Family, Stability, and Respectability

Seven Generations of Africans and Afro-descendants in Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century Minas Gerais

Bibliographic Data

ID8872045
AuthorsDouglas Cole Libby (0000-0001-9810-4737, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, corresponding author)
Year2016
Volume73
Issue3
Pages371-390
Publication date2016-07-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Americas A Quarterly Review of Latin American History (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0003-1615 • E-ISSN: 1533-6247
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/tam.2016.64
OpenAlexW2533654578
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited19

This article focuses on the history of an Afro-descendant family over its seven generations in one region of Minas Gerais. Although it is notoriously difficult to trace families founded by slaves, this one is an exception: it has proved possible to trace this family over a century and a half, and with a remarkable level of detail, because its members mostly stayed in one place. The implications of their permanence go beyond mere genealogy or family reconstitution to challenge long-standing historiographical perspectives. Over the years many scholars have agreed that Brazilian colonial and early imperial society was characterized by the near-constant movement of all segments of the population. New frontiers opened by agriculture, ranching, and mining attracted some members of the elite, but also beckoned the less favored with new opportunities. This incessant movement has even been touted as an impediment to the advancement of family history in Brazil

Archaeology · Colonialism · Descendant · Elite · Ethnology · Genealogy · Geography · Historiography · Political science · Politics · Population · Sociology · TRACE (psycholinguistics) · African history and culture studies · Colonialism, slavery, and trade · Demography · Gender Studies · History · History of Colonial Brazil · Law