Atuação da Maçonaria no processo de abolição da escravidão no Brasil.

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to analyze the abolitionist movement in Brazil from the perspective of the participation and contribution that the Freemasonry played in the struggle for the abolition of slavery. In the first part of this research, we focus on analyzing the origin, foundation and formation of Freemasonry, from two different historiographical perspectives commonly presented on the subject, the first, Operative Freemasonry, and the second, Speculative Freemasonry. Also, describing in the analysis the arrival of the Freemasonry in Brazil. In the second part of the paper we analyze the historical context of Brazilian slavery and the participation and contribution of Freemasonry in the abolitionist movement in defense of slave freedom, highlighting the activities that Masonic lodges developed to give freedom to Brazilian slaves. In the third part of this research, we analyze and discuss the relationship of interest that arose from Freemasonry members, in the people of Luiz Gama and Joaquim Nabuco, had within society, especially towards the abolitionist movements and the interest they saw within the Masonic environment, as a space for the defense of the Brazilian abolitionist cause. The research was made from the minutes of Masonic meetings, decrees of the lodges and newspapers of the time, which shows the relevant contribution that the Masonic lodges developed in defense of the freedom of the Brazilian slave. The methodology worked was basically to analyze the records of the Masonic lodges and the newspapers, which are referenced throughout the work.