The official history of the process of abolition of slavery in Brazil generally focuses on the role played by the abolitionist movement in the liberation of slaves from 1870 onwards. However, the abolitionist movement presented as the protagonist was the one led by the elite white, leaving other struggles against slavery in oblivion: the rebellions and flight of slaves, besides the popular abolitionism, among which the so-called Caifas.
Studies on slavery in Brazil carried out by historians from the last decades of the 20th century have presented conclusions in which the protagonism for the abolition of slavery fell much more to the slaves themselves than the free men. In this sense, the abolitionist movement itself would be a response to the wave of rebellions and escapes carried out by slaves in search of freedom.
Within abolitionism there was a large number of divergent political positions, ranging from monarchists and republicans, such as those who did not see the need for slave participation in the abolition process and those who saw this as essential. participation.
In the latter case, the slaves' struggle would have made possible links with popular sectors of the society, as well as with members of the elite who thought the need for slave participation in their release. This type of abolitionism became known as popular abolitionism.
Who were the caifas?
One of the examples of popular abolitionism were the Caifazes, who organized themselves in the province of São Paulo after 1880. Led by the lawyer, former delegate, former prosecutor and former judge Antônio Bento de Souza e Castro (1843-1898) – therefore a member of the São Paulo elite – the Caifazes participated in the organization of a series of escapes from the coffee plantations and even into the cities. The name derives from the biblical character who corrupted Judas to betray Jesus. In the Brazilian case, the Caifazes were promoting the betrayal of slavery.
Despite this leadership of Antônio Bento, the Caifazes were formed mostly by typographers, artisans, small traders and ex-slaves, who constituted networks of solidarity to guarantee the exit of slaves from the plantations and their insertion in the world of work. It is worth noting the performance of the caifaz Antonio Paciencia, which was notable for its work in the interior of São Paulo in the organization and planning of escapes.
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Due to the danger that these actions represented, the authorities imposed censorship on the press at the time, according to them, so that panic would not spread, but investigations and other police documents enabled historians to bring to light those stories that slaveholders intended to leave forgotten.
The networks included from the so-called “comets”, traveling salesmen who moved through the interior of São Paulo and encouraged escapes in their passages by the farms, as well as the railway workers, who made it possible to transport slaves runaways.
In the latter case, the railways that were built to increase the productivity and wealth of coffee production based on slave labor helped in the fight against slavery by guaranteeing the escape vehicle for the captives.
The main places of refuge for the fugitives were the cities of São Paulo and Santos. In the latter, the Quilombo do Jabaquara, which housed around 10,000 escaped slaves. Quilombo was coordinated by former Sergipe slave Quintino de Lacerda and by Portuguese Santos “Garafão”.
In addition to sheltering the escaped slaves, the people involved with Quilombo do Jabaquara managed to find them jobs due to the connection with several merchants and owners of other types of companies, who were sympathetic to the abolition.
With this type of action, the Caifazes proved to be the most advanced sector of the abolitionist movement, helping the promotion of concerns and conflicts between slaves and masters in the workplaces on farms and cities. The union between popular abolitionism and the actions carried out by slaves in search of their freedom constituted the main factor for the end of slavery in Brazil, breaking from within a social structure that had lasted for almost four years. centuries.
By Tales Pinto
Master in History
Would you like to reference this text in a school or academic work? Look:
PINTO, Tales dos Santos. "Caifaz and popular abolitionism"; Brazil School. Available in: https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/historiab/caifazes-abolicionismo-popular.htm. Accessed on June 27, 2021.
