Política da cor: a Sociedade Protetora dos Desvalidos e o associativismo negro na Bahia do século XIX

Abstract

Since the colonial period, both enslaved and free or freed individuals, Brazilians and Africans, have been involved in the creation of associations of religious, civil, military, and political nature. These organizations were essential in the struggle of the Black population for civil and political rights in Brazil, a phenomenon widely studied in Brazilian historiography under the term Black associativism. Among the various Black associative initiatives in Salvador, the Sociedade Protetora dos Desvalidos (SPD) stands out, which is the focus of this doctoral research. Founded in 1851, after a split from the Irmandade de Nossa Senhora da Soledade Amparo dos Desvalidos, the SPD is considered the first Black civil association in Brazil. This thesis proposes that the experience of this organization reveals the existence of a political culture of Black civil associativism in 19th-century Bahia, characterized by the defense of citizenship based on positive discrimination by color. To achieve its goals, the SPD employed strategies of negotiation and alliances between Black workers and Bahian authorities, as well as the construction of a positive image of the institution. The research primarily relies on sources from the Arquivo da Sociedade Protetora dos Desvalidos (ASPD), including minutes, statutes, reports, financial statements, membership applications, and requests for aid, pensions, and retirement. The analysis of these sources demonstrates how, through this Black associative culture, a group of men of color managed to articulate their demands and operate within the structures of the imperial order, reaffirming their agency in a slaveholding context.