Slave Life in Rio de Janeiro, 1808-1850

Mary C. Karasch

• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Year: 2019
• Print ISBN: 9780691655574, 9780691077086
• eBook ISBN: 9780691196206
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Hispanic American Studies
• Index: Social Sciences

Rio de Janeiro in the first half of the nineteenth century had the largest population of urban slaves in the Americas—primary contributors to the atmosphere and vitality of the city. Although most urban historians have ignored these inhabitants of Rio, Mary Karasch's generously illustrated study provides a comprehensive description and analysis of the city's rich Afro-Cariocan culture, including its folklore, its songs, and accounts of its oral history.
Professor Karasch's investigation of the origins of Rio's slaves demonstrates the importance of the "Central Africaness" of the slave population to an understanding of its culture. Challenging the thesis of the comparative mildness of the Brazilian slave system, other chapters discuss the marketing of Africans in the Valongo, the principal slave market, and the causes of early slave mortality, including the single greatest killer, tuberculosis. Also examined in detail are adaptation and resistance to slavery, occupations and roles of slaves in an urban economy, and art, religion, and associational life.
Mary C. Karasch is Associate Professor of History at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan.

Originally published in 1987.

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Table of contents

• Contents
• List of Illustrations
• List of Tables
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• 1. The Nations of Rio
• 2. The Crossroads: The Slave Market of Rio De Janeiro
• 3. Boundaries: A Slave's Guide to the City of Rio De Janeiro
• 4. As Almas: Those Who Died
• 5. Under the Whip
• 6. "The Sorcerers' Weapons": Diseases
• 7. Porters and Property: The Functions of Slaves in Rio De Janeiro
• 8. Samba and Song: Afro-Cariocan Slave Culture
• 9. "Belonging": Religious and Social Groups
• 10. Runaways and Rebels
• 11. The Letter of Liberty
• Appendix A: African Sources for the Slave Trade to Rio De Janeiro, 1830-1852
• Appendix B: Causes of Slave Sickness and Death at the Santa Casa da Misericórdia, 1833-1849
• Bibliography
• Index