To the invisible, history

The agency of enslaved and freedpersons in economic relations on the Island of Santa Catarina between the 1860s and 1880s

Abstract

This article seeks to understand the relation between slavery and economy on the Island of Santa Catarina from the 1860s to the 1880s, by a study focused on the agency of enslaved people and freedpersons in informal credit systems. As a background, the article discusses some of the history and historiography about the presence of Afro-descendants on this island, aiming to understanding why, for a long time, these people were erased from the history of Santa Catarina. The analysis will be based on manumission letters, labor contracts, and the strategies of enslaved and freedpersons to assert their interests.