Slave trade, “Revolution”, Independence and politics in Pernambuco: The trajectory of a family firm in the slave trade, 1817-1846

• Autor(a) principal: Carvalho, Marcus Joaquim Maciel de
• Data de Publicação: 2022
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Antíteses
• Texto Completo: https://ojs.uel.br/revistas/uel/index.php/antiteses/article/view/44100
• topic: Independência; Tráfico; Traficantes; Independência e Tráfico de Escravos; Slave-trade; Slave-traders; Independece

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of the transatlantic slave trade in the political history of Pernambuco between 1817 and the 1840s, through the trajectory of two major slave traders, father and son, who operated from Recife and their plantation, one of the largest in the province. Both of them always sided with the crown and the conservative party in provincial politics. The father, a Portuguese citizen, was arrested by the Republican government in 1817. The son was not white, nevertheless, he held a prominent role among Recife merchants and married the daughter of another important slave dealer, perhaps forming the wealthiest couple in Pernambuco. In the Atlantic slave trade scale, Pernambuco ranks fourth among the African slave trade destinations between the 16th and 19th centuries. The study of these trajectories helps us to understand the political role of major slave traders and their networks in the context of Brazilian Independence and the transition to legal businesses after the slave trade became illegal, in 1831.