Em solo livre: a emancipação da escravidão nas províncias do Ceará e do Amazonas (1880-1888)

Abstract

This thesis analyzes the emancipationist movements in the provinces of Ceará and Amazonas and their repercussions between 1880 and 1888, a topic that has traditionally been marginalized by historiography in relation to the abolitionist processes in the coffee-growing southeast. In a way, the historiographical discourse on Abolition was based on the idea of gradual emancipation. This gave rise to reductionist theses that adopted the discourse that the provinces of the North and the far North abolished slavery before the Golden Law of 1888, due to demographic and political aspects, without taking into account that these historical processes were complex and consisted of struggles, strikes, escapes, and other types of resistance led by black people themselves. In the course of our research, we observed that the emancipations of Ceará and Amazonas had a major impact on the Empire, causing tension and debate in slave-owning society, which saw these anti-slavery movements as a break with the existing system and a threat to the economy and public order. The possibility of slave-free territories caused fears and conflicts throughout Brazil, since the abolitions in Ceará and Amazonas made freedom a concrete possibility for the enslaved population and contributed to redefining the direction of the abolitionist movement in several provinces. They also gave rise to a new political atmosphere, fueling the debate on the issue of slavery and opening space for the construction of a society beyond the logic of slavery.