As in other colonial powers, in the early twentieth century the colonialist thinking in Portugal has evolved towards imperial nationalism, partly because of international rivalry around the African continent. Because of international pressure over its colonial practices, Portuguese authorities have tried to translate into effective domination the (alleged) possession of colonies. The intense cocoa slave controversy had consequences in the fields (roças) of Sao Tome and Principe. The establishment of the Republic in 1910 expanded the political debate. The notions of nation, culture and race were manipulated to indicate the positions and social trajectories possible to Sao Tomeans as well as to African manpower imported from other colonies. This paper will analyze the position of the islanders about the European settlers and African servants (named serviçais), in a context where political freedom coexisted with the growing colonial aggressivity, namely evidenced in the explicit definition of racial boundaries within the colonial nation.
colonialism; plantations; racial boundaries