Abstract
This article aims to investigate the impacts of the internal slave trade on enslaved and free black families in the cities of Campinas (São Paulo) and Salvador (Bahia). We examine not only whether there was maintenance or rupture of family ties, but also how enslaved people and their relatives reacted to the possibility of being sold. To do so, we extend our focus from enslaved families to free black families to evidence and understand the processes that involved enslaved, freed, and free members of the same family. We try to comprehend the actions of family members to maintain their cohesion, using the current legislation and direct negotiations with their slaveowners throughout the second half of the nineteenth century. We note that while the legislation was respected at times, it was just as likely that the rules were disregarded. Consequently, family members were forced into legal battles for the integrity of their homes by claiming the current laws be respected or by expressing their own interpretations of those laws.
Keywords
Internal slave trade; family; legislation; agency; manumission