Mulheres escravas e forras na mineração no Brasil, século XVIII

Abstract

This article highlights the important presence of slave women in the golden and diamond mining in the captaincy of Minas Gerais, Brazil, between the 1680s, when gold was discovered in the region, and 1822, when Brazil’s became independent. To do so, it uses primary document sources and iconographic documentation from the 18th and 19th centuries. Many slave women worked in the Brazilian golden and diamond mines; in the early 18th century especially a group already accustomed to the exploitation of gold in Africa, those from the Costa da Mina, known in the captaincy as “Mina” slaves. Slave women were essential in several stages of the mineral exploration process: they were present and were fundamental for the recognition of the most favorable locations for the appearance of gold, for the mastery of alluvial exploration techniques in the riverbed, as well as for the use of the appropriate tool, being co-responsible for transmigration of African mining technology that was widely used in mineral exploration. Many freedwomen continued to be involved in the golden and diamond rushes and were able to amass some properties.