Between constraint and desire: marriage between enslaved people in Porto Alegre (1772-1850)

Abstract

Studies on slavery have shown that access to marriage among captives was far from the norm. In fact, even for the free population, some men and women would never have their union formalized. Here we explore the minority universe of marriages between enslaved people held in the parish of Nossa Senhora da Madre de Deus in Porto Alegre, Captaincy-Province of Rio Grande de São Pedro, between 1772 and 1850, in order to discuss the issue of restricted demographic regimes, an important issue on the agenda of Brazilian Historical Demography. The main sources are parish records of marriages, baptisms, and deaths of enslaved people, analyzed from an aggregate perspective - profile of spouses, birthplace, (il)legitimacy - as well as through the study of some owners of captive couples who had their marriage recorded in the parish. The results confirm the limited access of slaves to formalized marriage. It also points to the impact of trafficking on demographic indicators, especially the significant drop in legitimate fertility, with the entry of adult slaves, especially as of the second decade of the 19th century. Finally, we analyzed two “senzalas”, to exemplify slaveholder's policies which encouraged marriage and endogenous reproduction.

Key words
Slavery; Demographic regime; Record linkage; Marriage; (Il)legitimacy