School and racial status in Cachoeira do Campo/MG in the nineteenth century

Abstracts

In Minas Gerais there was a predominance of black people in elementary schools according to the population records of 1830s. In this article, we investigate the significance of these experiences confronting census documents from the district of Cachoeira do Campo/MG, located near Ouro Preto, in the central region of the province of Minas. Cachoeira do Campo has census documents resulting from two population countings that occurred in the years 1831 and 1838. The procedure consisted in separating households whose children, in 1831, attended school. Then, these households were identified in the documents of 1838 and the situation of the educated individuals and their family group was analyzed. The seven-year interval between the documents allowed the assessment of the impact of school experience, revealing, among other things, that educated blacks were preferably designated as pardos and they could change their racial status, and were even classified as white.

History of education; Blacks; Minas Gerais; Nineteenth Century

De acordo com uma documentação que contabilizou a população de Minas Gerais, nos anos de 1830, havia um predomínio dos negros entre os alunos das escolas de instrução elementar. Neste artigo, procuramos investigar os significados dessa experiência para a população negra através da confrontação de documentos censitários do distrito de Cachoeira do Campo/MG, que se encontrava no termo de Ouro Preto, na região central da província. O procedimento de análise ocorreu a partir da separação dos domicílios em que havia o registro de crianças frequentando escolas, em 1831. Em seguida, identificamos esses domicílios na documentação de 1838 analisando a situação dos indivíduos escolarizados e de seu grupo familiar. O intervalo de sete anos entre os documentos possibilitou a avaliação dos impactos da experiência escolar, revelando, entre outras coisas, que negros escolarizados eram preferencialmente designados como pardos e estes podiam mudar de status racial, passando até mesmo a ser classificados como brancos.

História da educação; Negros; Minas Gerais; Século XIX.

Según algunos documentos que contabilizaron la población de Minas Gerais en los años 1830, los negros predominaban en las escuelas de educación básica. En este artículo, tratamos de investigar el significado de tal experiencia para la población negra a través de la comparación de documentos censitarios del distrito de Cachoeira do Campo/MG, que se encontraba alrededor de Ouro Preto, en la región central de la provincia. En seguida, identificamos estos domicilios en la documentación de 1838, en la que analizamos la situación de los individuos escolarizados y de su grupo familiar. El intervalo de siete años entre los documentos posibilitó la evaluación de los impactos de la experiencia escolar y reveló, entre otras cosas, que los negros escolarizados eran preferentemente designados como pardos y podían cambiar de status racial, pasando incluso a ser clasificados como blancos.

Historia de la educación; Negros; Minas Gerais; Siglo XIX.

A definition of the outlines of the issue in the District of Cachoeira do Campo/MG¹⁷

The region that gave rise to the process of occupation of the territory of Minas Gerais, i.e., the one which was in the center of the captaincy¹⁸ and had its development driven by mining activity, had schools in which blacks were the majority of students in elementary schools. This was established through the analysis of census records, consisting of name lists of inhabitants who, in 1831, accounted for the population of several districts of Minas Gerais. These documents show the records of children who were at school and also their racial classification according to the people responsible for collecting the information relating to the census. This made possible the investigation of the racial classification of those children, revealing a predominance of blacks in elementary schools. They comprised 70% of those classified as students in the districts that made up the mining region located in the center of Minas Gerais.

In this article, we intend to investigate the meanings of that experience to the black population. In order to do this, we will work with a reduced scale which will allow us to approach aspects of the school experience of these individuals and their respective family groups. From among the census records, we chose the District of Cachoeira do Campo, which has the most complete lists related to this subject. This is one of the few districts for which name lists of two distinct years, 1831 and 1838, both with some kind of information on the educated population, are available. In Cachoeira do Campo, there was a significant contingent of blacks in the population and in the elementary schools. Therefore, it is a district that gathers the essential elements for us to expand the meaning of the school experience of the black population in the State of Minas Gerais in the 19th century.

The first records of Cachoeira do Campo indicate that this settlement was raised to the status of a parish in the year 1724. This is one of the districts that belonged to Ouro Preto, but which did not have its origin linked directly to the economic activity that spurred the development of the region, namely, mineral extraction. This can be seen in one of the few studies that traces its origin:

Unlike the neighboring villages, Cachoeira do Campo did not have its origin in mining, but in the amenity of its climate, the fertility of its soil, and the charm of its beautiful landscape... This led many of the newcomers to abandon the seductive mirages of gold holdings dispersing themselves by the neighboring places, where the beauties of nature, the kindness of the climate, the quiet life, away from the disruption and the killings that already infested the gold towns, provided them a happier existence. They also found compensation not only from their hard farm work in cultivating this virgin land but also for the extremely high food cost in those primitive days, often forcing the poor miner, urged by the anguish of hunger to deliver gold octaves for a handful of food - such was the origin of Cachoeira do Campo. (LEMOS, 1941 p. 77)

Cachoeira do Campo emerged and developed as a supply warehouse for the mining region. When the 1831 census data is taken into consideration, we find that, a little more than 100 years after its formal recognition, the district had a population of 1,476 inhabitants who lived in 229 households, with a population of 310 slaves (21%).

The racial profiling of the population registered a small portion of whites and a predominance of blacks, who were classified as blacks, pardos, crioulos and cabras, as shown in graph 1:

Graph 1
Racial profile of the population of Cachoeira do Campo (1831)

The terms used to designate the black population (preto ¹⁹, crioulo ²⁰, pardo ²¹, cabra ²²) contain meanings that designate specific conditions in this segment. However, this diversity of categories does not prevent the gathering of data related to the black population. The data show that there was an absolute predominance of the members of that group among the population, being 91% black and 9% white. ²³

When we consider the profile of the pupils in the elementary schools on the name list of 1831, we do not find the same diversity of classification terms used in relation to the black population. The racial profiling of students was recorded from a contrast between whites and pardos. In Cachoeira do Campo there were 45 children in the elementary schools; of these, 39 were classified as pardos (86.6%) and 6 as white (13.4%). Therefore, we find a similarity between the racial profiles of the population and the elementary school since, in both cases, there is an absolute majority of blacks.

