CalabouçoPrison

A royal charter of 1693 ordered the construction of a "dungeon or public house for the punishment of slaves. The charter forbade masters (...) from using iron instruments in punishments and from condemning slaves to private imprisonment." It was from this charter that the Calabouço, the only prison of the period dedicated exclusively to the punishment of enslaved people, emerged.

Built within the complex of the Forte de São Tiago (later Ponta do Calabouço), at the base of the Morro do Castelo, the Calabouço was the destination of many enslaved people condemned either by the State or by their own enslavers. It was enough for the latter to pay a fee to the Crown in order to cover the cost of the lashes the enslaved person received and the subsequent medical care, as well as the food and the length of stay in the dark, foul-smelling space of the prison.

Image description: This is a color painting depicting a prison. On the left side, we see Black prisoners tied up and standing, some of them wearing simple clothing. In the center, a man in a suit and hat is raising a leafy branch. On the right, a prisoner is tied to a column, while others look on. In the background, soldiers in uniforms and helmets are inside an architectural structure. The painting was created by Augustus Earle in 1822 and is available at the National Library of Australia.

With no need to prove the offense committed, the slaveholders shifted the torture from the domestic space to the State, which reaped high profits from this “service provision.” Jean-Baptiste Debret – a painter with the French artistic mission in Brazil in 1816 – reported that, every morning, huge lines of enslaved people to be punished formed in front of the Calabouço. These people sometimes received more than a hundred lashes. Some couldn't withstand it and ended up dying.

Besides whipping, a very common punishment for enslaved people held in the city's jails was labor on public works, especially after the arrival of the Portuguese Royal Family in 1808, when the need to improve urban infrastructure increased. Before that, however, captives were already being used in civil construction. It was with the profits from incarceration and with the labor of prisoners from the Calabouço that the Passeio Público (1783) was built, for example.

Image description: This is a black and white engraving depicting the entrance to the Passeio Público, located near the Calabouço Prison. The image shows classical architecture with a portal adorned by decorative elements, such as vases and columns. On the left, there is a structure covered by a curtain, where two individuals are interacting. On the right, several figures dressed in period clothing are distributed along the path, some appearing to be in poses of service or conversation. In the background, trees and an open view toward the horizon complete the scene.

Subjected to the heaviest labor, often chained, the enslaved people left the Calabouço in the morning and spent the day "quarrying stone, building roads, transporting heavy objects (...), cleaning the streets and removing garbage and excrement from government buildings."

The prison operated at Ponta do Calabouço until 1813, when it was transferred to Morro do Castelo. In 1838, the Calabouço was decommissioned and became a wing in the then newly built Casa de Correção (Frei Caneca street), erected with the labor of enslaved prisoners.

A century after the prison's definitive closure, the Museu Histórico Nacional and Santos Dumont airport came to occupy the site, and few people know about the existence of the Calabouço. This is yet another example of how the criminal past of over 300 years of slavery was buried throughout history.

Image description: This is a historic black-and-white photograph. The image shows a panoramic view of a coastal city with several historic buildings. On the left side, there is a large building with a tower, possibly a lighthouse or bell tower, surrounded by several smaller structures. In the center, there is a large architectural complex with sloped roofs and ornamental details. On the right, there is a building with a dome, likely a theater or palace. In the background, there is a calm sea with a few boats and distant islands. The sky is clear, and mountains form the horizon line. In the lower right corner of the image, there is a dated inscription reading "Rio-18-10-922" and "Exp.1922-V.Panoramic -9333".