Days Off (1701)602.3."I Doubt that the Moors Are So Cruel to Their Slaves": The Feeding of Slaves in Late Colonial Bahia612.4.The Masters and the Slaves: A Frenchman's Account of Society in Rural Pernambuco Early in the Nineteenth Century632.5."The African Man Transformed into the American Beast": Slavery in Rural Pernambuco in the 1840s712.6.Practical Advice on the Management of Plantation Slaves (1847)772.7.Slave Life on a Plantation in the Province of Rio de Janeiro in the Late Nineteenth Century792.8.A Medical Report on Slaves on Five Coffee Plantations in the Province of Rio de Janeiro (1853)862.9."There Are Plantations Where the Slaves Are Numb with Hunger": A Medical Thesis on Plantation Diseases and Their Causes (1847)912.10.The Annual Work Routine on Plantations in Maranhao in the Mid-Nineteenth Century962.11.A Brazilian Senator Comments on the High Mortality among Rural Slave Children in the First Half of the Nineteenth Century992.12.A Bahian Sugar Planter Registers His Slaves (1872)100Part III. Slave Life in Cities and at the Mines3.1.Slave Life in Rio de Janeiro as Seen through Newspaper Advertisements (1821)1113.2.A North American Describes Slave Life in Rio de Janeiro (1846)1153.3.A Royal Navy Surgeon Discusses the Black Coffee Carriers of Rio de Janeiro (1848)1243.4.The Sedan Chair and the Hammock: Urban Transportation in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries1263.5.Slave Prostitutes in the Brazilian Capital (1871)1293.6.Newspaper Advertisements for Black Wet Nurses (1821–1854)1333.7.A French Doctor with Twelve Years of Medical Experience in Brazil Advises Mothers on Choosing a Black Wet Nurse (1843)1353.8.Was the Black Wet Nurse a Transmitter of Disease? A Medical Debate in Rio de Janeiro (1846)1373.9.The Black Wet Nurse: A Status Symbol (1863)1393.10.Slave Workers at the Diamond Washings of Tejuco, Minas Gerais, in the Early Nineteenth Century1403.11.Black Miners at a British-Owned Gold Mine in the 1860s1433.12."Common Graves": How City Slaves Were Buried147Part IV."From Babylon to Jerusalem": Slavery and the Catholic Church4.1.Slavery and Church Doctrine: The Archbishop of Bahia Rules on Slave Evangelization and Aspects of Their Treatment (1707)1544.2."Children of God's Fire": A Seventeenth-Century Jesuit Finds Benefits in Slavery but Chastizes Masters for Their Brutality in a Sermon to the Black Brotherhood of Our Lady of the Rosary1634.3.A Jesuit Friar Writes on Slave Marriage and Immoral Acts Forced by Masters upon Their Slaves (1700)1744.4.The Black Brotherhood of Our Lady of the Rosary in Recife in the Eighteenth Century1784.5.The Archbishop of Bahia Staunchly Supports Slavery and the Slave Trade (1794)1804.6.Slaves as Prizes in a Lottery Benefiting the Santa Casa da Misericórdia in Ouro Prêto (1825)1824.7.A Catholic Brotherhood Is Authorized to Buy and Sell Slaves (1842)1854.8.A British Resident of Pernambuco Describes the Beneficial Effects of Catholicism on Slaves, Notably upon Those Belonging to Plantations of the Benedictine Order (about 1815)1854.9.A Slave Revolt at a Carmelite Estate in Pará (1865)1924.10."The Negroes Were Holding Their Saturnalia": A Popular Festival at the Church of Our Lady of Bomfim in Bahia (1860)194Part V.Relations between the Races5.1."The Fact Remains that They Are Black": Racial Attitudes in Eighteenth-Century Portugal and Brazil2035.2."Even a Considerable Tinge Will Pass for White": A British Resident of Pernambuco Analyzes Brazilian Racial and Social Categories Early in the Nineteenth Century2105.3.Four Classes of Blacks: The Observations of a British Clergyman in Rio de Janeiro (1828)2165.4.Official Acts Opposing or Outlawing Discrimination against Mulattoes and Free Blacks (1689 and 1849)2205.5.The