Palmares was unique in several senses and it had many natural advantages as well as those brought about by the population which would continue to grow throughout its existence. Although several of the smaller quilombos were destined to fail for a number of reasons (physical availability to attacking outsiders, lack of provisions and suitable conditions for sustainable agriculture, for instance) Palmares “spanned almost the entire seventeenth century. Between 1672 and 1694, it withstood, on the average, on Portuguese expedition every fifteen months” (Price 173). Although there are several other important factors that contributed to its success, one of the most crucial, especially for the colony after it was first founded, was its unique geographical location. “The site of the quilombo of Palmares was a mountainous region, steep and precipitous—a natural defense for the inhabitants—but at the same time a virgin land whose exuberance was considered the best in the state of Pernambuco. The many fruit trees gave easy sustenance to those who knew where they were and timber trees served various industrial uses” (Diggs 64). Since it was virtually surrounded on all sides by harsh terrain, the possibility that the Portuguese would attack was greatly reduced. Inside of this “natural wall” of protection was an agricultural hot-spot. The soil was rich and fertile and within a few years of its founding, Palmares’ list of crops expanded from the basic beans and corn to include sugar cane as well as a host of other vegetables. The surrounding woodlands offered some game and eventually a small number of animals (mostly stolen from surrounding plantations) were domesticated. In addition to this, medicinal plants and wild fruits allowed the fugitives to enjoy some degree of good health—better than might have been expected under the “care” of their Portuguese or Dutch masters.

While this may seem like something of a Garden of Eden in some ways, especially in terms of the self-sufficiency provided by the agriculture and environment, this was not always a blissful location for the ex-slave, Indian, or woman in the community. Freedom was certainly a prize, but the political structure of the quilombo at Palmares was by no means based on an egalitarian structure.  “Combining republican and monarchial features, they elected a chief, or king, called the Zombe, who ruled with absolute authority during the term of his life”(Chapman 34). While this did provide a framework for governance of the large population, there was little recourse if one did not agree with the Zombe. With so many radically different cultures (Native Indian as well as Africans from different regions of Africa) there was no cultural middle ground. The best that can be said of the governmental structure in the quilombo is that it maintained at its hilt defiance against whites. The general population was, just as before, split into a number of groups that ranked in various orders along the social scale. For instance, one of the most prevalent distinctions made within the quilombo was between African slaves themselves. If a slave left his plantation willingly and joined the Palmares quilombo, he would become free upon entering the community. If, however, the slave was in service when a plantation was raided, he would remain a slave, even at Palmares. This naturally led to some tension within the quilombo but the difference was that slavery was at the hands of a more familiar form of governance than on the white plantation and thus it might have been an at least acceptable change of one’s situation. There were further issues in the political structure in terms of laws as well. Any suspicion of witchcraft was immediately punished with death and a number of other religious infractions would constitute the same punishment such as murder and adultery.

“In 1696, Governor Caetano de Mello of Pernambuco decided upon an expedition against Palmares. A strong force was sent, but was met by the negroes and totally defeated” (Chapman 38). After this fiasco, the Portuguese soldiers regained their strength and came back again that same year, this time with heavy artillery. Faced with such an unnatural disadvantage, there was little question of Portuguese victory in the battle. Instead of giving in and offering surrender, however, the inhabitants of Palmares stayed locked within their gates and hoped for the best. As the Portuguese soldiers infiltrated the community, however, all hope was lost. Refusing to be beat by the whites, the Zombe and many of his men leaped off of a cliff. Those who remained behind were put to death, despite the fact that they could have simply been taken back in as slave labor. One can only assume that the Portuguese did not wish to have these ex-slaves back on their property again, especially after they had tasted some degree of freedom. Furthermore, they were likely quite fearful of the possibility of future slave insurrections and wished to make an example out of the once-renowned quilombo at Palmares. Unfortunately, although the quilombo did show Africans that there were possibilities, this certainly did not end the slave trade. There was the small hope that slave-owners would at least be more likely to bargain about rights with their slaves but this proved to be a false dream. Although other small quilombos arose after the tragic fall of the greatest example, slavery returned to its previous states and the whites reasserted their power.

Aside from the end of the community there are some important elements to remember and issues to explore. For example, despite these problems within the Palmares quilombo and its eventual demise, the mixed community did quite well until it was raided and defeated by a Portuguese force. Two essential questions arise in any discussion of the Palmares quilombo that still persist. First of all, what were the founding reasons for why this quilombo was formed and secondly, how much of the reason had to do with white slave owner’s sense of panic? These are difficult questions to answer and despite the wealth of scholarly information on the topic, there are no definitive answers. It seems that the quilombo at Palmares was formed out of a sense of rebellion and resistance to white colonists’ efforts to undermine their status as human beings. Slaves have been treated miserably, especially at this dawn of the slave trade and it was a natural impulse to revolt against such strict control. Once the unspoken mood of resistance and rebellion took over, it quickly spread and this rapidity with which it went across regions of Brazil was faster than the colonist’s efforts to quell it. By the time they might have been able to halt to the progress of the quilombo at Palmares, the population of the maroon settlement had grown to such a size that there was little they could but submit to the fact that they had not reacted quickly enough. Eventually, after the realization sunk in that they would be best to counter such a large angry force, their fear became the Palmares residents’ best ally. Without the use of force they were successfully able to be on equal footing with their white masters who, for so long, had dominated them.

