“MONSTROUS AND ILLEGAL PROCEEDINGS”: LAW ...

familial connections on the Brazilian side of the frontier. These cross-border networks of
solidarity played a critical role in forging some limited rights for slaves and other marginal
groups as they moved throughout the borderlands space. We can see vividly how this
worked at Pedro’s trial when his mother and other family members in Tacuarembó offered
testimony regarding Pedro’s baptism in Uruguay. Pedro’s mother, Catarina, had not only
retained possession of Pedro’s baptismal records, but was also in a position to bring this
written evidence to the Salto courts. 21
In this sense, the construction of Pedro’s citizenship was a collective enterprise
undertaken by his family. 22 The family spent resources, both in crossing borders and
producing evidence in court, to protect Pedro’s status as a free Uruguayan. Pooling
resources from across the borderlands to forge legal rights made sense. The family no doubt
understood the perilous proximity of the Brazilian slave system. Pedro’s own testimony
indicated that his former masters had attempted on several occasions to reenslave other
members of his family in Uruguay. Facing a collective threat to its freedom, the family had
to develop a cohesive strategy to check the power of Brazilian masters to extend the slave
system across the border. This strategy revolved around emphasizing their own identity as
Uruguayan citizens and their right to legal protection from their own government against
foreign incursions.
Pedro’s case in Salto presented a critical test for the family’s long-term project to
solidify its claims to Uruguayan citizenship and freedom. They appeared well prepared for
juridical conflict. In the face of legal documents establishing Pedro’s citizenship, testimony
from family members and records of military service, Cándido had to backtrack. He now
21 Ibid., 4bis.
22 Ademir Gebara, O Mercado de Trabalho Livre no Brasil, 1871-1888 (São Paulo, SP:
Brasiliense, 1986), 129-30, Petiz, Buscando a Liberdade.
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