One of the differences between the data contained in the name lists of Cachoeira do Campo in the years of 1831 and 1838 is that the former registers persons who were in school and the latter, does not. However, the latter presents data about literate people.

The name list of 1838 indicates that the population of the city had expanded to 1,790 inhabitants, and, of these, 327 were considered literate (18.2%). When we consider the racial profiling of this group, we find the same polarization of elementary schools that registered only whites and pardos.

Graph 2
Racial profiles of literate people in Cachoeira do Campo (1838)

The polarization between whites and pardos repeats itself but, unlike the elementary school data, there is a balance in the distribution of these two groups among the literate population, both with 49%.

These data lead us to establish some considerations about the situation concerning racial classifications in the records of Cachoeira do Campo.

It can be said that, when we consider the racial profile of the elementary school in 1831, we find a correlation between the presence of different racial groups in elementary schools and the population; that is, blacks and whites were present in schools at levels very close to their presence in the population. In 1831, blacks were 91% of the population and were 86.6% in elementary schools.

This association between the racial profile of the population and the school is not found in relation to the literate individuals, in 1838. It is possible to observe an over-representation of literate whites when compared to their number in the population. In 1838, whites comprised 16.6% of the population of Cachoeira do Campo and their presence among the literate was 49%. Blacks accounted for 83.2% of the population and were underrepresented among the literate, with 49%. On the other hand, the same as shown with regard to elementary schools, we did not find the diversity of classification terms used to record the black population of Cachoeira do Campo. Among the literate, we found no crioulos, blacks nor cabras, only the so-called pardos.

• First: when we consider the segment studied, the fact that we don't find the different classification terms used in relation to blacks can be taken as an indication that the process of education stabilized racial classification standards, establishing the term pardo as a privileged form to designate schooled blacks?

• Second: we know that elementary schools were not institutions monopolized by whites; on the contrary, they were blatantly minority. Therefore, can the over-representation of whites among readers be attributed to a change in the racial status of pardos to the condition of whites, from their inclusion in the literate group?

These two questions, raised from data related to schooled individuals of Cachoeira do Campo, lead to a broader issue that, in our view, involves profound significance for the history of education. This question can be formulated in the following terms: was there an interference of schooling in the pattern of racial classification of individuals in the 19th century?

Methodological procedures for analysis of racial classification in name lists

To try to assess the level of participation of the school in the processes of racial classification of individuals, in the 19th century, we will use a standard analysis based on a comparison of the data contained in the 1831 and 1838 lists²⁴. Therefore, we will compare households with children in schools seeking to examine, in the seven-year time gap that separates the two records, the changes produced in the social trajectory of the families and individuals that have been classified as elementary school students.

To elucidate the procedures used in this analysis, we will reproduce the record of a household found in both, the 1831 and 1838 documentation. Therefore, there will be two records for the same household. Then, we will comment in detail on the different characteristics of these records, comparing the information from the two documents:²⁵

Figure 1
Household of Antonia Maria de Jesus

To understand the pattern of analysis used here, it is necessary to explain the ways the information concerning households were filled in, identifying specificities, repetitions, changes, i.e., what was kept and what changed between one record and another.

The first piece of information to be discussed refers to the person listed in the first place, who was always the head of the household. The records above refer to the household headed by a woman who, in 1831, appeared under the name of D. Antonia and, in 1838, as Antonia Maria de Jesus; that is, in the latter document, she was listed with the full name. In 1831, Antonia received the "D." (Lady) in addition to the name, which was a prerogative of the white women because, in the name list of Cachoeira do Campo, only they received this type of classification.

When the two records are compared, some inaccuracies in the presentation of the names of almost all members of the household can be observed. In the Brazil of the 19th century, this can be understood as the manifestation of a lack of a civil identity brought about by the relationship of the people with their own names. This situation is similar to the one investigated by Philippe Ariès (1962, p. 15) in pre-industrial Europe:

A man of the sixteenth or the seventeenth century would be astonished at exigencies with regard to civil status to which we submit quite naturally. As soon as our children start to talk, we teach them their name, their age and their parents´name. [...] In the Middle Ages, the Christian name had been considered too imprecise designation description, and it had been found necessary to complete it with a surname, a place in many cases. And now it has become advisable to add a further detail, the numerical character, the age.

In the name lists, age is shown with the same pattern of ambiguity of the name. This becomes clear when we observe that the age of D. Antonia remained the same in the two documents. The two lists are of different periods and are separated by seven years; however, in both, she is listed as being 44 years old. This indicates the little social significance of age control, or, as Ariès says (1962, p. 15):

We are extremely proud when little Paul, asked how old he is, replies correctly that he is two and a half. We feel in fact that it is a matter of importance that little Paul should get this right: what would become of him if he forgot his age? In the African bush, age is still quite an obscure notion, something which is not so important that one cannot forget it. But in our technical civilization, how could anyone forget the exact date of his birth, when he has to remember it for almost every application he makes, every document he signs, every form he fills in - and heaven knows there are enough of those and there will be more in the future. Little Paul will give his age at school; he will soon become Paul ____ of Form ___ [...].

The social value assigned to the age and to the name was implemented by processes that were established differently in relation to different social groups. This can be seen in relation to how slaves were registered. This is the case of the slave Emericiana, in which we can observe, in relation to age, an even bigger inaccuracy than the one of D. Antonia. Emericiana was registered as being 30 years of age in the first document and 26 in the second, i.e., four years younger.

This distinction also applies to the name as an expression of the identity of the slaves which, besides showing slight variations, as in the case of Emericiana that becomes Mereciana on the second record, generally did not have a surname. In the name lists of inhabitants, the frequency that the surname appears for free people and not for slaves indicates a pattern of resistance in assigning the latter the dimension of individuality, or of identity. According to Ariès (1978), the process of construction of the name as an expression of civil identity indicates that the first name was connected to the world of "fantasy", while the second is connected to the world of "tradition" to which the person was linked.²⁷

The slaves were not seen as individuals who were part of a tradition; therefore, it was common for them to be designated only with the "fantasy" or the imaginary of the first name.²⁸ In the name list of Cachoeira do Campo, in 1838, there were 351 slaves and none of them had a last name. When a name was added, it was usually connected to their African origin (Agostinho Angola, Ana Benguela, Francisco Congo, Maria Cabinda) or a classification of ethnic/racial nature (Francisco Criolo).