his is complicated even further when we realize that those inhabitants of Palmares were striving to become “equals” in terms of trade, especially, with their former masters. Interestingly, the argument about resistance and rebellion could be easily countered when one recalls that there was a time of relative peace that occurred between the colonists and the inhabitants of Palmares. The maroon population did little during this time to further its cause of rebellion and instead remained content to keep the situation at the level of mere civility for the sake of trade. The reason why this complicates the argument that the Palmares quilombo was founded and maintained out of sheer rebellion and resistance is because once they secured some degree of control, they did little to enhance this, choosing only to make it work for them in terms of trade. If one disagreed with the argument that the whole movement at Palmares was based on resistance and rebellion, it would be quite simple to offer the counter-argument that if this was their cause, they would have tried to regulate the slave trade and make demands that would offer a much more long-lasting benefit than trade would. While this is a legitimate counter-argument, it seems that the maroon society at Palmares did not simply lose its rebellious slant or give up its ideas about white resistance, but that they simply became far too comfortable in their created community. Instead of seeing the possibility for white retaliation, they may have thought that their settlement would continue forever and would always keep the whites at bay through the sheer force of its population alone. While the Zombe did keep a well-trained army (Schwartz 231) the knowledge that they had already “conquered” white rule through fear via their large population proved enough. In sum, while it might be suggested that the revolutionary spirit of resistance may have fizzled out, this was not due to a lack of sentiment, but rather it was because the leaders of the Palmares quilombo grew overly confident in their position. Otherwise, it would be reasonable to posit they would have continued to use violence until their demands for freedom were realized.

Given this analysis of the quilombo at Palmares, it is useful to put it into historical and theoretical context. Much of the scholarship on the subject offers little in the way “middle ground” stances and most assessments are either almost wholly culturalist or materialist. While this essay has taken an almost completely materialist view, there are some aspects related to the culturalist argument that are particularly valid and are inexorably intertwined with any solid materialist argument. To further highlight this paradox, it is necessary to first offer a brief summary of each argument before putting it into the context of the argument presented in this study. “In the 1930s and 40s, a culturalist approach to quilombo studies flourished, according to which the social organization of runaway slave groups represented resistance against European acculturation in the plantation quarters” (Reis 57). In other words, this view suggests that the quilombo was formed in opposition to the cultural oppression that occurred during slavery. A culturalist argument would maintain that the reason these settlements of fugitives developed was in response to their need to maintain their African culture, which was strictly forbidden by the whites on plantations. Under this theory, the formation of quilombos was based upon a need to maintain one’s cultural identity, but there are a few problems inherent to this. For instance, this undermines the importance of true oppression, particularly that which was physical and emotional. Families being separated by slave sales, beatings at the hands of cruel masters—all of these types of rampant human rights abuses are not taken into account in any meaningful way. Furthermore, this argument is weakened by the fact that it ignores the divisions even within slave culture that were suggested earlier. The idea that since all African slaves came from the continent is far too general—their cultures would have varies dramatically and they all would have a very particular understanding of what was and was not important. In sum, culturalist arguments are far too general and attempt to reinvigorate that “Garden of Eden” problem that was mentioned previously. While some aspects of this almost “proto-socialist commune” idea may be detectable, it was by no means a cultural paradise. Just because these people were untied under the banner of race (which itself is not true because the Indians were present as well) does not mean they are united by culture.

There are some appealing aspects to the culturalist debate that can be applied rather conveniently to the thesis suggested in this study. The problem is, this study takes culture and its meaning and subverts it for a different purpose that is more realistic than the way it is used by culturalists. Thus far it has been suggested that the mix of cultures led to the success of the Palmares quilombo, but this has nothing to do with race or culture as the culturalists would define it. Instead, the culture that is the roots of the uprising is the culture of racial oppression. As mentioned, the black Africans and the native Indians were all united in their rejection of the white colonists. In order to produce the best possible outcome for all, they put aside differingtraditional cultures and created a new one in response to a grave situation—a culture of reaction. While this may be stretching the culturalist view to its breaking point, it is nonetheless helpful to think about culture as a vital part of the experience at Palmares. It is completely integrated with the materialist view as long as it is employed reasonably and does not attempt to project any sense of an idealistic state formed out of a unified culture which never existed in the first place.

A materialist argument insists that it is the cruelty and inhumanity of slavery that drove the fugitives to form Palmares. In this argument, culture is actually not excluded because it includes all forms of ill treatment and abuse. This seems to be by far the most reasonable and realistic way of thinking about the quilombos because it takes into account both of these aspects. Slaves were often treated as sub-humans which offended both their cultural sense as well as their sensibilities as human beings. The only resistance available was often flight (with or without the fight) and this became the primary mode of escaping the harsh cruelty of forced servitude.

Other essays and articles related to this topic can be found in the History Archives at ArticleMyriad •

<Return to Page 1 of 2

References

Chapman. “Palmares: The Negro Numantia.” Journal of Negro History 3.1 (1918).

Diggs. “Zumbi and the Republic of Os Palmares.” Phylon 14.1 (1953).

Freyres, Gilberto. The Masters and the Slaves: A study in the development of Brazilian civilization. New York: Knopf (1956).

Gomes. “Slavery, Black Peasants and Post-Emancipation Society in Brazil (Nineteenth Century Rio de Janeiro).” Social Identities 10.6 (2004).

Reis, Joao Jose. “Quilombo: Brazilian Maroons during slavery.” Cultural Survival Quarterly 25.4 (2002).

Shwartz, S.B. Rethinking Palmares: Slave resistance in Colonial Brazil. In Schwartz, S.B. Slaves, Peasants, and Rebels. Urbana: University of Illinois Press (1992).