Slavery and War in the Americas by Vitor Izecksohn

Author:Vitor Izecksohn [Izecksohn, Vitor]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, United States, Civil War Period (1850-1877)
ISBN: 9780813935867
Google: TVbOAwAAQBAJ
Publisher: University of Virginia Press
Published: 2014-07-29T02:45:58+00:00

FIVE

Manumitting and Enlisting the Slaves

in Brazil, December 1866–August 1868

On November 14, 1867, José Jobim, a respected doctor and imperial political councilor wrote to his friend, Thomas Gomes, describing the misadventures of a recently acquired domestic slave, a young man named Carlos. Jobim had gone to a traditional slave market to buy a replacement for a recently manumitted cook.1 A particular black woman caught his eye; she came with good references from the coffee district of São Marcos in the Paraíba Valley. During the auction the prospective slave cook was able to negotiate the inclusion of her two children in the deal: first, her daughter and, later in the day, her teenage son, Carlos. Together the slaves cost around the equivalent of $830 U.S. dollars for the new cook and her daughter, and $460 for Carlos.2 Slaves were expensive in the late 1860s, a consequence of the interruption of the African slave trade almost fifteen years earlier. The letter does not reveal the regional origins of the new slaves, so it is impossible to know whether the mother was Brazilian or African-born, or if she and her children had come from the northeast through interprovincial trafficking. The three slaves performed domestic functions: mother and daughter were cooks, and the son was an oxcart driver.

Shortly after arriving in the doctor’s household, however, Carlos began to stir up trouble. Complaining to Gomes, Jobim declared that the young slave lied and stole. He also chased most of the slave women, causing great anger among the other male servants. Carlos constantly disappeared from work and encouraged other male slaves to follow him into the streets, where, armed with iron weapons, they joined disorderly mobs. Finally, after Carlos had intentionally destroyed the oxcart, Jobim decided to sell him to the army as a soldier for the Triple Alliance War.

Among Brazilian masters, splitting up families was a common form of punishment for disorderly slaves.3 Drastic measures often lead to strong domestic resistance, however. Carlos’s mother protested his sale, and finally attempted to poison Jobim’s food. The plot was exposed by a loyal slave (or possibly one with a grudge against Carlos) before the cook could carry out her plan.

Surprisingly, when inspected for recruitment, Carlos told the military committee that he was a “broken slave,” not healthy enough to serve in the army.4 His statement may have contained some truth, because, after a brief examination, the committee refused to induct him.5

Now the unhappy Dr. Jobim realized that he had been deceived twice: first, in paying a high price for an unhealthy individual; secondly, in buying a troublesome slave. In desperation he decided to send Carlos back to the Paraíba Valley, probably hoping to sell him as a fieldworker to a coffee plantation.6 But Carlos, who had no intention of working on farms, escaped on his way to the valley.7 After a series of short escapades, Carlos returned to Rio de Janeiro, where the police caught him at last.

The fact that Jobim was notified of Carlos’s final capture by

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