When we consider the relations of kinship of the household presented above, we note that D. Antonia was registered as the head of the household in the two documents, as her name was listed in the first place in both of them. It is likely that she was Marciana's mother, since, in 1831, Marciana's name appeared directly after her name. In addition, an age pattern compatible with this degree of kinship is observed, since she is listed as being 19 on the first document and 25 on the second. However, since the relationship is not made clear in the document, it is not possible to affirm that categorically. In fact, the family group can only be understood when we realize how the name lists ordered individuals within the household.

The way the lists were filled in does not define the relationship between the members of the household; however systematic work with this material enables the understanding of some relationships between them. This is the case of the variation of the structure of D. Antonia's household, to which Cipriano Pimenta was incorporated. In 1838, he was introduced into the household as married to Marciana. It was common in the registry of couples that they were introduced one after another, always with the man in the first place, something common to the patriarchal mentality of the 19th century.

Cipriano was introduced into the group through marriage, but the leadership of the household remained the same, which shows the young couple's dependence upon D. Antonia.

The incorporation of Cipriano Pimenta into the household has some significance from the point of view of the game of social hierarchies. This is evident when we recovered his situation in 1831, in which he appeared in the household headed by Joaquina Pimenta da Silva, a widow who, according to surname, age, racial condition and household structure, may be seen as his mother:

Figure 2
Household of Joaquina Pimenta da Silva (1831)

There is no doubt that the Cipriano that appears in this household, in 1831, is the same that appears married to Marciana, in 1838. A clear indication of this is the repetition of the name, which was not common in the lists of Cachoeira do Campo. In fact, this is the only individual who came up with that name in the lists of 1831 and 1838. The registry of the surname on both lists appears as strong evidence of this. The age too, since it reveals the regularity between the two documents: he is listed as being 21 in 1831, and later as being 27, in 1838.

Therefore, there is a set of information that repeats itself, or that represents a pattern of regularity between the two documents. However, it is important to draw attention to the fact that Cipriano had his racial classification changed. In 1831, he appeared as pardo and, in 1838, as white.

The process of incorporation of Cipriano into the household of D. Antonia was a change in his racial classification. The structure of D. Antonia's household in 1838, and that of the mother of Cipriano, Joaquina Pimenta da Silva in 1831, does not indicate that this change was due to a change in economic status. The two household units are similar in their structure: both were headed by women and had mostly free people. On the other hand, there was a significant change in the status of Cipriano's trade, which first appeared as a hired worker and then as a cowherd. Therefore, the pattern of households with regard to the economic situation seems to be very similar.

The basis for the change in racial classification can be interpreted as a wish of those who made the record and their desire to level social relations. Thus, to classify individuals in the same group would show a desire for stability, since racial classification was a factor of social distinction. That is, to be introduced into a family group classified as white led to a tendency to be shifted into the racial pattern of the group. This process of leveling the racial classification was detected by Tarcisio Botelho (2004, p. 8), who draws attention to the fact that,

[...] when the parish priest was the marriage registration officer or when the Justice of the Peace built his list of inhabitants, they might tend to see the spouses with the same race/color. This trend would be more an expression of the desire for social harmonization than 'real' phenotypic color expression of the spouses. The homogamy would be more a social construction held at the time of the constitution of the couple than the expression of a ' racial ' reality.

Therefore, with regard to weddings, this was not an unusual procedure in the State of Minas Gerais. However, we believe that the desire for stability between individuals that took part in social relations such as marriage cannot be the only explanatory element. Most likely, in such cases, a set of elements that involved some sort of social value would come into play.

As indicated earlier, in the case of Cipriano, the rationale does not seem to be of economic order because the two households where he appeared are far from wealthy. Thus, it is necessary to take into account elements of another order. Among them is the possible social position occupied by the family group to which Cipriano belonged: the Pimenta family, which is a surname that appears in various households of Cachoeira do Campo.

The recurrence of the surname Pimenta in the name list of Cachoeira do Campo indicates that this group represented a family network with strong presence in the district. In the name list of 1831, there are a total of 229 households and, in 13 of them, there are members of the Pimenta family. In 1838, out of a total of 298 households, 18 had members with that name.

There is no other name that appears so often in households of Cachoeira do Campo. Everything indicates that it was a black family - most of the individuals were classified as pardos ³⁰ - that was in the process of changing social/racial status. That is because other members of the Pimenta family underwent a shift similar to that of Cipriano. This is the case of the household headed by João Pimenta, shown below, in 1831 and 1838:

Figure 3

In the household of João Pimenta, the shift in relation to racial classification occurred with all members of the group, going from pardo to white, which was, within the standard hierarchy of the 19th century, regarded as the top of the racial classification scale.

Therefore, as in the Cipriano's case, it is not possible to identify one single element that justifies the change of the racial classification of João Pimenta's family group. The occupation record indicates that he was wagoneer and, subsequently, appears as someone who worked as a farmer. There's a level of imprecision in the registry of this type of trade. A farmer was a broad description that could encompass the experience of individuals linked to activities with a distinct economic level. It could refer to a small farm owner or to large farmers. João Pimenta seems to be the former case, since his household contains only free people, that is, he did not own slaves. If he had become a large landowner, he would probably have several slaves.

Here, which seems to justify the change of status of the family of João Pimenta, are elements such as belonging to a family network spread all over the district and also the fact of having a marital status according to the standards accepted as ideal, as the condition of marriage legitimacy recognized in the registry of the two name lists indicates. On the other hand, we must consider the literacy of the head of the household and his eldest son, showing a relationship with the processes of civilization developed from schooling.

