O apadrinhamento de africanos em Minas colonial: o (re)encontro na América (Mariana, 1715-1750)

The present article re-examines the entrenched idea that the baptism of adult Africans slaves in the Americas was a mere formality that did not generate significant bonds between the parties involved. Analyzing godparent-godchild relationships in an important mining center of the Captaincy of Minas Gerais, where Africans constituted an ethnically-diverse majority, the paper argues that not only did the godparents of African slaves tend to be captives themselves, they also often belonged to the same ethnic group as their godchildren. Thus, Christian baptism, instead of helping to eliminate "paganism", was a strong instrument of social integration in the new land that permitted Africans to refind one another, serving to re-affirm their sense of ethnic identity and common origin.