The abolitionist dynamics in São Paulo's Masonic lodges (1850-1888)

Abstract

This article aims to discuss the participation of São Paulo Freemasonry in the abolitionist process in the city of São Paulo. Masonic protagonism over the emancipationist agenda did not materialize in the city, even though the organization has brought together the main names of local abolitionism. The analysis of the record books of the Masonic lodge America and Piratininga and other documents shows the internal disputes and the fragmentation of the anti-slavery discourse in this sociability space, in between 1850 the 1888.