TRANSFORMATION OF “OLD” SLAVERY INTO ATLANTIC SLAVERY: CAPE VERDE ISLANDS, C. 1500–1879 By Lumumba Hamilcar Shabaka A DISSERTATION Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of History- Doctor of Philosophy 2013 ABSTRACT TRANSFORMATION OF “OLD” SLAVERY INTO ATLANTIC SLAVERY: CAPE VERDE ISLANDS, C. 1500–1879 By Lumumba Hamilcar Shabaka This dissertation explores how the Atlantic slave trade integrated the Cape Verde archipelago into the cultural, economic, and political milieu of Upper Guinea Coast between 1500 and 1879. The archipelago is about 300 miles off the coast of Senegal, West Africa. The Portuguese colonized the “uninhabited” archipelago in 1460 and soon began trading with the mainland for slaves and black African slaves became the majority, resulting in the first racialized Atlantic slave society. Despite cultural changes, I argue that cultural practices by the lower classes, both slaves and freed slaves, were quintessentially “Guinean.” Regional fashion and dress developed between the archipelago and mainland with adorning and social use of panu (cotton cloth). In particular, I argue Afro-feminine aesthetics developed in the islands by freed black women that had counterparts in the mainland, rather than mere creolization. Moreover, the study explores the social instability in the islands that led to the exile of liberated slaves, slaves, and the poor, the majority of whom were of African descent as part of the Portuguese efforts to organize the Atlantic slave trade in the Upper th Guinea Coast. With the abolition of slavery in Cape Verde in the 19 century, Portugal used freed slaves and the poor as foot soldiers and a labor force to consolidate “Portuguese Guinea.” Many freed slaves resisted this mandatory service. The transition to “legitimate trade” also sent “Cape Verdeans” merchants to the “Portuguese Guinea” to pursue commercial activities, while maintaining commercial and family ties with the archipelago, which reinforced cross-cultural exchange. DEDICATION: Pa juventudi di Kabuverdi, specialmenti kes diskonhecidu, UNIDADI E LUTA, NHÔS ÓRA DJA TXIGA! iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First, nothing in my life would be possible without the sacrifices of my loving and supportive mother. I am eternally grateful for her selflessness in providing all that she did despite our limited resources. Es trabadju é simbulu di nha luta, mison ki nha herói Amílcar Cabral dexa pa nôs tudu. To my wife Marie Alexandre-Shabaka, who, without her unfailing support, I could not have finished this dissertation. To my beautiful and energetic children, Amara and Amilcar, I am sorry that Papa did not always play with you when you wanted, but I hope that this modest work will make you proud someday. Also, I want to thank my committee members, Dr. Nwando Achebe, Dr. Peter Beattie, and Dr. Folu Ogundimu. I am very grateful to Dr. Walter Hawthorne, my advisor, for his staunch support in this long and arduous journey. Since the day I met him at Ohio University, he has shown interest in my work and encouraged me to apply to Michigan State University. I thank the History Department for the graduate assistantships that made my graduate studies possible. I am grateful to our Africanist bibliographers, Dr. Peter Limb and Dr. Joe Lauer, who were always responsive to my requests. I also want to thank the staff at the Michigan State University Library for their assistance in finding materials so desperately needed. Many thanks for the financial support of the U.S. Department of Education with the generous fellowship of the Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad; as well as the African Studies at Michigan State University award of Foreign Language Areas Studies to study Mandinka; and the Center for Advanced Study of International v Development at Michigan State University to study Portuguese during an intensive summer program to hone my language skills. I also thank Dr. Jorge Sousa Brito, rector of the Piaget University of Cape Verde, for writing me the letters of affiliation. In Cape Verde, I want to thank all my family and friends, who supported me in so many ways it would take another volume to name them all: my uncle Caetano da Graça Cardoso, his wife Mafalda Cardoso, my cousin, Ornela Veronica Ferreira Cardoso, Fatinha Cardoso, Soraia Cardoso, Daniel Cardoso, Silvana Semedo, Noel Carvalhal Fernandes, Ludimilla Cardoso, Moises Carvalhal Fernandes, Maria Dosanjos Fernandes, Joe Cardoso, Indira Tatiana Tavares, Flavio Delgado, Dr. José Carlos Gomes dos Anjos. Tudu mosinhus e mosinhas di Varzea, specialmenti CV Wine. Nhôs tudu obrigadon pa nhôs morabeza! I also want to thank the staff at the Arquivo Histório Nacional de Cabo Verde, especially the President, Sandra Mascarenhas, and the staff--- Sandra Helena Gomes Rosa, Carla