The 1838 records do not register children who attended school. Thus, it does not show whether the sons of João Pimenta, who were of school age,³² were involved in formal education processes. However, if we consider the literate condition of the father and the eldest son, we can say that it was a family group that had the "habit" of schooling of their members. It is likely; therefore, that Sabino (12 years old), Joaquin (8 years old) and even Antonio (6 years old) were in school.

There are indications that school would be an institution with which this group was familiar, and this can be considered as one of the elements responsible for the change in racial status between the records of 1831 and 1838. In fact, this is a situation that would also apply to Cipriano, who also changed his racial status when he was introduced to the household of a white family group in which he appeared as literate. Thus, as in the case of João Pimenta's family, the literate condition must be considered in the changing of racial classification.

The terms of racial classification in the name lists of Cachoeira do Campo

There is a diversity in racial classification nomenclature when we consider all the individuals that were introduced in the name lists of Cachoeira do Campo in 1831: white, native, pardo, crioulo, cabra, black. Amid this diversity, the last four terms refer to different forms of classification in relation to the black population. These terms reveal that there was a hierarchy that defined social positions for different segments of the population and this definition considered elements such as place of origin, social position, miscegenation and relationship with slavery.

We do not have sufficient evidence to establish the exact order of this hierarchic classification used in relation to the black population (black, pardo, crioulo, cabra). However, it is necessary to highlight that the name lists indicate that these elements made up a code that was shared and that there was an order that established its use. In other words, these terms referred to a classification that defined the place occupied by individuals in the 19^th century society in Minas Gerais.

There is not enough information to define precisely the hierarchy among those terms, but we have no doubt regarding the two extremes of the classification rank: at one end the condition of pardo, defined as the highest level, was preferentially applied to free blacks. At the other end, the term black, defined as the least prestigious level, was employed preferentially for the classification of Africans.

When we resort to name lists of other districts, the classification of black can be understood as a synonym for African, which can be verified by the alternate use of these two terms. ³³ There are lists that used it as a criterion for classifying the origin of the individuals. Thus, in the field which recorded the classification, there is no designation of color or race, but of origin, that is, Africa. Generally, in the lists that used the classification of African, the term black was not found. In others, such as in the list of Cachoeira do Campo, only the term black is found, which tended to be used for the registration of individuals coming from Africa. ³⁴

In the list of Cachoeira do Campo, in 1831, there are 142 individuals who were classified as black, 9.6% of the total population; of these, 133 were slaves and 9 were free. None of the so-called blacks on that list were classified as free, meaning that none of them were born in this condition in Brazil. The few who were not slaves received the designation of freedmen, indicating that they had been slaves before they were free.

One of the differences between the name list of 1831 and the one of 1838 is that the latter contains the field nationality. This field was filled in only for those who were born in Africa. For all other individuals, it remained blank. The nationality was a field to be completed to register the "other", the one who was not born in Brazil. For all the others, nationality was self-evident. ³⁵

Taking into consideration the nationality, 107 individuals were registered; of these, only one was not African (classified as German), everyone else had indications linking them to different groups from Africa: Congo, Benguela, Rebolo, Angola, Cassage, Monjolo, Cabinda, Mina. It can be said that, in 1838, Africans comprised a representative group in Cachoeira do Campo, 6% of the total population, making it necessary to create a means to distinguish this group from others, which would justify the use of the standard term black.

At one end of the classification rank of the group represented by blacks we have black Africans, at the other end, the so-called pardos. They represented the segment with greater demographic weight in Cachoeira do Campo, accounting for 53.4% of the population, in 1831, and 54.6%, in 1838. ³⁶

To Hebe M. Mattos (1998), the use of that term pardo was related to the processes of change of the meaning of freedom in the Southeast region. At the center of this change was the meaning of color, which was an important mechanism of social distinction in the 18th century and, for the purposes of social status, had its meaning defined by the condition of free whites and black slaves. At the gateway to the 19th century, this distinction lost strength as many individuals of color began to be freed.

The growing process of not differentiating poor whites from free blacks and mestizos would have led, for opposite reasons, to the loss of color for both. It is not necessarily a whitening process. In most cases, this is not mentioned. The disappearance of reference to color meant that blacks and mestizos were being inserted into the world of free individuals. It is no longer the monopoly of the whites, even though the adjective "black" continues to be a synonym of slave, but also it refers to a deconstruction of the social ideal of freedom inherited from the colonial period; that is, the social deconstruction of a notion of freedom based on the color white, associated to the power of slave property. (MATTOS, 1998, p. 98)

According to Mattos (1998), freedom as social status was no longer a prerogative of the whites and no longer had its meaning connected only and exclusively to skin color. This would be one of the justifications for the disappearance of color from documents from the 19th century. It stopped being a criterion that by itself defined the social place of individuals, leading to a lack of reference to color in the documents of various institutions. When color was recorded, there was a tendency to classify the free blacks as pardos, which would indicate that such classification was also a social position.

The term pardo therefore can be interpreted as an indicative of a social position and not as a mere result of miscegenation. Thus pardo, would be the highest level that an individual belonging to the black population could reach, still with the possibility of shifting the classification to white. This is what Tarcísio Botelho points out (2004, p.8):

The race/color classification in documents from Brazil's past is very imprecise. It expresses much more a social rank than a racial origin, with the color white being at the top. In other words, the declaration of color was, many times, influenced by the social position of the individual. This shows the several variations that can be found in relation to the color of the same individual. According to the document, one person is classified as pardo and, some years later, as white.

Following in the same direction, Ivana Stolza Lima (2003 p. 32) reaffirms the need to take into account the historical and social significance of racial classification:

No racial classification has a trans-historical or invariable meaning [...] all forms of classification carry a set of objectives, interests, uses and purposes, which obey not only the variable logic of the speaker - a private and informal conversation, the different legal jurisdictions, the census, the exercise of discipline, etc. - as the historical context itself.

These considerations help us to think about the data relating to the schooled individuals of Cachoeira do Campo. Thus, we can assess to what extent the polarization between whites and pardos in elementary schools was not, in fact, the result of a process in which the relationship with the school institution, while a civilizing device, focused on the classification of individuals. ³⁷

To further the issue which considers the school as a variable that focuses on racial classification of individuals, we will analyze the impacts of schooling from the confrontation of the households of individuals who attended elementary school in the name lists of 1831 and 1838.

