O efeito do Contestado no processo de formação das comunidades negras rurais no Cabo Norte – século XIX

Abstract

The contemporary quilombolas communities in Amapá are located in three distinct regions: one in the municipality of Mazagão, another in the municipality of Macapá, and another to the north, covering the municipalities of Calçoene and Oiapoque. The formation and contemporary spatial arrangement of these communities requires an explanation of their history, related to the specific conditions of colonization, slavery, the slave trade and the exploitation of slave labour in the region. Resistance against slavery and the formation of mocambos as hiding places are an important sociological factor in the formation of quilombos throughout Brazil and they obey certain specific considerations, such as the conditions of possibility for escape and the effectiveness of the hiding place, according to the favorable conditions of the environment. In this dimension of the conditions of possibility for resistance, in northern Amazonia, the Franco Brazilian Contestado appears as a variable of considerable importance, as enslaved Africans in the region used this diplomatic conflict in favor of their struggle for freedom. The working hypothesis of this research is that understanding the Franco-Brazilian Contestado dispute is of fundamental importance for understanding many of the escape processes that took place in this region and may have played a decisive role in the formation of many quilombola communities in the region - which, moreover, still need to be identified using their relationship with the Contestado processes as a criterion. The theme of this article is the interpretation of the Franco Brazilian Contestado process, analyzing escape routes and the formation of mocambos, and the conditions involved in choosing these routes and hiding places, identifying possible escape routes for the enslaved in the Amazon.