"Sertoes temerosos (menacing backlands)": Honor, gender, and violence in a changing world. Ceara, Brazil, 1845-1889 Item Type text; Dissertation-Reproduction (electronic) Authors Santos, Martha Sofia Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 05/10/2021 14:59:38 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/280647 ''SERTOES TEMEROSOS (MENACING BACKLANDS)": HONOR, GENDER, AND VIOLENCE IN A CHANGING WORLD. CEARA, BRAZIL, 1845-1889 by Martha Sofia Santos A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 2 004 UMI Number: 3145123 INFORMATION TO USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleed-through, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. UMI UMI Microform 3145123 Copyright 2004 by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest Information and Learning Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 The University of Arizona ' Graduate College As members of the Dissertation Committee, we certify that we have read the dissertation prepared by Martha Sofia Santos entitled ''SERTOES TEMEROSOS (MENACING BACKLANDS)": HONOR, GENDER, AND VIOLENCE IN A CHANGING WORLD. CEARA, BRAZIL, 1845-1889 and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Dr. Bert J. Barickman SignatLi /r. r. 6^ Dr. Kevin Gosner Signature Dr. Donna J. Guy signature: (I66-) ^ J Date Final approval and acceptance of this dissertation is contingent upon the candidate's submission of the final copies of the dissertation to the Graduate College. I hereby certify that I have read this dissertation prepared under my direction and recommedd that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement. Bert J. B^ieKman Date 3 STATEMENT BY AUTHOR This dissertation has been submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for an advanced degree at The University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library. Brief quotations from this dissertation are allowable without special permission, provided that accurate aclaiowledgment of source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the head of the major department or the Dean of the Graduate College when in his or her judgment the proposed use of the material is in the interests of scholarship. In all other instances, however, permission must be obtained from the author. SIGNED: -SQIliICO 4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The completion of this dissertation would not have been possible without the help of many individuals and institutions, to whom I would like to extend my deeply felt thanlcs. I am grateful to the Department of History at the University of Arizona, the Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation and the Tinker Foundation for providing me with the financial assistance necessary to carry out research in Brazil and to write the dissertation. I owe a special thanlcs to the director of the Arquivo Publico do Estado do Ceara in Fortaleza, Professor Walda Mota Weyne, for her support of my research. I also appreciate the assistance of all the archive's employees who put up with my unceasing requests for documents, and especially, Giuliarmo Fontana Ferreira, the UECE intern, who helped me locate many sources. At UFC, I thank Professor Jose Francisco Pinheiro for sharing with me his own work on Ceara. To my friends in Fortaleza, Saray, Isabela, Valcides and Silmara, I wish to express my gratitude for their solidarity, and for so graciously sharing with me their homes, Geraldo Azevedo, and Sundays at Praia do Futuro. In Cleveland, I would like to thank Professors Joyce Mastboom and Donald Ramos for opening the doors of the library at Cleveland State University. I thank my History professors at the University of Arizona who, throughout the years of my graduate career, guided and supported me in the path of becoming a historian. Professor Kevin Gosner encouraged me to continue on during the most difficult years of graduate school. To Professor Bill Beezley, I extend my thanks for his dedication in offering me opportunities for career development and for his commitment to my research in Brazil. Professor Donna Guy, now at Ohio State University, has taught me how to seriously engage gender in my work. I appreciate her comments on early chapter drafts, which helped me to not lose sight of issues of masculinity in Ceara. And to my dissertation advisor. Professor Bert J. Barickman, I owe my greatest debt of gratitude. His insightful comments on early dissertation chapters helped me to sharpen the focus of my analysis, and I thank