Race, Crime, and Punishment in Colonial Brazil: The Case of “A Conspiração dos Alfaiates,” Bahia, 1798

Of all the pre-independence movements for social and political reform which occurred in late colonial Brazil, the Conspiração dos Alfaiates (Tailor's Conspiracy) of 1798 was one of the most far reaching not only in its aim to end slavery and racial inequality but also in its physical makeup. It brought together a diverse group of persons from different professions, categories of wealth, social statuses, and perhaps more importantly, from different racial and color categories. Although the arrests were concluded at the beginning of the new year, the devassas, or judicial investigations, were not concluded until November of 1799, when Bahian colonial authorities publicly convicted and sentenced those whom they judged guilty. Most notably, four mulattoes and pardos were found guilty of leading and organizing the conspiracy. Accordingly, these four men were publicly executed by being hanged, drawn, and quartered, their hands and heads being afterward severed from their bodies and displayed in prominent locations throughout the city for five days. This paper interrogates the how race functioned in the punishment not only of the four men executed but of others who suffered lesser punishments as well. It is argued that although colonial authorities attempted to publicly proclaim that lower class mulatto artisans were responsible for the conspiracy, the punishments received by other so-called conspirators defies such a neatly demarcated race-based logic. Social occupation, status, and social relationships such as patronage networks and friendships also played a heavy role in determining one's punishment for suspected complicity in the conspiracy.