The article deals with the legacy process of the Fazenda Santa Cruz, by which Maria Clara do Nascimento left part of her property to her slaves and former slaves in 1854. The reasons, the motivations, and the social conditions to transform slaves and ex-slaves into proper heritors are some of the questions that move the reflection. The aim is to grasp this act as an intertwinement of particular demands, affects and desires of different actors within a broader national and regional contexts, marked by a set of conceptions and official policies that characterize the historical periods.
Slavery; Social organization; Kinship.