Palmares’ political system drew on several central African models
Evidence
Ramos writes: “The customs and usages of Palmares were modelled on those of Bantu origin with such changes and adaptations as the needs of a community in the new world required. On this, as well as many other points, our sources of information are inadequate.” … Kent, almost a quarter of a century later, concurs: “Assuming that Loanda was the main embarkation point for Pemambucan slaves, which is confirmed by the linguistic evidence, the model for Palmares could have come from nowhere else but central Africa. Can it be pinpointed? … The most likely answer is that the political system did not derive from a particular central African model, but from several. Only a far more detailed study of Palmares through additional sources in the archives of Angola and Torre do Tombo could refine the answer.” — Cedric J. Robinson, Black Marxism_ The Making of the Black…, 1941
Categorization
- DEFINE: Clarifies that Palmares drew on a fusion of central African political models rather than any single one.
- XREF: Connects to the Black radical tradition’s documented African institutional continuity, one basis of Robinson’s thesis. — connects to: Palmares was a large, durable autonomous African state in Brazil.; Palmares’ political authority derived from Central African Bantu political conceptions.; African political traditions, not just European ideas, shaped insurgent concepts of rule (+1 more)
- corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Cedric J. Robinson, Black Marxism_ The Making of the Black…, 1941