Accounting records and slavery in 19th century Brazil: a historical approach

Abstract

This research analyzes the role of accounting in the slave system of Brazil in the 19th century, looking at the records and inventories of the slave trade and the accounting of the slave buyers. The study had a qualitative approach using historiographical research. In terms of media, it was bibliographic and documentary with an exploratory objective. Part of the documentary research was carried out in the online database Slave Voyages and in person at the Historical and Geographical Institute of Pernambuco (IAHGP). Based on the analysis of the documental sources, from the slave trade to the purchase of the slaves by plantation owners, the slaves were registered in the accounts as merchandise/property to generate wealth. Accounting is considered to have reproduced in its records and financial statements the naturalization of power relations established by the colonial system. This study contributed to the reflection on the role of accounting professionals who, from a more critical perspective, could have understood the process of objectification to which the enslaved were subjected. It also indicates that they cooperated in the abolitionist movement.