Gomes, Madalena M. Varela, Maria da Luz, Eugenia Miranda, António Sanches, Maria Teixeira, Maria Odete Neves, Roberto Lopes, Vital de Pina, Samira Sá Nogueira, Felisberta Landim, Maria José Almeida, Ana Mafalda Monteiro, José Maria Almeida. Carla Gomes was extremely helpful with some of the paleography. At the Biblioteca Nacional de Cabo Verde, I thank Joaquim Morais, the president, and the staff, especially Sheila Antunes. Muitu brigadu! To my in-laws, thank you for your support, especially Maryse Alexandre, Saber Anosier, Suline Guerrier, Antoine Guerrier, Jean Alexandre, and his wife, Sheila Alexandre. vi Of my professors, colleagues, and friends, I want to thank Dr. Bala Saho, and his wife Binta Sanyang, Dr. Jill Kelley, Dr. Mathew Pettway, Dr. Peter K. Mendy, Dr. Richard Lobban, Dr. Carolyn Fluehr-Lobban, Dr. Jean G. Blaise, Dr. Pierre Orelus, Salahudin Omowale Matteos, Professor Darius A. Burton, Dr. James Pritchett, Victor Manuel Carvalho de Melo (“Toto”), and Dr. Solomon Addis Getahun for their support and friendship. I salute Professor Ernest Wambia-dia-Wamba for being a deep source of inspiration. Many thanks to my entire family, especially my sisters in the states, Estela Rodrigues, Benvinda Fernandes, Isolete Fernandes, Ester Fernandes, Raquel Rosario, and to my cousins Ezekiel Vasconcelos, Danny Vasconcelos, Alcindo Vasconcelos. Special gratitude is extended to Dr. Assan Sarr for reading two chapters, and providing very critical feedback and encouragement. I also thank Dr. Mariana P. Candido for reading and commenting on a chapter and her unsolicited show of support. Of course, all errors are solely mine. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES ……………………………………………………………………...x LIST OF FIGURES……………………………………………………………………..xi INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………………….……....1 Historiography……………………………………………………………………….....6 Summary of Chapters…………………………………………………………………27 CHAPTER 1 COTTON AND DRESS IN UPPER GUNIEA COAST AND CAPE VERDE, c.1500-c.1600………………………………………….………………………………..31 Islam and Changing African Aesthetics on the Upper Guinea Coast……………...41 Early Atlantic Slave Trade in the Upper Guinea Coast…………………………….46 CHAPTER 2 PANU: SLAVE TRADE, DRESS, AND FASHION IN CAPE VERDE, c.1600-c.1800s………………………………………………………………………….75 Panu: Economic and Social Affects in Cape Verde…………………………………81 Female Dress and Fashion in Cape Verde Islands, c. 1647–c. 1721………………..93 Male Dress and Fashion in Cape Verde Islands, c. 1647–c. 1721…………………103 Women and Dress in Cape Verde during 1800s………………………...................111 CHAPTER 3 SOCIAL UNEASE IN A SLAVE SOCIETY: FLIGHT, ‘SOCIAL BANDITRY’, AND RELIGIOUS HETERODOXY, c.1700-c.1800…………….......126 Rise of Brankus di Terra: Fear, “Race,” and Governance………………………...127 Popular Religion in Santiago Island………………………………………………..155 Precarious Control: Famine and Selling Free People……………………………..174 CHAPTER 4 ENDING SLAVERY IN CAPE VERDE: MANUMISSION, CRIME, AND PUNISHMENT, c. 1856-c.1876 …...…………………………………………………184 Creation of the Junta………………………………………………………………...187 Manumission and Ambivalent Freedom……………………………………………192 Crime and Punishment: Slaves, Libertos, and (Poor) Free………………………..214 CHAPTER 5 KINSHIP, ABOLITION, COMMERCE AND COLONIZATION OF PORTUGUESE GUNIEA, c.1830-1879………………………………………………228 State of Portuguese Guinea…………………………………………………………..232 Kinship and Connections between Cape Verdeans and Luso-Africans/Africans...236 Portuguese Hunger for Land and Access to Rivers………………………………...253 viii CONCLUSION…………………………………………………………………………281 APPENDIX……………………………………………………………………………..285 Glossary….…………………………………………………………………………….286 BIBLIOGRAPHY…..…………………………………………………………………..289 ix LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Slave Children Recorded in the County Administration of the City of Praia, 1863, March 1-30, 1863………………………………………………..197 Table 2. Pedro Semedo Cardozo’s Slaves’ Background ……………………………204 Table 3. Francisco Alberto Azevedo’s Slaves………………………………………..212 x LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Cape Verde Islands and Upper Guinea Coast………………………………3 Figure 2. Clothing Styles of Wolof Kingdom, Late Seventeenth Century…………..32 Figure 3. Clothing Styles of Women of Kazegut (Bijago Island), c.1728……………32 Figure 4. Panu di terra………………………………………………………….............61 Figure 5. Inhabitants of the Cape Verde Islands …………………………………....99 Figure 6. “A Man and Woman of the Island of St. John (Brava)”………………...106 Figure 7. “A Man and Woman of the island of St. John in their Best habits”……106 Figure 8. “Habits des negres du cap verd”………………………………………….109 Figure 9. Inhabitants of Cape Verde Islands………………………………………..110 Figure 10. “Woman and Children of Porto-Grande”……………………………....116 Figure 11. “Felupe”……………………………………………………………...........122 Figure 12. Deceased body of Blim Blim, Papel Ruler of