Households with students in the schools of Cachoeira do Campo in 1831 and 1838

In 1831, 47 individuals were identified as elementary school students in Cachoeira do Campo. distributed among 30 households; in some of them we find more than one child in school. It is no easy task to locate the records of the households of children who were in school in 1831and 1838. It is always difficult to confirm the data because of the variation in names and recording the ages which, as already seen, were not expressions of a civil identity that followed individuals in different documentary records. On the other hand, there was always the possibility of a change in the household structure, with new members joining in or moving out. Therefore, it is always necessary to compare sets of information to identify the households in the two documents of Cachoeira do Campo.

Following these procedures, in the list of 1838 we found 22 households of the 30 registered with school children from the list of 1831. The first aspect to highlight regarding the data from these households is the level of familiarity of its members with the world of reading. This can be established, as we confirmed that most heads of households were introduced as readers: 13 of these individuals were reported in this condition in 1838. Nine others, who were classified as heads of households, were not readers. However, we must consider that, of those, only one was male and the rest were female, a group less involved with school and reading. ³⁸

The 22 households in the 1838 name list had 32 individuals identified as elementary school students, who also appeared in the 1831 name list. Of those, 27 were recorded as literate and five were not. These data indicate that the majority of those individuals remained in school until they reached a level at which they were formally recognized as readers.

When the racial status of the individuals in this group is considered, we can observe that, in our sample, the white classification can be regarded as a definition with a certain level of stability. Of the 22 households with children in school in 1831, we also found in the 1838 list, that three contained white children who remained in the same condition, i.e., the race classification was repeated on both lists. We can take that as evidence that those individuals who were at the "top" of the racial classification rank in the 19th century tended to remain in this place.

The same thing cannot be said in relation to the pardos since, in some cases, this classification was only a bridge to others; notably, in the case of some children who were shifted to the white classification. This occurred in four households and, in most cases, led to a change in the classification of all members of the family group. ³⁹ This makes us believe that, in the 19th century context, the relationship with the processes of formal education affected not only those who attended school, it was a mechanism that involved the entire family group. This is the case of the household shown below:

Figure 4
Household of Domingos Leite da Cruz in 1831

In 1831, Domingos Leite da Cruz was the head of a household where he appeared as a white individual, within a family in which all other member were pardos. In 1838, the register of the classification of the family members changed and all were shifted, appearing as white, like the head.

Figura 5
Household of Domingos Leite da Cruz - 1838

The relationship with the school process can be considered as an element of the movement for change in the racial classification of the group. We can state that, once we realized that all free individuals, including women, were reported as literate. However, it must be recognized that there were other elements that were part of this shift. Among them, we can highlight the stability of the family group, comprising a couple with their children. This becomes clear in the document when we checked the traditional pattern of the record of family members, in which the spouses come first followed by their children, presented in order of age.

There are indications that point to a change in the professional status of the members of the group, for example, Domingos Leite da Cruz appeared as a mason in 1831, and then as a miner. We can say that the mining activity is relatively organized as we realized that this was the trade of four members of the household, who probably worked together in this activity.⁴²

We found a similar situation in the household of the merchant Manoel Guerra:

Figure 6
Household of Manoel Rodrigues Guerra in 1831 and 1838

In this household, there are elements similar to those of the previous shift: marriage recognized as legitimate, literate men and the consolidation of a professional activity carried out collectively. The most significant difference lies in the increase in the number of members of the household, and in the doubling of the amount of slaves, which went from two to four.

There was also the insertion of two individuals who were probably not part of family, as they did not have the same surname of the group members. They were listed after a child from the family and before the slaves. Their condition becomes even clearer when we consider that these individuals were classified into another racial group, that is, while all family members were classified as whites, they were classified as pardos.

In this household, we observe the common procedures of social/racial classification used in Minas Gerais, in the 19th century. Therefore, the members of the family were shifted to a racial group away from that of slaves; namely, they were listed as whites, while the slaves were classified as Africans/blacks and the one who was born in Brazil, as pardo. ⁴⁴ There is a gap between the racial classification of free individuals and of the slaves and also a hierarchy among the free because, while members of the family group were listed as whites, the ones that had relationships of dependency with the family unit, were classified as pardos. That is, their classification matched that of the slaves of the household.

Therefore, the household headed by Manoel Rodrigues Guerra had the different conditions used for status shift from pardo to white. In this case, this is a group with obvious evidence of family stability, including the registration of two marriages and also of the "rise" from an economic point of view. In the midst of these variables, the record of the condition of literate men of the household can be seen as an element that worked in conjunction with others in the "rise" of the social/racial status of the group.

Final Considerations

The link between education and slavery is not often considered in Brazilian historiography. In general, the ban of slaves from schools is considered the primordial element of this relationship and the focus of this approach. As a consequence, we have a very low level of questioning about the relationship between educational processes and the social institution which had a major impact on the development of Brazilian society during the 19th century.

Slavery was a preponderant element in the construction of the meaning of several elements of the Brazilian society. Thus, we must consider a more productive relationship between this institution and education. The forms of relationship between racial classification and schooling can be seen as a possible articulation between these two dimensions.

However, we must consider that an analysis was made comparing documents related to a district of the State of Minas Gerais. This indicates a limit to the range of results presented. However, when we consider the studies that are devoted to a deeper analysis of the issue of race relations in the 19th century, we can make a projection of the results to reaffirm the changes in racial classification patterns used in relation to the black population associated with schooling as a constitutive element of this process.

This can be stated with reference to the cases we presented here, in which the status of individuals changed according to some social attributes, among them literacy, modifying their position within the structure of racial classification. This phenomenon occurred with the shift from pardo to white, never in the opposite direction.

In the 19th century, the racial status of individuals was variable and the change could occur in all directions. However, based on our analysis, the most common situation was the classification of schooled blacks as pardos. This was the usual term to describe blacks who had established relationships with schools. We can still find pardos who were changed to whites when schooling factors were associated with others that added social value.

