Summary

Brazil was the largest single destination in the transatlantic slave trade, receiving approximately 4.5 million of the 10 million individuals who survived the Middle Passage. This vast population was not perceived as homogeneous. Instead, its diverse African origins were classified under the term “nação” (“nation”), a designation with fluid connotations that varied based on context and the perspectives of those using it. The considerable ethnic diversity led merchants and settlers to rely on heuristic shortcuts to try to predict the behavior of individuals from different African backgrounds, often resorting to stereotypes based on slavery interests. In response to pressures from slaveowners and Portuguese colonial administrators, Africans adopted these classifications but did so on their own terms, infusing them with personal narratives of belonging that partially restored their original complexity. These dynamics influenced the social organization of enslaved and freed people within Catholic lay brotherhoods, where devotions to black saints and their festivals were organized around a nuanced interpretation of ethnic identity that merged their African heritage with their experiences in Brazil. Additionally, other forms of social organization, such as black militias and malungo (shipmate) communities formed by those who had crossed the Atlantic together, transcended nação (nation) divisions. For colonial administrators, the variety of nations was a crucial element in social control strategies, as they believed that mixing disparate groups would hinder the formation of unified leadership among enslaved and freed communities.