Capoeira: The History of an Afro-Brazilian Martial Art

War of Paraguay, such as ‘Humaitá’, ‘City of Asunción’ and possibly ‘Paranaê’. 21 The song ‘I was at home’
tells the story of a man at home, ‘not thinking nor imagining anything’, ‘when someone knocked on the
door, Solomon asked for him, to help win the War of Paraguay’. 22 It is rather here that the significance of the
war for the history of capoeira lies.
The aftermath of abolition
THE CAPOEIRA SCENE IN BAHIA 101
The emancipation of the bondsmen who fought in the War of Paraguay also contributed to undermining
slavery. The institution had been under attack for several decades until abolition was finally brought about
in 1888. International pressure, the Abolitionist movement mainly supported by the urban middle classes, as
well as the slaves’ own struggle for freedom all contributed to that outcome. The more entrepreneurial
planters—mainly located in the Southeast—had already provided for alternative solutions (free immigrant
labour) whilst granting concessions to make the transition as gradual and orderly as possible. The final
demise of slavery came therefore as no great surprise for most slave owners. In Bahia, however, a
significant number of planters stuck their head in the sand and ignored the winds of change. As a result,
abolition disrupted sugar production in the Recôncavo and hastened the decline of the industry. During the
first decades of the twentieth century cacao became the prime product of the Bahian economy. Yet cacao
was only cultivated in the southern part of the Bahia, in the coastal region around Itabuna, which therefore
became the new agricultural powerhouse of the state. Sugar production, albeit in decline, continued to rule
in the Recôncavo.
How much change did abolition bring? If contemporary accounts insist on the epic battle to overthrow
slavery and highlight the heroism of local abolitionists, later research tends to emphasize continuities. As
the Black Movement likes to point out today, formal freedom for slaves was not accompanied by access to
land or education, and thus it was a ‘false’ abolition. Many former slaves had no alternative other than to
continue toiling on plantations or sugar factories. Some tried to retreat into the subsistence economy, which
was not easy in the case of the Recôncavo, where planters had monopolized access to land for centuries.
Eventually some estates were broken up and a few fortunate ex-slaves could acquire land. A great number,
however, settled on spots not suitable for agriculture along the waterfront and tried to carve out a living from
the sea. Fishing and other activities of the sea therefore figure prominently among themes of capoeira
songs. One of the most famous capoeiras from Santo Amaro, for instance, was nicknamed ‘Swamp crab’ (Siri
de Mangue). Many ex-slaves and their descendants from the Recôncavo emigrated further south into the
cacao belt or moved to the cities, especially those of the Southeast. Among them were many capoeiras who
contributed to spreading their art (see Chapter 7).
In summary, the post-emancipation period, in particular the First Republic (1889–1930), was a moment
of difficult readjustment for the ‘old mulatto woman’ (velha mulata), as Bahia was sometimes called by the
Southeastern newspapers. Even for the majority of white or mestiço abolitionists, emancipating the slaves
had never entailed the elimination of racial hierarchies. The elimination of slave status and of property
requirements resulted in the formal equality of blacks and whites, poor and rich under the new constitution
(1891). Therefore alternative mechanisms to assert white and elite domination became imperative. The
disenfranchisement of the former slaves and the uneducated masses was now granted in part through the
requirement of literacy for voters. Political clientelism, whereby a powerful landowner or his representative
received votes in exchange for favours, further guaranteed elite control of elections and the political process.
The abolition of slavery also required new policies regulating the public sphere. The fear of slave
rebellions could no longer justify the repression of Afro-Bahian culture. Initially the post-emancipation
years saw a modest public assertion of Afro-Bahians and their culture. In Santo Amaro, for instance,