{"id":541,"date":"2020-01-28T15:00:04","date_gmt":"2020-01-28T18:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/humanas.blog.scielo.org\/en\/?p=541"},"modified":"2023-04-27T13:49:53","modified_gmt":"2023-04-27T16:49:53","slug":"from-white-slavery-to-freedom-of-circulation-the-transformations-of-the-emigration-concept-in-portugal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/humanas.blog.scielo.org\/en\/2020\/01\/28\/from-white-slavery-to-freedom-of-circulation-the-transformations-of-the-emigration-concept-in-portugal\/","title":{"rendered":"From “white slavery” to freedom of circulation: the transformations of the emigration concept in Portugal"},"content":{"rendered":"

L\u00edvia Bernardes Roberge, History PhD student at the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG) and volunteer at Varia Historia, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>In \u201cThe Creation and Failure of a Bill: S\u00e1 da Bandeira and the attempt to regulate Portuguese emigration to Brazil (1835-1843)\u201d, published in Varia Historia (Vol. 35, No. 69), Marina Sim\u00f5es Galvanese, a Social History PhD student at USP, addresses the process of formulation of a bill by Viscount S\u00e1 da Bandeira, which eventually was rejected, that aimed at hindering the emigration of Portuguese subjects to Brazil. In her analysis, Galvanese denotes attention to elements such as the meaning of the expression \u201cwhite slavery\u201d, the motives that drove the Viscount to defending such project, the African slave traffic in the post-abolition context, and the polysemic nature of the concept of emigration in Portugal during that period. With this, the author proposes an understanding of the Portuguese State as a place of dispute, and not of absolute consensus about the topic of emigration.<\/p>\n

Galvanese emphasizes the transformations around the concept of \u201cemigration\u201d in nineteenth century Portugal, demonstrating in which way these changes were related with the rejection of the emigration regulation project concerning Portuguese subjects, proposed by the Viscount S\u00e1 da Bandeira between 1838 and 1843. Before, the word emigration was linked with the flow of individuals between the metropolis and the colony. Afterwards, it started to be used in order to reference liberals which were running away from absolutism. Later, it was associated with the idea of \u201cwhite slavery\u201d, in the 1830s, and at last began to be comprehended as a matter of liberty of circulation.<\/p>\n

S\u00e1 da Bandeira, an important figure of Portuguese liberalism in the nineteenth century, occupied the post of Secretary of Foreign Affairs in the Minist\u00e9rio Setembrista<\/em> amid the process of abolition of slavery. In this context, reports began to emerge concerning the precarious conditions of travel and work to which Portuguese people who left Portugal for Brazil were being subjected. Once on Brazilian land, they were submitted not only to slave-like work conditions (GON\u00c7ALVES, 2017, p. 314) but were also transported in ships that used to bring slaves from Africa to Brazil, which provided unhealthy and overcrowded conditions of travel (ALENCASTRO, 1988). The author then argues that the circulation of these reports began to shape the \u201cwhite slavery\u201d idea, which was associated with Portuguese emigration.<\/p>\n

Thenceforward, the emigration of Portuguese subjects to Brazil started to be negatively perceived by some portions of Portuguese society, who disavowed the subaltern positions that emigrated Portuguese people were occupying in the former colony, which, consequently, was seen as an indicative of change in the social position held by Lusitanians in Brazil: For the rulers of a country which had just lost its principal colony \u2014 and which needed to be reconstructed as a nation \u2014, it would be inadmissible for Portuguese subjects to do the same work as African slaves and worse: to be transported in the same form (p. 834).<\/p>\n

Besides, in this context, Portugal was trying to send white colonizers to its possessions in Africa, for with the independence of Brazil and the abolition of slavery, the Portuguese\u2019s interests turned to the investment in colonization projects in the African continent. But, in formulating his project, S\u00e1 da Bandeira appealed to the idea of white slavery to avoid conflict with the Portuguese Constitution of 1826, which already granted the right of liberty to circulate.\u00a0 Yet, when debated in 1843, the project was refused, under the argument that it was unconstitutional.<\/p>\n

Galvanese was successful in characterizing Portuguese politics as having been much more plural than consensual in nature. Besides, the author introduces yet another possible motive for the defeat of S\u00e1 da Bandeira\u2019s project: the very transformation of the emigration concept that occurred during the five years that passed between its first draft and the debate that rejected it, which made its content inadequate.<\/p>\n

References<\/h3>\n

ALENCASTRO, L. F. de. Prolet\u00e1rios e escravos: imigrantes portugueses e cativos africanos no Rio de Janeiro (1850-1872). Novos estudos CEBRAP<\/em>, n. 21, p. 29-56, 1988.<\/p>\n

GONCALVES, P. C. Escravos e imigrantes s\u00e3o o que importam: fornecimento e controle da m\u00e3o de obra para a economia agroexportadora Oitocentista.<\/span> Almanack<\/i> [online]. 2017, no. 17, pp.307-361, ISSN 2236-4633 [viewed 28 January 2020]. DOI: 10.1590\/2236-463320171710<\/a>. Available from: http:\/\/ref.scielo.org\/vk7fsj<\/a><\/p>\n

To read the article, access<\/h3>\n

GALVANESE, M. S. Cria\u00e7\u00e3o e fracasso de um projeto S\u00e1 da Bandeira e a tentativa de regulamentar a emigra\u00e7\u00e3o portuguesa para o Brasil (1835-1843).<\/span> Varia hist.<\/i> [online]. 2019, vol. 35, no. 69, pp.825-856, ISSN 0104-8775 [viewed 28 January 2020]. DOI: 10.1590\/0104-87752019000300006<\/a>. Available from: http:\/\/ref.scielo.org\/wq3n68<\/a>.<\/p>\n

External links<\/h3>\n

Varia Historia \u2013 VH: www.scielo.br\/vh<\/a><\/p>\n

Site Varia Historia \u2013 www.variahistoria.org<\/a><\/p>\n

Facebook Varia Historia: https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/variahistoria\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Twitter Varia Historia: https:\/\/twitter.com\/variahistoria<\/a><\/p>\n

Canal Varia Historia: https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCD4EbWEXNyTAirlemvy3UPw<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With a direct approach, the article introduces us the debate on the emigration of Portuguese subjects to Brazil that existed in nineteenth century Portugal. The author challenges traditional approaches on the topic, contesting the idea that the interests of the Portuguese State were directly aligned with those of the agrarian elites. …<\/span> Read More →<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":317,"featured_media":154,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[7,112],"tags":[150,113],"class_list":["post-541","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-press-release","category-vh","tag-history","tag-varia-historia"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t