“Homens de caminho”

slaves and freedmen in the trade between the backwoods of Brazil in the 18th century

Abstract

The commercial activities carried out by slaves and freedmen during the 18^th century were analyzed. The social dynamics produced and reproduced by slavery promoted biological and cultural mixtures that marked the relationships between people and social groups in every nook and cranny of life in society. In the Brazilian backwoods, especially the backwoods of Northern Minas and Central Southern Bahia, individuals of different qualities and social conditions were responsible for supplying these mining areas. “Homens de caminho” is the coetaneous expression used to refer to the traders who circulated on the terrestrial and fluvial roads that connected the backwoods. This is also how the managers of the roads and the bidders for royal rights in the auctions for “Bidding Entrance and Route rights” wer called. The fiscal custom journals located all over the routes are the basis of the documentation analyzed in the paper.