From Revolt to Biography: the Historiography of Slavery in 19th-Century Bahia

From Revolt to Biography: the Historiography of Slavery in 19th-Century Bahia

João José Reis

Based on research by João Reis and members of their research group at the Federal University of Bahia, a few titles available in English have been selected for presentation/discussion in class. The workshop will cover two distinct but yet interconnected subjects: slave uprisings, focusing on the 1835 Malê Revolt led by Yoruba Muslim slaves and freedmen, and, on the other side, a discussion about African freedmen and women who "adapted" to Bahian slavery to the point of becoming slave owners and engaging in the slave trade. Meanwhile, we will examine in more depth and contextualize the story of Manoel Joaquim Ricardo that was covered in the October 13 CLAS Seminar at Trinity Hall. 

Bibliography

  • Book Chapter: Origins of the Black Atlantic. Edited by Laurent Dubois and Julius S. Scott. Chapter: Slave Rebellion in Brazil. João José Reis. 2010. 

  • Biography and the Black Atlantic. Edited by Lisa A. Lindsay and John Wood Sweet. Chapter 6: From Slave to Wealthy African Freedman: The Story of Manoel Joaquim Ricardo, by João José Reis. 2013.

  • Mecila: Working Paper Series. Working Paper No. 36, 2021. Slaves Who Owned Slaves in Nineteenth-Century Bahia, Brazil. João José Reis. 2021.

  • Militiamen, barbers and slave-traders: Mina and Jeje Africans in a catholic brotherhood (Bahia, 1770–1830). Luis Nicolau Parés. Revista Tempo | 2014 v20 | Article. 

  • 'The Revolution of the Ganhadores': Urban Labour, Ethnicity and the African Strike of 1857 in Bahia, Brazil. João José Reis. Article.

  • Castillo, Lisa Earl and Parés, Luis Nicolau (2010) 'Marcelina da Silva: A Nineteenth-Century Candomblé Priestess in Bahia', Slavery & Abolition, 31: 1, 1 — 27

  • The Oxford handbook of Latin American history / edited by Jose C. Moya, 1952. New York, Oxford University Press, 2011. Chapter:  Slavery in Brazil, by João José Reis and Herbert S. Klein

Note: Consult the complete bibliography in the University's Online Reading Lists here.