The 19th century was a period characterized by the discourse of school as a key element in the population civilization process. Civilizing was a multifaceted field that acquired its meaning from the subjects it aimed at. One of its deeper meanings was produced from its use as a control device over the black population, which should be kept away from the influences of African cultures that circulated in the country. Therefore, the effectiveness of schooling should have been seen in the shift of racial status which could bring about a change that would mean a connection to the life and the world of white individuals.

• ARIÈS, Philippe. História social da criança e da família. Rio de Janeiro: Zahar, 1978.
• ______. Centuries of childhood: a social history of family life. New York: Vintage Books, 1962.
• BERGAD, Laird W. Escravidão e história econômica: demografia de Minas Gerais (1720-1880). Bauru: Edusc, 2004.
• BOTELHO, Tarcísio R. Estratégias matrimoniais entre a população livre de Minas Gerais: Catas Altas do Mato Dentro, 1815-1850. In: ENCONTRO NACIONAL DE ESTUDOS POPULACIONAI, 14., 2004. Caxambu: Abep, 2004.
• CHALHOUB, Sidney. A força da escravidão: ilegalidade e costumes no Brasil oitocentista. São Paulo: Companhia das Letras, 2012.
• FARIA FILHO, Luciano Mendes; GONÇALVES, Irlen. Processo de escolarização e obrigatoriedade escolar: o caso de Minas Gerais (1835-1911). In: FARIA FILHO, Luciano Mendes (Org.). A infância e sua educação: materiais, práticas e representações (Portugal e Brasil). Belo Horizonte: Autêntica, 2004. p. 157-189.
• FONSECA, Marcus V. População negra e educação: o perfil racial das escolas mineiras no século XIX. Belo Horizonte: Mazza, 2009.
• LEMOS, Afonso de. Monografia da freguesia de Cachoeira do Campo. Revista do Arquivo Público Mineiro. Belo Horizonte, APM, 1941.
• LIMA, Ivana Stolze. Cores, marcas e falas: sentidos da mestiçagem no Império do Brasil. Rio de Janeiro: Arquivo Nacional, 2003.
• MATTOS, Hebe Maria. Das cores do silêncio: o significado da liberdade no sudeste escravista, Brasil século XIX. Rio de Janeiro: Nova Fronteira, 1998.
• PAIVA, Clotilde Andrade. População e economia nas Minas Gerais do século XIX. 1996. Tese (Doutorado em História Social) - Faculdade de Filosofia Letras e Ciências Humanas, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo. 1996.
• MINAS GERAIS, Cachoeira do Campo. Lista nominativa dos habitantes de Cachoeira do Campo, 1831. Arquivo Público Mineiro: Inventário Sumário dos Mapas de População. Rolo 01, caixa 01, pacotilha 09. Documentos microfilmados.
• MINAS GERAIS, Cachoeira do Campo. Lista nominativa dos habitantes de Cachoeira do Campo, 1838. Arquivo Público Mineiro: Inventário Sumário dos Mapas de População. Rolo 06, caixa 03, pacotilha 17. Documentos microfilmados.
• MINAS GERAIS, Ouro Preto. Livro das Leis mineiras. Ouro Preto (1835-1883). Arquivo Público Mineiro.

