Currently, some cases of crime are commonly reported in some Brazilian city whose author goes unpunished. Well, this disastrous feature of our society is not something new. The practice of impunity dates back to the time of colonization. Colonial impunity was related to the atmosphere of the precarious administrative organizations of Colonial Brazil, especially with regard to the application of the penal code and the habit of “acquitting” someone guilty for having promoted something “beneficial” for some captaincy, as we will see. in an example later on.
The criminal legislation that the Portuguese metropolis applied to its colonies, including Brazil, was based on Book V of the Philippine Ordinances. The penalties prescribed by him included capital punishment (that is, death) and exile (exile). However, as pointed out by several historians, among them Maria José and Arno Wehling, in Colonial Brazil, there was no rigidity in the application of these penalties to criminals here. And, when the penalty was imposed, the convict usually did not fulfill it in full. In this way, several individuals who were sentenced to exile and sent to Angola, for example, returned before the period of their sentence had expired.
In addition, the crimes committed in Brazil in the 17th and 18th centuries reached a large number, given the proportion between criminal occurrences and the number of people who inhabited the captaincies. Bloody crimes, such as murder, were commonly practiced in the colony. The aforementioned researchers, Maria and Arno Wehling, recorded in their work The formation of Colonial Brazil that:
“An 18th century traveler commented that Brazil was the place in the world where people were killed to order at cheaper prices, and it was actually common to hire slaves to kill rivals and enemies. In eighteenth-century Minas Gerais there were, for a time, about eighty slaves legally executed per year, accused of murder. Despite this, chroniclers and travelers often comment on the great impunity that existed in the country, including the frequent use of the crime of treason, of ambush.” (Wehling, Arno; Wehling, Maria José C. De M. The formation of Colonial Brazil . Rio de Janeiro:Nova Fronteira, 1994. p. 267.)
A famous case of impunity dating from the 18th century is the participation of the pioneer Borba Cat in the assassination of Lieutenant General Dom Rodrigo from Castle White. Borba Gato got away with this crime for having been the discoverer of the Sabará mines. As stated in our first paragraph, the “utility” or “benefit” that the discovery of the aforementioned mines provided to the colonial economy also guaranteed the aforementioned bandeirante exemption from guilt in that crime.
The pioneer Borba Gato got away with a crime for being responsible for the discovery of the gold mines of Sabará
Arno and Maria Vehling also highlighted that the main crimes committed at that time were:“smuggling, theft, robbery, concubinage, bigamy, connections with quilombos, prostitution, counterfeiting of currency, desertion of military regiments, witchcraft and crimes of passion. The latter deserve special mention for their extent and consequences.” (Wehling, Arno; Wehling, Maria José C. De M. The formation of Colonial Brazil . Rio de Janeiro:Nova Fronteira, 1994. p. 267.)
Crimes of passion were recurrent especially in the cities of Salvador (then the capital) and Rio de Janeiro. A man was allowed to "wash his honor in blood" in case of betrayal (usually suspected betrayal) by his wife. This legal peculiarity further stimulated the amount of crimes committed. It was also in these cities where most crimes in the colony took place, although other cities also recorded high rates, such as São Vicente, which, in 1613, had a proportion of 65 outlaws for each group of 190 residents.
*Image credits:Commons
**Image credits:Commons