Fronteira, cana e tráfico: escravidão, doenças e mortes em Capivari, SP, 1821-1869

Abstract

Abordam-se as mortes e doenças de escravos no município canavieiro paulista de Capivari, associando as causas atribuídas a esses falecimentos ao contexto social e econômico e às características das comunidades escravas locais. Enfatiza-se o impacto da malária, relacionando-o às faixas etárias, ao ambiente criado pela lavoura canavieira e à evolução da ocupação do local, inicialmente fronteira expansiva. Explora-se o relacionamento entre doença e processos de trabalho, assim como a mortalidade pós-desembarque de africanos e a possibilidade de crises de mortalidade entre os cativos da cana. Os resultados conduzem à discussão sobre o impacto do habitat e dos deslocamentos e choques atlânticos.

Identifying Modern Slavery through Occupational Hygiene Conditions of Nineteenth-Century Slaves

“…Nineteenth-century books [12,13,15,20,25] describe rainy hot weather conditions, with temperatures often above 30 ° C, sometimes above 40 ° C. These temperatures were accompanied by rainfall that could last several days, with pluviometry indices easily exceeding the 300 mm monthly in rainy seasons, more particularly in the regions used for crops of agricultural products for exportation [29]. The same hot and humid climate that is so conducive to tropical agricultural export crops also promoted the proliferation of insect vectors of diseases and other poisonous animals [18,25], especially malaria and yellow fever mosquitoes that reproduced easily in the standing waters of the plantations [5]. In addition to these natural factors, dust, gases, smokes, and heat also contributed to the precarious general conditions of occupational hygiene, resulting from activities such as burning forests and furnaces for the processing of sugarcane in sugar mills [2,16,18].…”

“…A study on slaves health in São Paulo in the 19th century [5] leaves no doubt to the relevance of work accidents as the leading cause of death in this population. In men aged between 15 and 49 years old, death by accident accounted for approximately 20% of the causes of death.…”