Novas raças, novas doenças: a possibilidade colonizadora por meio da mistura racial em History of Brazil (1810-1819) de Robert Southey / New races, new diseases: the possibility of colonization through racial mixing in History of Brazil (1810-1819) by Robert Southey

Resumo A possibilidade de o clima alterar o temperamento de pessoas não nativas de determinada região era crença difundida desde antes do descobrimento da América. As mudanças de ar, temperatura e alimentação, acreditava-se, poderiam contribuir decisivamente para a degeneração ou o florescimento das raças. No Novo Mundo, as raças negra, europeia e indígena foram mescladas, reconfigurando doenças europeias. Exploro neste artigo como, na avaliação do historiador Robert Southey, essa mistura de raças foi tida como bastante positiva, principalmente a do indígena com a do português, que gerava o mameluco. Os paulistas, que eram mamelucos, foram apresentados em History of Brazil como herdeiros do temperamento empreendedor português e da infatigabilidade indígena.

Abstract The possibility that the climate altered the temperament of people who were not native to a given region was a widely held belief even before the discovery of the Americas. Changes in air, temperature, and diet were believed to contribute decisively to whether races degenerated or flourished. In the New World, the black, European, and indigenous races mixed, reconfiguring European diseases. I explore how historian Robert Southey viewed this mixture of races in a positive light, especially the mixture of indigenous and Portuguese blood, resulting in the mameluco. The mamelucos from São Paulo are presented in Southey’s History of Brazil as inheriting the Portuguese enterprising spirit with the tireless nature of the indigenous people.

New races, new diseases: the possibility of colonization through racial mixing in History of Brazil (1810-1819) by Robert Southey. / Novas raças, novas doenças: a possibilidade colonizadora por meio da mistura racial em History of Brazil (1810-1819) de Robert Southey.

The possibility that the climate altered the temperament of people who were not native to a given region was a widely held belief even before the discovery of the Americas. Changes in air, temperature, and diet were believed to contribute decisively to whether races degenerated or flourished. In the New World, the black, European, and indigenous races mixed, reconfiguring European diseases. I explore how historian Robert Southey viewed this mixture of races in a positive light, especially the mixture of indigenous and Portuguese blood, resulting in the mameluco. The mamelucos from São Paulo are presented in Southey's History of Brazil as inheriting the Portuguese enterprising spirit with the tireless nature of the indigenous people.