Banca de QUALIFICAÇÃO: JOYCE CONCEIÇÃO DE MESQUITA

FOR THE RIGHT TO PROPERTY, FREEDOM AND EMANCIPATION: STRATEGIES AND COURSE OF CONTESTING BASED ON PETITIONS FROM MASTERS, ENSLAVED PEOPLE AND EMERGENCIES FROM CAPTIVITY SENT TO THE PROVINCIAL EXECUTIVE (PERNAMBUCO, 1851-1885)

History of Slavery, Freedom, Emancipation, Property, Petitions.

There are various methodological perspectives in historiography that explore the political and social dynamics of 19th-century slave-holding Brazil. This work aims to analyze the strategies and paths of contestation for the maintenance or conquest of freedom by free Africans, former captives, and enslaved individuals against the resistance of the slave-owning class, based on petitions. These petitions, spanning over eight hundred pages, are part of the documentation collection from the Jordão Emerenciano State Public Archive, signed by the respective agents and mostly addressed to the President of the Province of Pernambuco between 1851 and 1885. Petitions have long been a valuable source for historical analysis. When appropriately questioned, they reveal themselves as rich sources that provide access not only to the complexity of power relations but also to the social and cultural dimensions of the studied period.