Abstract
This paper discusses the escape of minors from family homes in Fortaleza, between the late 19th century and early 20th century. Houses of guardians and employers were spaces of correction by the ethos of work. Such “‘social orthopedics”‘ was based on the lordly habitus, inherited from the lordly relationships of slavery, woven into the domestic sphere. But these minors were capable of acting by themselves, making choices and promoting ruptures, even if punctual, in the paternalistic ties constituted at the core of the tutoring families within a social conjuncture between the end of slavery and the immediate post-Abolition context.
Keywords:
Minors; escapes; child labor; Fortaleza