Afro-Brazilian Culture and Politics: Bahia, 1790s-1990s by Hendrik Kraay

Author:Hendrik Kraay [Kraay, Hendrik]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Islam, Religion, Political Science, General
ISBN: 9781315502595
Google: LH2TDAAAQBAJ
Goodreads: 30852505
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 1998-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Afro-Brazilians Who Prospered

We do not know what happened to Leocádio B. Rodrigues after his brief appearance in the 1905 Gazeta de Ilhéos, but he does not appear on the list of property owners in the 1920 census. Nor do Quintina Maria dos Santos Gomes and Galdena de Jesus Jardim. The Pitombos and a number of others, however, do. They survived and even prospered. When he died in 1917, Manuel Félix was married to Edwirges Câmara, a literate parda woman from Ilhéus, and they had seven living children ranging in age from five to fourteen. Together they owned a cacao farm called Fazenda Benevolência (Benevolence Farm) at Quebra Bunda with just over 6,500 trees and a smaller grove at Pae Ventura. The farm was quite small, but it was nonetheless well established. It had two drying sheds on it, a storehouse, a small tile-covered house, a manioc grinding mill, and two burros. They also owned a house in the rural town of Sambaituba.64 João da Cruz Pitombo was even wealthier. In 1923, he and his wife owned 45,290 cacao trees in six farms, all of which were in the process of being titled.65

Why were the Pitombo brothers able to do well while so many others were not? The question is an important one, because the Pitombos apparently were not the only Afro-Brazilian planters to have succeeded, given the number of devotional surnames on the list of property holders in the 1920 census. The answer is not fully clear, but the documentary record suggests some possibilities.

First, the Pitombos had established themselves on the frontier prior to the land rush and abolition. They had planted trees and established their farms before the heavy migration to the region began, before the frontier filled in, and before land concentration began. Second, they could call on extended family for help and support into their second generation. Third, they were apparently well connected to the local elite for at least part of the period in question. Fourth, the brothers were literate and seemed to understand the business aspects of running their farms. They kept receipts for their transactions in Adami’s store, checked their bills, and settled their accounts annually. Finally, they actively attempted to defend themselves by manipulating their connections to local elites and the factions of local politics. When they ran into trouble, they wrote to their creditor and requested more time to pay; when he took them to court, they hired a lawyer—and not just any lawyer. They hired the same lawyer who had helped Misael Tavares strip Quintina Maria dos Santos Gomes of her property and the man who was the leader of the political opposition. In other words, they had a head start on many other small farmers, they were more prepared than many of their counterparts, they were more knowledgeable about the business of farm management, and they understood local politics, all of which stood them in good stead in 1898–99.

But we should not finish the story of the Pitombos here because that would leave a falsely optimistic picture.

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