The Hierarchies of Slavery in Santos, Brazil, 1822}}}1888 [Hardcover]

Despite the inherent brutality of slavery, some slaves could find small but important opportunities to act decisively.The Hierarchies of Slavery in Santos, Brazil, 18221888explores such moments of opportunity and resistance in Santos, a Southeastern township in Imperial Brazil. It argues that slavery in Brazil was hierarchical: slaves' fleeting chances to form families, work jobs that would not kill or maim, avoid debilitating diseases, or find a (legal or illegal) pathway out of slavery were highly influenced by their demographic background and their owners' social position. By tracing the lives of slaves and owners through multiple records, the author is able to show that the cruelties that slaves faced were not equally shared. One important implication is that internal stratification likely helped perpetuate slavery because there was the belief, however illusionary, that escaping captivity was not necessary for social mobility.

Read's combined discussion of flight and manumission unearths interesting insights into how the system of slavery channeled impulses for relief from its weight. An analysis of the possibilities and limits of action and resistance for slaves of Santos, a township on the Southeastern coast of the Brazilian Empire.Ian Read is Assistant Professor of Latin American Studies at Soka University of America. Read's renewed focus on treatment exemplifies how historians can account for the harsh constraints slaves faced in Brazil, without resuscitating long-discredited myths of docile slaves. . . With compelling analysis of such details throughout,The Hierarchies of Slaverywill interest scholars from a range of disciplines whose work confronts the complex, sometimes polarizing question of subaltern agency. This impressively and, indeed, massively researched study is the first to demonstrate, systematically and in depth, that how slaves exercised their agency often depended in part on who owned them and how they were employed. Itló·