Handwritten note from Princess Isabel

Princess Isabel, exiled in France, comments on the controversial subject of Vilarejos da Liberdade.

• Handwritten note from Princess Isabel to Mr. Massa.
• In French.
• Undated, in France.
• 13.7 cm x 9.6 cm.
• Excellent condition.
• Unique piece.

Dear Mr. Massa,

My thanks for the precious books you have just sent me for my dear Vilarejos de Liberdade. You have all my sympathy.

Isabelle Countess of Eu

Since childhood, we Brazilians have been taught that May 13th should be celebrated, since it was on this date, in 1888, that Princess Isabel signed the well-known Lei Áurea (Golden Law), which put an end to slavery in Brazil. Today, we know that the use of the word “end” in relation to the forced labor of Africans brought to the country is, at the very least, questionable, since traces of this practice still permeate our society today. Even so, the Lei Áurea is a historic milestone in this long journey of seeking equality, and hence the great importance of the woman who signed it. But, after all, what was the actual relationship between Princess Isabel and the abolitionist movement?

There is much debate about the true abolitionist spirit of the monarch who made slavery illegal in Brazil. Could Isabel have acted with the well-being of the slaves in mind? It is known that, in the last decades of the 19th century, the end of slavery was already a path of no return, no matter how much the slave-owning aristocracy tried to postpone it, as it did in Brazil, the last country in the Americas to sign the abolition law. Despite all the opposition, the freedom train would eventually arrive at the station, since the external and internal pressure for abolition was very strong. That said, the act of signing this law may have been, in Isabel's eyes, a last gasp in the fight to keep the monarchy strong, another institution that, at the time, was already crumbling. Could this have been the only reason for the princess's illustrious attitude?

To rekindle this discussion, new historical documents seem to demonstrate Princess Isabel's interest in the subject of slavery beyond the Brazilian situation. One of them is the letter in which she thanks the books sent to her beloved Vilarejos da Liberdade. But what were these villages after all? In French West Africa, between 1887 and 1910, the Vilarejos da Liberdade were created with an initially noble purpose: to welcome slaves freed during the abolition of slavery. However, their use soon became corrupt, and the villages became granaries for forced labor for the French administration, which built such villages close to its centers of power and organized them as prisons. The living and working conditions were so deplorable that the workers who managed to escape preferred to submit to an African master rather than return to serving the French colonizers.

New information brings to light aspects that help us unravel the complexity of the characters that populate our story. What could Princess Isabel's interest in the so-called Freedom Villages be? Did she study them during her stay in France? Perhaps this model of freedom interested her in applying it in Brazil? If so, did she know the real purpose of these villages? All these unanswered questions still generate great intrigue, but it is a fact that the Brazilian monarch's correspondence demonstrates a concern for the subject.