The Dangerous Life of the Free African “Runway” in Brazilian Slave Society

• In Event: Precarious Freedoms: Matters of Black Life in Post-Independence Brazil

Abstract

Drawing upon a close reading of paid advertisements and public announcements appearing in the major Rio de Janeiro dailies of the mid-nineteenth century, this paper examines the perilous conditions in which Free Africans (africanos livres) went missing — days, months, and years after rescue from the illegal slave trade. In some cases, the absented Free African can be read as a self-aware rebellious runaway seeking escape from an abusive household or compulsory apprenticeship. But in many cases, the ads lend insights into the precarious lives of purportedly “free” Free African men, women, and children who were victimized by the predations of kidnappers and slave stealers and the more generalized hazards of being an African foreigner residing in Rio slave society. A close reading of the dangerous life of the Free African, as documented in 600+ advertisements, is enhanced through cross-referencing with a robust database of life events for the approximately 11,000 named Free Africans liberated in Brazil between the 1830s and 1860s.

Author

• Daryle Williams, University of Maryland