Iron, Gold, and Labor in Eighteenth-Century Ilamba and Minas Gerais
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 20044965 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Crislayne Gloss Marão Alfagali (0000-0002-6483-9804, corresponding author), Crislayne Alfagali |
| Year | 2023 |
| Pages | 31-60 |
| Publication date | 2023-05-08 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | CHAPTER |
| Venue | Current Trends in Slavery Studies in Brazil (SOURCE_BOOK) |
| Publisher | De Gruyter (PUBLISHER • DE) |
| DOI | 10.1515/9783111026527-003 |
| OpenAlex | W4376118313 |
| ISBN | 9783111026527 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 5 |
This article sums up my research in recent years on iron and gold mining and smelting in the eighteenth century in Minas Gerais, Brazil, and in the region of Ilamba, then called the "Kingdom of Angola and its conquests."Its starting point is the experience of blacksmiths, smelters and miners from diverse origins and social levels, as well as the knowledge, techniques and strategies involved in their activities.This topic is approached from a local perspective that considers the political and social processes of each location and in connection with each other, while establishing the links that forged South Atlantic history.In my MSc studies, I surveyed a group of artisans linked to iron smelting and forgery in the Brazilian cities of Vila Rica and Mariana in the eighteenth century.By comparing lists with the names of local artisans in the records of local councils with the indexes of names at notary offices in these gold-producing villages, I documented 50 artisans for whom it was possible to find an inventory and/or testament, along with other types of documents: the final set covered a total of 44 inventories, 8 testaments, 31 civil suits, and 2 criminal suits.These 85 documents contain information on a group of 50 artisans: 16 from Portugal, 8 from Minas Gerais (one "pardo/brown" and one "freed man"), one from the "Coast of the Mine" ("black" and "freed"), one "pardo/brown freed man," one "crioulo freed man," and one "brown man." 1 As we analyze the slave assistants of these artisan masters, we also find other identities.In inventories dating from 1728 to 1768 in Vila Rica and Mariana, the percentage of Africans among the slaves who became the possessions of iron lords reached 70.97%.Among them, 36.37%represented the Mina nation; 54.55% were captives from Angola, Benguela, Congo, and Caburu; and 9.08% corresponded to the Calabar and Courano nations.These figures correspond to the standards found for this region in the first half of the eighteenth century.The Mina group was the largest, and there is a higher incidence of slaves from West Central Africa. 2 The composition of the slave assistants of blacksmiths, farriers, and coppersmiths in Vila Rica underwent a drastic transformation in the second half of the century, following the changes identified in the structure of slave ownership in the region.The big shift was that slightly over half of all captives (50.42%) started encompassing crioulos, cabras, pardos/brown, and mulatos/mulattoes.The groups representing West Central Africa became a majority among Africans, amounting to 34,45% of all slaves.The Mina nation, in turn, decreased to represent only 7.08% of blacksmiths' slaves.Only 22 of the 269 captives in the consulted inventories are identified as iron No information regarding the origin, color, or legal status of the others was found.Crislayne Alfagali
Ancient history · Geography · Colonialism, slavery, and trade · History · History of Colonial Brazil
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0.33 |
| Citation span | 2023 - 2023 (1) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |