Abstract
This article looks for a dialogue with the recent historiography dealing with classical themes of the history of work - such as the various forms of work exploitation, the fights for rights and citizenship and the organization of workers - focusing on the experience of a large category of urban workers. The fight of the salesmen for rights held through associations, the theatre, the press and the municipality were part of the organization of social movements in Rio de Janeiro in the 1880's and became a model of a republican citizenship that excluded other categories of workers.
Keywords:
fight for rights; citizenship; slave work; free work; salesmen