CHILDHOOD AND SLAVERY IN BRAZIL
Berenice Bento is an associate professor at the Department of Sociology at the
University of Brasília (Brazil) and a researcher at the National Research Council
(CNPq)
(in:Annual Review of Critical Psychology, 20. Available at: https://discourseunit.com/
Abstract
Abstract: In 1871, the Free Womb Law was approved in Brazil. Among other points, the law determined that children born from a slave womb would become free. The mothers, however, would remain the property of the slaveholders. During debates in parliament, there is a complete absence of reference to the father figure. How is it possible to think about early childhood without the bonds with the mother/father (or with caregivers), when it is the condition of absolute precariousness that defines this moment of our existence? The supposed recognition of the citizenship status of black children was a bargaining chip for not belonging to a family. This was the recognition of the Brazilian State to the first generation of Brazilian black children: the prohibition of belonging to a family. The research I did had as its primary source of analysis the Annals of the Brazilian Parliament (from May to September 1871). The objective of the article will be to analyze the place of black childhood before and after the approval of the Free Womb Law.
Keywords: slavery, State, gender, Free Womb Law