A miséria da alforria e as migalhas da liberdade: emancipação escrava em Macapá na década da abolição – 1883-1886

Abstract

Between the years of 1883 and 1886, twenty two letters of manumission were registered by the owners in the registry office of the city of Macapá, who also freed twenty-two adult slaves from captivity, aged between 24 and 64 years. Emancipation through manumission, as a long-term investment, was undoubtedly not only desired, but meticulously planned and achieved by different means by the captives. Some have committed years of their savings at the cost of hard work and effort to purchase freedom by indemnifying the amount requested by the lord or lady. Others thought it better to lease their workforce for several years in the form of a service contract to creditors or local tenants, an opportunity created by emancipationist laws at the end of the 19th century. A few bet on other opportune and uncertain means, seeking to cultivate the lord's esteem and confidence in the perspective of, with this, obtaining manumission through his death or commiseration. The letter of manumission of slaves from Macapá narrates in a cold and fragmented way the lifelong efforts of men and women in search of freedom. This study deals specifically with the slave freedom conquered through manumission, the history of the subjects involved in the manumissary process and the dynamics and functioning of local slavery