Paper short abstract:

The present work focuses on the judicial contentions involving the slave João and the master Antonio Beraldo d’Azevedo, in the city of Ribeirão Preto (Western region of São Paulo), in 1881, with the purpose of addressing the impact of the Law’s procedural forms on the struggle for freedom during the final years of slavery in Brazil.

Paper long abstract:

The former Arraial de São Sebastião do Rio Preto, belonging to the parish of São Simão, the present-day city of Ribeirão Preto in the “west side of São Paulo,” became of crucial importance for Brazilian economy when through coffee, which was produced here, the country covered 51% of the whole world’s demand. Martinho Prado Júnior was one of the big coffee growers of that region, which absorbed a considerable amount of workforce consisting of migrants, immigrants and enslaved people. These latter ones came from different parts of Brazil, but mostly the Northern regions. As of 1883 the city expanded thanks to the implementation of the Companhia Mogiana’s railway network, which became responsible for the transportation of significant amounts of coffee bags destined for the port of Santos, also known as the “coffee port.” Two years before the implementation of this railway, an intrigue involving the slave João, his wife and children, and the master Antonio Beraldo d’Azevedo, took place there. What could this intrigue still tell us about the impact of the Law’s procedural forms on the struggle for freedom during the final years of slavery in Brazil? The present paper focuses precisely on this matter.