Letters to the Emperor: the requests for pardon by defendants' slaves and the decision of October 17, 1872.

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to analyze the decision of Emperor Dom Pedro II dated from October 17, 1872, to manumit defendants' slaves who were forgiven of a life sentence. That is, with this decision, the slaves that were pardoned by the monarch of a life sentence in prison, no longer would be required to return to their masters control, they were fully free. While not complete unknown to researches of slavery, the 1872 decision has yet been little explored. The purpose of this paper is to analyze both the debate leading up to the resolution of the monarch in 1872, took place in the Ministry of Justice and the Justice section of the State Council, but also examines the profile of released defendants, the frequency with which slaves were pardoned by Dom Pedro II and the impact of these actions in the emancipation process. Also it is important to analyze the relationship between the decision of 1872 and the intensification of the process of sending forgiveness letters by slave defendants to the Emperor in subsequent years.

Keywords: Slavery; Emancipation; Moderating Power; Defendants' slaves.