Separated families: the impact of the internal slave trade on black and enslaved families, Salvador/Ba and Campinas/SP, 1850-1881

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.11606/issn.2316-9141.rh.2019.145917

Keywords:

internal slave trade, family, legislation, agency, manumission

Abstract

This article aims to investigate the impacts of the internal slave trade on enslaved and free black families in the cities of Campinas (São Paulo) and Salvador (Bahia). We examine not only whether there was maintenance or rupture of family ties, but also how enslaved people and their relatives reacted to the possibility of being sold. To do so, we extend our focus from enslaved families to free black families to evidence and understand the processes that involved enslaved, freed, and free members of the same family. We try to comprehend the actions of family members to maintain their cohesion, using the current legislation and direct negotiations with their slaveowners throughout the second half of the nineteenth century. We note that while the legislation was respected at times, it was just as likely that the rules were disregarded. Consequently, family members were forced into legal battles for the integrity of their homes by claiming the current laws be respected or by expressing their own interpretations of those laws.

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Author Biographies

  • Joice Fernanda Oliveira, Universidade Estadual de Campinas

    Doutora em História Social pela Universidade Estadual de Campinas (Unicamp) e pela Rice University (Houston, Estados Unidos).

  • Rafael da Cunha Scheffer, Universidade da Integração Internacional da Lusofonia Afro-Brasileira (UNILAB)

    Doutor em História Social pela Universidade Estadual de Campinas (Unicamp), professor da Universidade da Integração Internacional da Lusofonia Afro-Brasileira (UNILAB).

References

Published

2019-10-17

Issue

Section

escravizados, escravização

How to Cite

OLIVEIRA, Joice Fernanda; SCHEFFER, Rafael da Cunha. Separated families: the impact of the internal slave trade on black and enslaved families, Salvador/Ba and Campinas/SP, 1850-1881. Revista de História, São Paulo, n. 178, p. 1–24, 2019. DOI: 10.11606/issn.2316-9141.rh.2019.145917. Disponível em: https://revistas.usp.br/revhistoria/article/view/145917. Acesso em: 28 feb. 2026.