Crimes praticados por escravos na Manaus oitocentista

Abstract

This research deals with crimes by slaves and Justice’s role at the Province of Amazonas’s Capitol during 1846-1884. The main source of our work is rooted in original documentation of criminal prosecution in order to trace the profile of the crime, involved persons, and of criminal Justice. We seek to reconstitute aspects of slaves’ daily life and of judicial exercise, as well as to evaluate the meaning and usefulness Justice had to slaves, slave lords, and other involved subjects in this historical context. Characterizing crimes among slaves allow us to better understand social relationships at a larger array of forms. It also contributes to comprehend how our slave subjects were linked to other social sectors which they maintained friendship, work, and animosity relationships with. The analysis of procedural aspects and the execution by police and judicial officers exhibited the limits that impersonal, effective, democratic, and accessible Justice faced daily. Even though judicial decisions enforced personal positioning upon the relative character of Justice, the slaves presented themselves attentive to the possibilities enabled by the judicial locus, especially towards the end of the slavery period. Slaves turned out to perceive the Justice as a legitimate instance for resolution of their conflicts and for contestation of slave lord domain.