“Negócio Africano”

The purpose of this article is to present some aspects about the experiences of African women and men, their strategies for “live on themselves” and ensure their survival spaces in the urban center in the city of Recife in the mid-19th century. What occupations did they and they perform when they were captives and continued to exercise or not after being released? What mechanisms have they devised to move away from the stigmas imposed by slavery? To answer the questions, I followed the tracks of a small group of 33 Africans from the Coast d'África from a range of different sources (wills, post-mortem inventories, notary books, newspapers, parish records), to compare the material conditions, and, above all, the work arrangements that these individuals organized throughout their lives, wich guaranteed them a certain financial autonomy, providing a break with the lordships

Art · Autonomy · Ethnology · Geography · Humanities · Political science · Sociology · African history and culture studies · Colonialism, slavery, and trade · Gender Studies · History · History of Colonial Brazil · Law