The history of Brazil has been shaped by a slave system fed by the massive importation of Africans. Over the last several decades, the study of slavery in Brazil has exploded. In Senzala insurgente, Ricardo Figueiredo Pirola has added to that body of knowledge, providing a detailed and important examination of slavery in an emerging sugar zone.
The heart of the book is a slave revolt planned in Campinas in 1832 that was discovered before it could be implemented. The resulting criminal investigation, combined with provincial censuses, inventories, and parish registers, provides the documentary base for this book. Pirola effectively weaves these together to provide the reader with an in- depth view of the inner dynamics of the slave community and its relationship to the slaveholding class. At the same time, Pirola connects this slave community with their home in West Central Africa.
In meticulously unraveling this slave plot,...
