Slavery, cattle raising and freedom: The Book of classification of slaves (Alegrete, 1870s)

Abstract

This article aims to explore a source not yet widely used by historiography: the Book of classification of slaves to be freed by the Emancipation Fund – in this case the Book of Alegrete, a county located in the region of the state of Rio Grande do Sul called Campanha, where cattle raising was the main economic activity. It initially discusses the captives’ occupation, focusing on the slaves who took care of livestock, and the structure of the ownership of slaves. Then, by crossing information taken from that book with enfranchisement documents from the same location, it checks whether there was any relationship between cattle raising and liberty. The analysis of that source shows that the number of slaves was quite significant there. This becomes even more relevant in the 1870s, a period in which many historians claim that slave labor in Rio Grande do Sul was declining due to the crisis in the production of jerked beef, where most of the cattle was used, and also due to internal trafficking of slaves, who were allegedly taken from that region to the coffee plantations ins southeastern Brazil. It also became clear that the possession of slaves was still very widespread in society, with a predominance of small groups. Thus, the article attempts to assess the importance of slave labor in the 1870s in a region of peripheral economy and to check to what extent the maintenance of the slaveholding system was only in the interest of the coffee-growing region in the Southeast.

Key words: slavery, livestock, liberty.