Les Porteurs : forme de domination et agents de changement en Angola (XVIIe-XIXe siècles)

Abstract

The Portuguese colonial bureaucracy started thinking about the problem of « porters » from the second half of the 17th century, it was alarmed by the great number of Africans who were deserting the country in reaction to the exactions put on them by the merchants and set tiers. Documents put in evidence the existence of several and rather entangled conflicts : between the colonial administration in Lisbon and the civil servants sent to Angola on the one hand ; and between the rich merchants who prefered to stay on the coast and the poor ones who, in order to reduce the prices, went to look for slaves on the other, and lastly there was a conflict between merchants and soldiers, who controlled the military means indispensable in the recruitment of porters. These conflicts worsened in the 18th century, and enlightened governors tried to change the system in Angola, through the development of big farms, of mineral ressources and of iron-metallurgy. The failure of these various projects reveal how impossible it was to modernize the Portuguese colonial system in which porters played a big part. It is also important to look at the consequences of the mobilization of African porters who were thus taken out of their social structure. In order to do so, it was necessary to assess the total number of those who were recruited for commercial activities by Europeans as well by Africans. The statistics show that the slave trade and the trade of goods involved a readaptation of all the African social groups that came into contact with the European commercial system. The approximate total number of porters is estimated at over 4% of the whole of Angola. In conclusion, one can say that the study concerning the carriage System and the porters allows a deep analysis about the processus of the Portuguese's domination over Angolan population. Besides it élucidâtes the extrem rigidity of the Portuguese looting system.