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437:– also known as Mirandinha. His main activities consisted in buying goods in America and distributing them to his agents, who travelled to the African interior and exchanged them for slaves. Arsénio promoted then the export of slaves to Brazilian markets, relying upon a web of front men who signed record books and documentation on his behalf, keeping his name unblemished.
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It seems unlikely that Pompeu de Carpo became a freemason in
Portugal, which he left for Angola in 1824 to return, once again as a prisoner, only in 1845. Angolan scholar Carlos Pacheco is inclined to think that he received his initiation in jail, but Brazil is another possible option, since at least
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The only slave trader that I met in Angola lived there as a prince. That was a professional necessity, rather than a matter of extravagance or natural bent for luxury. A slave trader basically depends on authorities' tolerance and benevolence: the only way to attract powerful friends is to act as a
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This was a risky activity: the ephemeral character of such profession was explained by the fact that officially outlawed slave traders were often no longer able to secure their business by simply bribing the authorities or buying the silence of associates who proved to be too greedy or ambitious.
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was Angola's main import to be exchanged in the interior for slaves. Arsénio probably worked also as a representative for a well-established trader between 1826 and 1830. Slave traders tried to exploit the period encompassing the issue of the treaty between
Britain and Portugal for the
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traffic had been a serious blow to Luanda traders, instead of renouncing their luxurious lifestyles they tended to turn luxury into a powerful social weapon which, at the same time, allowed them to both confront the central government and obtain respect or recognition from the
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During this period he also managed the supply of
British ships at the harbour of Luanda, profusely offering his estates to influent British friends, who apparently ignored that their man in Luanda was one of the last slave traders in the area. In 1848 he even travelled to
650:, he spent his last years desperately trying to restore his discredited reputation: he published the documentation attesting to his presumed innocence and made a living out of legal trade. He never managed to get rid of the tag of slave smuggler. He died in 1869.
268:. However, the choice of similar names also denotes a touch of megalomania, the evidence of his need to stand out, and it can be considered as the first step towards a career based on self-promotion which culminated in the middle of the 19th century.
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of the slave trade and its coming into force before leaving for Brazil, aware of the fact that Angola would fall on hard times. It seems that Arsénio followed the trend: after serving his ban and after being imprisoned again because of some
372:. Back then, in Angola, that was a logic choice for a political exile: inns were privileged gathering places where business, politics and plots were discussed. New ideas fecundated in Angola after the success of the liberal revolutions in
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in 1837, rapidly became their leader. Taking advantage of his literary skills, he wrote several times to Lisbon asking for the perpetuation of the traffic and accusing "overzealous ministers and ill-informed councillors" of unleashing an
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However, by the time of his return to Luanda, Arsénio was an accomplished and wealthy cosmopolitan gentleman, creating a sensation in the capital for the sophisticated luxury he liked to display. In fact, even if the abolition of the
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where, backed up by
Septembrist left wing press and freemasonry, he had the chance to maintain his standard of living. Discharged for lack of evidence from the accusation of slave trade and misuse of power as a member of the
618:. In 1849, as soon as Pedro Alexandrino da Cunha left the province, Arsénio de Carpo returned to Luanda, re-established his network and then tried to do the same in Brazil. Unfortunately for him, in this period the
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soldiers and residents were often accused by authorities of supporting "revolutionaries" (a generic name used to define liberals organized in
Masonic lodges wishing the unification of Angola and Brazil).
344:, cleric at the Funchal cathedral and angry liberal and freemason, that Arsénio got acquainted with freemasonry in general and with the group of Portuguese dissidents who printed the periodical
593:(1851). Cabralism is normally associated with the right wing of the liberal movement, while the previous regime - Septembrism - is usually associated with the left wing. Governor General
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in 1820, he changed his family name - Santos - to the pompous Pompílio Pompeu de Carpo, probably borrowing it from theatre, a juvenile passion. Deeply fascinated by
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and expelled from the empire, Arsénio returned to Luanda discredited and financially ruined. Put on trial for insolvency, he was sentenced to ten years to serve in
597:, who considered Arsénio de Carpo the greatest slave trader of the region and the colony's public enemy number one, expelled him as soon as he set foot in Angola.
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614:, Arsénio de Carpo savoured his triumph and posed a further menace to his Cabralist opponents, when he unsuccessfully presented himself for the position of
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temporary comeback to the throne compelled a relatively significant number of
Portuguese liberals to flee to Rio de Janeiro. Of all the contingents of this
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After spending some years in Brazil and in the United States, Arsénio returned to Angola in 1837, where he started working for the slave trader
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However, by the middle 1840s
Portugal could no longer tolerate ambiguities, crushed as it was between the persistent pressure exerted by
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in order to achieve the full application of the decree on slave trade abolition and the desperate need to affirm its authority in
479:, provoking an inevitable clash with Luanda families involved in the traffic. Arsénio de Carpo, elected interim president of the
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348:. This publication was known in Angola since the 1820s, but it had to be read undercover because of the measures taken by the
304:. Arsénio initially appealed to have his sentence commuted, hoping to serve confinement in a more welcoming location such as
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related activities in Angola. Moreover, it has to be said that this decision could also be influenced by his network of
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front, now in power, Arsénio de Carpo pursued a career in politics, presenting himself as a candidate to both the
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protection in case of a secession of
Madeira from Portugal, and for his incendiary words and sarcastic remarks on
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of his time, Arsénio returned to his native island where, in 1823, he was arrested and condemned to a five-year
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too started to take appropriate disciplinary action in order to dismantle the slave traffic. Arrested in
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traded almost exclusively among themselves and
Pernambuco was the main market place dealing with Luanda.
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and the local imagination was invaded by the inebriant desire of freedom. During the years following the
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magnate, being generous, holding parties and gatherings. It's not different from a diplomat's life.
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sonorities and connotations, Arsénio loved to boast of his presumed classic erudition by quoting
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Already in his seventies and unable to bear the pressure, the Prime
Minister of Portugal,
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Arsénio de Carpo, as this letter from a British emissary seems to confirm, showed the way:
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Already approaching his sixties, Arsénio was granted the chance to be transferred to the
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in 1792, Arsénio was the son of illiterate unlucky emigrants forced to return to
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he was probably persuaded by the prospect of quick enrichment through
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after a failed attempt to make their fortune in the Portuguese
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regime remained in power, with brief interruptions, until the
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During his confinement period Arsénio de Carpo served in the
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but eventually decided to withdraw his appeal. According to
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supported by the Portuguese Crown, Angolan and Brazilian
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Portuguese slave trader, freemason, poet and journalist
475:produced the first serious effort aimed at ending
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241:for joining a plot aiming to overthrow the king
539:and to raise funds for the construction of a
53:. Unsourced material may be challenged and
406:mocking the governor's authority, he left
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260:authors or evoking personalities such as
117:Learn how and when to remove this message
577:promulgated the restoration of the 1826
605:Arsénio de Carpo was forced to move to
688:19th-century Portuguese businesspeople
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422:hastily left Brazil to settle down in
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66:"Arsénio Pompílio Pompeu de Carpo"
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414:. At least until the 1840s, when
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471:By the end of the 1830s, the
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193:(1792–1869) was a Portuguese
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591:Regeneration
569:. In 1842 a
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314:slave trade
221:Early years
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420:Pernambuco
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587:Cabralist
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225:Born in
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559:Britain
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