Influence of Black and Mulatto Household Slaves upon the Character of the Brazilian Upper Class2215.6.Racial Conflict in Nineteenth-Century Maranhão2255.7."Who Am I?" A Mulatto Ex-Slave Ridicules in Verse the Bigotry of His Racially Mixed Fellow Brazilians (1859)2295.8.A Popular Verse Suggests Portuguese and Brazilian Attitudes toward Racial Mixing (1826)2315.9.A Renowned Brazilian Mulatto Encounters Prejudice in New York but Is Rescued by Brazilian Friends: A Contrast in Race Relations (1873)232Part VI. "Peculiar Legislation": Slavery and the Law6.1."This Dark Blotch on Our Social System": An Analysis of the Legal Status of Slaves and Freedmen in Brazilian Society (1866)2376.2.Legal Restrictions on the Activities of Slaves and Free Non-Whites in Portugal (1521, 1545, 1559, and 1621)2456.3.Restrictions on the Activities of Slaves in Eighteenth-Century Brazil2476.4.Special Legal Provisions Concerning Slaves Promulgated in the First Years of the Empire2516.5.The Government of Bahia Orders Special Measures to Restrict and Control the Province's Slave Population (1822)2546.6.The Province of Rio de Janeiro Restricts the Activities of Slaves, Free Africans, and Other Foreigners to Reduce the Threat of Slave Rebellion (1836)2566.7.Local Ordinances Bearing on Slavery from Six Provincial Law Collections (1833–1866)2596.8.Could a Slave Acquire His Freedom against His Master's Will by Offering Him His Value? Two Legal Opinions and the Negative Decision of the Council of State (1853–1854)2676.9.A Master Abuses His Adolescent Slave Girl: A Court Case of 1883-18842736.10."And We Are the Best of Masters!": An Abolitionist Writes on the Legal System, Punishment, and the Extraordinary Power of the Master Class (1837)281Part VII."Shamefully Torn before Thy Eyes": Corporal Punishment7.1.The Governor of Grao Para and Maranhão Informs the Portuguese King of Cruel Punishments Inflicted upon Indian Slaves (1752)2897.2."This Rustic Theology": A Catholic Priest Admonishes Slaveholders about the Cruel Punishment of Their Slaves (1758)2927.3.Advice on Plantation Punishment from an Agricultural Handbook (1839)2977.4.Lashes Inflicted upon Slaves at the Jail (Calabouço) in Rio de Janeiro (1826)3017.5."The Scene Was Deeply Afflicting": A Britisher Describes the Punishment of a Slave at the Rio Calabouço Early in the Nineteenth Century3037.6."This, Then, Is Not a Crime": The Trial of a Coffee Planter Accused of Brutal Punishment (1878)3057.7.Changing Attitudes: The Minister of Justice Cautions Provincial Presidents on the Dangers of Excessive Punishment (1861)3147.8.A Government Report of the Deaths of Two Slaves Caused by Brutal Punishment (1887)315Part VIII.The Perils of Being Black8.1.An Unconditional Grant of Freedom (1851)3198.2.A Conditional Grant of Freedom (1827)3198.3.The "Liberation" of Eight Legally Free Children (1878)3208.4.A Slave Petitions for Protection from His Master (1876)3218.5.Disposing of Stray Blacks, Beasts, and Cattle (Bens do Evento) (1728)3228.6.The President of Rio Grande do Norte Regulates Disposal of Bens do Evento (1862)3238.7.A Public Notice of Human Bens do Evento Lodged in a Jail in Parana (1857)3268.8.An Auction of Human Bens do Evento in Rio de Janeiro (1867)3268.9.A Lawyer Deplores the Legal Concept of Human Bens do Evento (1873)3278.10.The Precariousness of Freedom: The Statement of a Black Man Named John Eden (1843)3308.11.A Royal Decree Condemning "Free Africans" to Fourteen Years of Involuntary Servitude (1818)3328.12.A Scottish Doctor Reports on the Mistreatment of "Free Africans" (1838)3338.13.An Ex-Guardian of "Free Africans" Describes Their Treatment (1866)3388.14.An "Emancipado" Is Granted His Final Certificate of Freedom (1864)3398.15.The Services of "Ingênuos" (Freeborn Children of Slave Women) Are Placed in Public Auction (1882)3418.16."This Very Barbarous and Inhuman Traffic": A Bahian Planter-Politician Seeks to Abolish the Inter-Provincial Slave Trade (1854)3438.17.A Britisher Describes the Inter-Provincial Slave Trade of the 1850s3518.18.A Member of the Chamber of Deputies from Bahia Describes the Overland Slave Traffic (1880)3548.19.Slaves Are Bought in Northern Brazil for Shipment to the South3558.20.Father Pompeu's Son356Part IX."A State of Domestic War": How Slaves Responded9.1.Newspaper Advertisements Offer Rewards for the Return of Runaways3629.2.A Runaway Bookbinder, Fortunato (1854)3669.3.The Great Seventeenth-Century Quilombo of Palmares: A Chronicle of War and Peace3669.4."White Man Won't Come Here": A Twentieth-Century Folk Memory of Palmares3779.5."The Armadillo's Hole": A Predatory Quilombo Near Bahia (1763)3799.6.The Police Chief of Rio de Janeiro Suggests Ways to Eliminate Quilombos Near the City (1824)3819.7."All the Huts Were Burned": The Destruction of Quilombos Near Rio de Janeiro (1876)3849.8.The Destruction of Quilombos in Maranhão (1853)3869.9."A Sort of Enchanted Land": Quilombos of the Amazon Valley in the 1850s3899.10.The Captured Residents of a Runaway-Slave Settlement Are Claimed as Slaves but Freed by a Legal Decision (1877)3929.11.Slaves of Minas Gerais Plot Revolt (1719)3949.12."The Slaves' View of Slavery": A Plantation Rebellion Near Ilheus, Bahia, and the Rebels' Written Demands for a Settlement3979.13.Slaves Rebel in the Captaincy of Bahia (1814)4019.14.Soldiers and Africans Clash in Bahia's Streets (1835)4069.15.Insubordination, Assassinations, Rebellions, Conspiracies, and Runaways: A Report of the Minister of Justice (1854)411Part X."The Noblest and Most Sacred Cause": The Abolition Struggle10.1."Perhaps No Nation Ever Sinned More against Humanity than Portugal": Brazil's First Prime Minister Fires an Opening Salvo in the Struggle against Slavery (1823)41810.2.A Defense of the Slave Trade in Response to British-Inspired Abolitionism (1823)42710.3.Proposals for Gradually Abolishing Slavery (1865)43110.4."Slave Property Is as Sacred as Any Other": A Chamber Member Opposes Free-Birth Legislation (1871)43610.5."As If It Were a Crime to Be Born": A Mulatto Senator Passionately Defends the Free-Birth Law (1871)44610.6."We Are Seeking Our Country's Highest Interests": An Abolitionist Analyzes Slavery and Calls for a Break with the Past (1883)45110.7.A Municipal Chamber in Sao Paulo Gives Its Opinions on the Slavery and Labor Questions (1885)45810.8.The Mulatto Editor and Abolitionist, Jose do Patrocinio, Condemns the Government's Slavery Policy (1885)46210.9.An Ex-Abolitionist Recalls the Anti-Slavery Struggle in São Paulo (1918)46610.10."Ceasing to Consider the Slave a Mere Laboring Machine": A Paulista Senator Calls for Quick Solutions to the "Servile Question" (December, 1887)47210.11."Hours of Bitterness and Terror": A Planter's Account of the Ending of Slavery in Sao Paulo (March 19, 1888)47610.12."Slavery Is Declared Abolished" (May 13, 1888)480Chronology of Important Events483Glossary of Portuguese, African, and Brazilian Terms489Selected Bibliography494Index499

“Conrad's Children of God's Fire [originally Princeton, 1984] provides abundant material for historians and students of African slavery in Brazil to understand what the slaves actually experienced. It is an invaluable contribution both to the scholarly examination of Brazilian slavery and to the evolving debate on comparative slave systems in the Americas. . . . Conrad's documentary collection makes the primary evidence of the real character of Brazilian slavery available to a much wider audience.”—Latin American Research Review