him, again and again, for the patience and many hours he spent offering me editorial assistance. Professor Barickman's drive for excellence provided me with an example and inspiration to push myself harder and to achieve the best I could possibly achieve in all my academic work. I would also like to express my deep appreciation to my family, whose help has been significant in my pursuit and completion of a graduate degree. To my uncle Jaime Padilla, I am grateful for having encouraged me to think of graduate school as a possibility in my life. Many thanks to my cousins Edna and Henry Garcia, without whose generous aid, I would not have been able to begin the Ph.D. program. To my parents, Galo and Margarita Santos, I am grateful for having taught me perseverance. I also thanlc them for all the many different ways in which they have supported me throughout these years. And to my husband Sean, I cannot even begin to thank for his unceasing support and encouragement. Undoubtedly, it has been his comfort through the "rivers of tears" I shed in graduate school, his endurance, patience, editorial assistance, love, good food, and humor that have allowed me to come this far and complete this degree. DEDICATION A mis queridos padres, Galo y Margarita, en gratitud por todo su amor, dedicacion y apoyo; and to my husband, Sean. 6 TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 9 LIST OF TABLES 10 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS 11 A NOTE ON WEIGHTS, MEASURES, BRAZILIAN CURRENCY, AND ORTHOGRAPHY 12 ABSTRACT 14 INTRODUCTION 16 Sources and Organization 33 CHAPTER I. A BRIEF MOMENT OF PROSPERITY: TRANSFORMATION, OPPORTUNITY, AND MASCULINE IDENTITY, 1845-1870 40 Geographic Setting and Settlement of the Cearense Backlands 42 Changes in Land Tenure Patterns 54 Smallholders in the Expanding Agricultural and Livestock Economies, mid 1840s- mid 1860s 68 Changing Masculine Identities 91 Conclusions 103 II. COMPETITION FOR SCARCE RESOURCES, HONOR, AND MANHOOD, 1845-1870 106 Competition for Scarce Resources Ill Land, Animals, Water, and Honor 117 7 TABLE OF CONTENTS - Continued Labor and Honor 132 Honor and Family 139 Conclusions 153 III. A CHANGING WORLD: DOWNWARD MOBILITY, DISLOCATION, AND DISHONOR, 1865-1889 157 A Changing World 160 Downward Mobility 171 The Plight of the Young 180 Diversification of Survival Strategies 192 Despair and Dishonor 202 Conclusions 212 IV. "WOMEN ALONE," VIOLENT PATRIARCHY, AND MASCULINE HONOR, 1865-1889 218 Emergence and Rising Importance of "Women Alone" in Backlands Society 221 "Women Alone," Violent Patriarchy, and Masculine Honor 234 Conclusions 251 V. ADVERSITY, VIOLENCE, HONOR, AND MANHOOD, 1865-1889 254 Yoimg Men, Honor, and Violence 256 Access to Resources, the Court System, Violence, and Honor 265 Banditry and Honor 275 Conclusions 289 8 TABLE OF CONTENTS - Continued VL STATE FORMATION IN THE BACKLANDS: DISORDER, VIOLENCE, AND HONOR, 1850-1889 294 Consolidation and Expansion of the Imperial State, 1822-1889 295 From Unity to Order: The Path towards Centralization of the Imperial State, 1822-1850 296 Expansion of the Imperial State into the Backlands of Ceara, 1850-1889 .. 305 State Formation, Disorder and Violence among the Rural Poor 320 Police Soldiers, Army Pra9as, and Disorder 321 Sertanejos, Weapons, and Social (Dis)control 328 Paraguayan War Abroad and Violence at Home 334 Disorder, Violence, and Honor 341 Conclusions 349 CONCLUSIONS 354 GLOSSARY OF PORTUGUESE TERMS 372 WORKS CITED 373 9 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS FIGURE 1.1, Map of Ceara: Principal Physical Features 43 FIGURE 1.2, Individual landholding sizes in hectares. Township of Sao Bernardo de Russas, 1855 59 FIGURE IILl, Access to slaves according to family wealth. Jucas, 1850s-1880s. 174 FIGURE III.2, Individual landholdings per family. Jucas, 1860s-1880s 176 FIGURE III.3, Total gross value of appraised assets according to the age of the oldest surviving child. Jucas, 1850-59 182 FIGURE III.4, Total gross value of appraised assets according to the age of the oldest surviving child. Jucas, 1860-69 183 FIGURE III. 5, Total gross value of appraised assets according to the age of the oldest surviving child. Jucas, 1870-79 184 FIGURE III.6, Total gross value of appraised assets according to the age of the oldest surviving child. Jucas, 1880-89 185 10 LIST OF TABLES TABLE I.l, Population estimates for Ceara. Selected years, 1782-1884 52 TABLE 1.2, Registration of landed property for the township of Sao Gon§alo da Serra dos Cocos, c.