• 1
  A lista registra, ainda, cinco indivíduos que foram classificados como índios. Estes não foram considerados porque não interferem nos dados gerais da configuração estatística da população.
• 2
  As listas nominativas de habitantes são produtos de algumas tentativas de contagem da população de Minas Gerais. Esse processo teve início no século XVIII, seguindo até o ano de 1872, quando o Brasil ingressou na chamada era censitária, em que as contagens de população passaram a ser realizadas com regularidade. "O primeiro censo que abrangeu toda a capitania foi realizado em 1776, seguido por contagens gerais da população em 1808, 1831, 1833-1835, 1854-1855 e pelo censo brasileiro de 1872, publicado e bastante conhecido (BERGAD, 2004, p. 153)".
• 3
  Esse registro que apresentamos reproduz um domicílio que se encontra nas duas listas nominativas de Cachoeira do Campo. Ele reproduz o formato que se encontra presente na documentação. Portanto não se trata de uma tabela, mas de uma reprodução do formato contido na documentação original.
• 4
  Desta forma, era muito comum no passado brasileiro a tradução da "fantasia" a partir dos nomes de santos, assim como temos hoje um imaginário marcado por nomes com influência estrangeira, por exemplo, Alysson, Michel, Jonathan.
• 5
  Ao analisar um Regulamento para organização do censo geral do Império, de 1851, Lima (2003, p. 105) encontrou o seguinte encaminhamento em relação ao registro dos nomes: "Art. 11 - As listas deverão conter: 1º. Os nomes de todas as pessoas da família, menos dos escravos, dos quais bastará referir-se o número por sexo". Ou seja, nesta tentativa de realização de um censo nacional, os escravos não necessitavam sequer da "fantasia" do primeiro nome, deveriam ser registrados apenas por números que dariam lugar a composição de séries estatísticas.
• 6
  Um pouco mais adiante teremos a oportunidade de definir melhor os diferentes termos utilizados em relação à população negra de Minas Gerais.
• 7
  Estamos considerando a idade escolar nos termos do que foi definido pela Lei n. 13, de 1835, que estabeleceu a gratuidade e a obrigatoriedade da instrução elementar para as crianças livres, do sexo masculino, de 8 a 14 anos (FARIA FILHO; GONÇALVES, 2004).
• 8
  Na documentação relativa às listas nominativas de habitantes que se encontra no Arquivo Público Mineiro, encontramos estes documentos para cerca de 300 distritos de Minas Gerais, no século XIX.
• 9
  Durante esse período, em Minas Gerais, havia um número muito expressivo de africanos. Isso era resultado de uma intensificação do tráfico como uma resposta às pressões internacionais pelo seu fim, nos anos de 1820: "De acordo com estimativas recentes, em todo o período do tráfico negreiro para o Brasil, desde meados do século XVI até os anos 1850, chegaram ao país mais de 4,8 milhões de africanos escravizados; no primeiro quartel do século XIX (1801-1825), entraram 1.012.762 africanos; no segundo quartel (1826-50), 1.041.964 [...] a aritmética dos dados revela que mais de 42% das importações de africanos para o Brasil em três séculos de tráfico negreiro aconteceram apenas na primeira metade do século XIX. Revela observar que a maioria esmagadora das entradas de escravizados no último período, 1826-1850, mais o número residual da década de 1850 destinaram-se à região do atual Sudeste e ocorreu quando tratados internacionais e a legislação nacional haviam tornado ilegal o tráfico negreiro" (CHALHOUB, 2012, p. 35).
• 10
  As informações permaneciam sem preenchimento apenas nos casos em que manifestavam algo que era absolutamente evidente, como no caso da nacionalidade ou estado civil de crianças, em que não era preciso dizer se eram solteiras ou casadas.
• 11
  Esses dados estão em concordância com a província de Minas Gerais, pois, nesse período, havia um grande número de indivíduos classificados nessa condição (PAIVA, 1996).
• 12
  Há indícios muito claros em relação à posição de pardos e pretos como extremos do padrão de classificação dos negros, no século XIX. Isso está ligado ao significado social destes termos, indicando os pardos como aqueles que estavam relativamente estabelecidos em meio aos livres, enquanto que os pretos estavam ligados à África e à escravidão. Podemos definir com alguma segurança os dois polos de classificação dos negros, no século XIX, mas não podemos deixar de assinalar a dificuldade de compreender este processo de hierarquização quando consideramos as nomenclaturas crioulo e cabra, que também aparecem na lista de Cachoeira do Campo.
• 13
  Isso pode ser tomado como uma confirmação da exclusão das mulheres do universo da leitura, como indicava claramente a Lei n. 13 que, em 1835, estabeleceu a obrigatoriedade da instrução elementar para o sexo masculino e apenas sugeriu que deveria ser incentivada a criação de escolas para as mulheres. Por outro lado, também revela que essas mulheres que eram chefes de domicílio já apresentavam uma compreensão sobre a importância da alfabetização, pois, embora não frequentassem o universo letrado, investiam para que seus filhos do sexo masculino dominassem essa habilidade.
• 14
  Em uma amostragem pequena como esta, a representação percentual deve ter o seu significado relativizado, mas gostaríamos de chamar a atenção para o fato de que as crianças que mudaram seu status racial representam 21% dos domicílios que apareceram como pardos, em 1831.
• 15
  A ausência de estabilidade no uso das categorias raciais pode também ser percebida em relação ao escravo Francisco, que, no primeiro registro, apareceu como pardo, para logo em seguida, em 1838, aparecer como preto, tendo ainda o acréscimo de crioulo ao seu nome.
• 16
  A lista nominativa de 1838 não fez uso do termo crioulo; isso pode ser justificado pelo uso da nacionalidade para registrar os escravos que haviam nascido na África. Dessa forma, não era necessária a utilização de um termo específico para marca a distância entre os que nasceram no Brasil e os africanos, pois isso estava contido na própria lista através do campo nacionalidade.
• 17
  This article was written based on the research Directions and meanings of schooling for the black population of Minas Gerais in the 19th century, financed by the Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais-Fapemig - and Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico-CNPq.
• 18
  Territorial administrative division within the country during Portuguese colonial empire.
• 19
  In Brazil of the 19th century, there was a complex system of racial classification in which elements such as origin, social situation and miscegenation were combined. Within this framework of references, the term black was generally used to denote Africans brought into the country through slave trade.
• 20
  Crioulo was the most usual form of classification of blacks born in Brazil.
• 21
  Based on the framework of references of Brazilian racial classification, in the 19th century, the term pardo is one of the most complex. It may refer to miscegenation as a form of designation of the lighter-skinned blacks, but can also be a designation that, beyond phenotype, considers the social position of individuals. Therefore, it is one of the most widely used terms for designating freed blacks. In this article, we use it to designate blacks who attended with school.
• 22
  The term cabra has a very specific use in Brazil. At the beginning of the colonization, the Portuguese used it to classify Indians who "were always ruminating something, like goats". Subsequently, it was used to designate black slaves or those who had a social situation similar to that of slavery. In the 20th century, this designation remained in the rural areas taking a gender connotation in order to accentuate the masculinity.
• 23
  The records still show five individuals who were classified as Indians. They were not taken into consideration as they don't interfere with the general data of the statistical configuration of the population.
• 24
