The article discusses the ties between parents and godparents created by slaves in Angra dos Reis, between the years 1805 and 1871. Three thousand two hundred sixty-four parish registers of children existing in the Carmo Convent and Church of Jacuecanga, both located in Angra dos Reis and 220 post-mortem inventories stored at the Museum of Justice of Rio de Janeiro and the National Archives were used. In the region, throughout the second half of the nineteenth century, the number of slaves diminished. Among the economic and demographic changes, there are the options made by matrifocal and nuclear families as the choice of spiritual protectors for their children.
slave families; southern coast of Rio de Janeiro; sul fluminense; port traffic