Color and Race in Portuguese America, 1640–1750
Color and Race in Portuguese America, 1640–1750
- Ronald RaminelliRonald RaminelliInstituto de História, Universidade Federal Fluminense
Summary
Color and race are important references for assessing the privileges and barriers that sustained or impeded the social ascension of New Christians, Africans, Indians, and mestiços in the Portuguese world. Questions of race and color had profound links with the Catholic faith and with social exclusion, especially of Afro-descendants. The ideas of race and racism are not static, but were forged over time. Initially, they were strongly influenced by Catholicism and later were incorporated into the scientific knowledge of the 18th and 19th centuries. Therefore, the terms “race” and “racism,” based on 19th-century biological determinism, are not suitable for discussing social relations in the 17th and 18th centuries.
Subjects
- History of Brazil
- 1492–1824
- Afro-Latin History
- Social History
- Slavery and Abolition