  The name lists of inhabitants are products of some attempts to count the population of Minas Gerais. This process began in the 18th century and went on until 1872, when Brazil joined in the so called census period,when population counts were carried out with regularity, "the first census that encompassed the whole captaincy was held in 1776, followed by general population counts in 1808, 1831, 1833-1835, 1854-1855 and by the Brazilian census of 1872, published and widely known" (BERGAD, 2004, p. 153).
• 25
  The record shown here is of a household found in both name lists of Cachoeira do Campo. It reproduces the format of the documentation. Therefore, it is not a table but a reproduction of the format contained in the original documentation.
• 26
  Glossary: Alfabetização - Literacy Branca / Branco - White Cabra - Cabra Casado - Married Cativa - Slave Condição - Condition Costureira - Seamstress Cozinheira - Cook Escravo - Slave Estado - Civil status Habitantes - Inhabitants Idade - Age Livre - Free Nacionalidade - Nationality Ocupação - Occupation Pardo - Pardo Qualidade - Quality Registro - Register Solteira / Solteiro - Single Tece - Weaver Vaqueiro - Cowherd
• 27
  Therefore, in the past in Brazil, the translation of the "fantasy" from the names of saints was very common, as we have today an imaginary marked by names of foreign influence, such as Alysson, Michel, Jonathan.
• 28
  When analyzing a Regulation for the Organization of the General Census of the Empire, of 1851, Lima (2003, p. 105) found the following situation in relation to the registration of names: "Art. 11- The lists should contain: 1. The names of every person in the family, but of the slaves, of whom a simple reference to the number by sex is enough". That is, in this attempt to conduct a national census, the slaves were no longer required even the "fantasy" of the first name, they should be registered only by numbers that would lead to the composition of statistical series.
• 29
  Glossary: Aluga para todo trabalho - Hired worker Cativa - Slave Condição - Condition Crioula - Crioula Estado - Civil status Faz chicote(s) - Whip maker Fia algodão - Cotton weaver Habitantes - Inhabitants Idade - Age Livre - Free Na escola de primeiras letras - Elementary school student Ocupação - Occupation Pardo / parda - Pardo / parda Qualidade - Quality Solteira / Solteiro - Single Trabalha no quintal do senhor - Works in the master's backyard Viúva - Widow
• 30
  Further on we will have the opportunity to better define the different terms used in relation to the Black population in Minas Gerais.
• 31
  1 mês - 1 month old Agricultor - Farmer Branco - White Candieiro do carro - Oxcart lamp bearer Carreiro - Wagoneer Casado / Casada - Married Condição - Condition Estado - Civil status Exposta - Orphan Fia algodão - Cotton weaver Habitantes - Inhabitants Idade - Age Livre - Free Não - No Ocupação - Occupation Pardo - Pardo Qualidade - Quality Registro - Register Sim - Yes Solteiro - Single
• 32
  Here, school age is considered in the terms defined by the Decree N.13 of 1835, which established that elementary school should be free and compulsory for free male children, aged from 8 to 14 (FARIA FILHO; GONÇALVES, 2004).
• 33
  In the documentation related to name lists of inhabitants in the Minas Gerais Public Archives, there are documents of about 300 districts of Minas Gerais, in the 19th century.
• 34
  During this period, there was a highly significant number of Africans in Minas Gerais. This was the result of increased traffic as a response to international pressure in the 1820s to end it: "According to recent estimates, throughout the period of the slave trade to Brazil, from the mid-16th century to the 1850s, more than 4.8 million enslaved Africans arrived in the country: in the first quarter of the 19th century (1801-1825), 1,012,762 Africans entered the country; in the second quarter (1826-50), 1,041,964. The arithmetic of the data reveals that more than 42% of African imports to Brazil in the three centuries of slave trade occurred only in the first half of the 19th century. The overwhelming majority of enslaved Africans in the last period, 1826-1850, plus the residual number of the 1850s went to the region of the present-day Southeast and occurred when international treaties and national legislation had made it illegal to trade slaves" (CHALHOUB, 2012, p. 35).
• 35
  The information was not filled in, in cases where something was quite clear, as in the case of the nationality or marital status of children. Clearly, it was not necessary to say if they were single or married.
• 36
  These data are in agreement with the province of Minas Gerais because, in this period, there were a large number of individuals classified in this condition (PAIVA, 1996).
• 37
  There is very clear evidence regarding the position of pardos and blacks at the ends of the classification rank of blacks in the 19th century. This is connected to the social significance of these terms, indicating the pardos as those who were relatively well established amid the free individuals, while blacks were linked to Africa and slavery. We can define with some certainty the two classification ends for blacks in the 19th century, but we cannot fail to address the difficulty to understand this process of hierarchization when we consider the nomenclatures crioulo and cabra, which also appear in the list of Cachoeira do Campo.
• 38
  This can be taken as a confirmation of the exclusion of women from the world of reading, as clearly stated in the Decree N. 13 that, in 1835, established compulsory elementary education for males and only suggested that the creation of schools for women should be encouraged. On the other hand, it also reveals that those women who were heads of household understood the importance of literacy because, although they were not literate, they made sure that their male children acquired this ability.
• 39
  In a small sample like this, the percentage representation must be put in perspective, but we would like to draw attention to the fact that the children who changed their racial status represented 21% of the households in which they appeared as pardos, in 1831.
• 40
  Glossary: Branco - White Casado / Casada - Married Cativo - Slave Condição - Condition Costureira - Seamstress Cozinheira - Cook Crioulo - Crioulo Estado - Civil status Ferreiro - Blacksmith Fia algodão - Cotton weaver Habitantes - Inhabitants Idade - Age Lavoura - Field worker Livre - Free Na escola de primeiras letras - Elementary school student Ocupação - Occupation Pardo - Pardo Pedreiro - Mason Qualidade - Quality Solteiro - Single
• 41
  Glossary: Alfabet - Literacy Areio, toca gado, camarada de tropa - Arreio, herder Branco - White Casado - Married Casange - Casange Cativo / Cativa - Slave Cond. - Condition Estado - Civil status Habitantes - Inhabitants Idad - Age Lavra, extração, mina, minerador - Quarry, extraction, mine, miner Livre - Free Nac. - Nationality Ocupação - Occupation Preto - Black Qualidade - Quality Sim - Yes Solteiro - Single
• 42
  The lack of stability in the use of racial classifications can also be seen in relation to the slave Francisco. In the first record, he was listed as pardo, and soon thereafter, in 1838, he was listed as black, with the addition of crioulo to his name.
• 43
  Glossary: Alfabetizado - Literacy Benguela - Benguela Branco - White Casado - Married Cativo - Slave Condição - Condition Congo - Congo Costureira - Seamstress Cozinheira - Cook Cultiva o quintal - Works in the vegetable garden Escravo - Slave Estado - Civil status Ferreiro - Blacksmith Habitantes - Inhabitants Idade / Id. - Age Livre - Free Na escola de primeiras letras - Elementary school student Nacionalidade - Nationality Não - No Negociante de animais - Animal trader Negócio de molhados - Small trader Ocupação - Occupation Pardo - Pardo Preto - Black Qualidade - Quality Registro - Register Solteiro / solteira - Single
• 44
  The name list of 1838 made no use of the term crioulo, this can be justified by the use of nationality to register the slaves who had been born in Africa. Thus, it was not necessary to use a specific term to show the gap between those who were born in Brazil and the Africans, as it was contained in the list itself in the field of nationality.

Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  Jan-Mar 2015

History

• Received
  July 2014
• Accepted
  Nov 2014