Slavery and the Means of Freedom in the São Pedro's West Frontier: politics of domain and strategies of slaves and ex-slaves (Brazil/Uruguay, Nineteenth- Century).

Abstract

This project proposes a research to analyze and understand the dynamics of slavery from the processes of struggle for freedom of slaves and ex-slaves, or for his maintenance. Besides observation in Brazilian southeastern Brazil, where during the nineteenth century the chances of achieving their freedom have gradually closing inside the plantation system, the volume of manumissions tended to growth in the western frontier of the São Pedro's Province. I'm proposing to analyze these configurations from the clashes and negotiations between masters and slaves and ex-slaves', in their both daily life. The central theme here are the multiple forms of slaves struggle for freedom - in negotiations with their masters, across of the escape and/or the formation of fugitives slave communities, in plans for insurrection or engaging the legal sphere to win the freedom even in default of the masters wishes.