Globalizing the Amazon: the Grão Pará and Maranhão
General Trading Company, 1755-1778
Helena Nunes Duarte
CALACS 2006
University of Calgary
September 29, 2006
1
From 1750 to 1777, when Prime Minister Sebastião Carvalho e Melo, the Marquis
of Pombal, dominated the Portuguese government, slaves were shipped from Angola to
Brazil in exchange for Portugal’s own commodities and those of its Brazilian and Asian
territories. In turn, the products of slaves’ labor, such as sugar, cotton, tobacco and gold,
filled the needs of the Portuguese empire and supplied the world market. The story of
trade highlights the importance of global connections within the framework of empire.
Consequently, it also underscores that Pombal’s administrative and economic reforms,
such as those expanding the slave trade and commerce, necessarily had profound global
implications. Through such administrative and economic reforms, backed by legislated
social change, Pombal sought to unify a sprawling world empire that included Brazil,
Angola, Goa and many commercial outposts elsewhere in Asia and Africa in order to
increase its strength and competitiveness.
The establishment of the Company of Grão Pará and Maranhão, a monopoly
company, was an integral mechanism for implementing political, administrative, social
and economic reforms. It was given the exclusive right to all commerce and navigation of
the captaincies for twenty years. The banishing of itinerant traders was a key component
of Pombal’s commercial reforms. He encouraged the exploitation of Brazil’s riches and
stimulated investment in the joint stock company, which constructed global commercial
networks that facilitated the importation of African slave labor to Brazil and transported
European goods, African slaves, Asian manufactures, and Amazonian products. By
granting privileges and protection to Portuguese entrepreneurs via the Company, Pombal
sought to free trade from dependence on foreign capital and make Portugal more
2
competitive.1 He felt that the Company of Grão Pará and Maranhão “was the only way to
re-vindicate the commerce of all Portuguese America from the hands of the foreigners.”2
This paper will demonstrate how the Company of Grão Pará and Maranhão
encouraged trade in the Amazon by linking the region to the global trade networks of the
Portuguese empire through the slave trade and exportation of Amazon commodities.
Specifically, it will demonstrate how the Company enabled the production of goods
through the importation of African slaves to the captaincies of Grão Pará and Maranhão.
Slaves provided the labor required to cultivate export commodities, which in turn served
to link Northern Brazil with a global economy, including Europe, Asia, and Africa. In
some respects, the slave trade itself, the primary purpose for the creation of the Company,
operated as a catalyst for globalizing the Amazon, for without labor commodities could
not be produced.3
One of the great predicaments in the Amazon during the second half of the
eighteenth century was the insufficient laborers available to execute the difficult
agricultural tasks of the region. With the introduction of the Company of Grão Pará and
Maranhão on the 7 June 1755, the shortage was alleviated with the introduction of tens of
thousands of slaves destined especially to the captaincies of Grão Pará and Maranhão. In
fact, the introduction of slave labor in the captaincies was the principal reason for
implementing the monopoly company, as colonists clamored for regular access to more
workers. The Pombaline enterprise viewed the slave trade as vital to the economy as
Africans would cultivate the tropical commodities that the merchant classes would
1
J. Lúcio de Azevedo, O Marquês de Pombal e a sua época (Porto: Clássica Editora, 1990), 260.
Marquis of Pombal to Mendonça Furtado, August 4 1755, Biblioteca Nacional de Lisboa. Pombaline
Collection, codex 24, fl. 90.
3
Mendonça Furtado to Diogo de Mendonça Corte Real, January 18 1754, in Marcos Carneiro de
Mendonça, ed. A Amazônia na era Pombalina: Correspondência inédita do Governador e CapitãoGeneral do Estado do Grão Pará e Maranhão, Francisco Xavier de Mendonça Furtado, 1751-1759 (São
Paulo, Instituto Histórico e Geográfico Brasileiro, 1963) 465-470.
2
3
transport from São Luís and Belém to Lisbon. These slaves served the producers in the
estates and plantations, whether in the sugar or rice mills, or cutting wood and conducting
other heavy duties.
Understanding the need for labor, the first imported products to the state were
essentially the slaves. Consequently, the first ships that forged the commercial trading
routes were loaded with African slaves. Historically, the slave trade produced high profit
margins that the Company wanted to explore. In 1756, one year after the Company was
founded, it experimented in the slave trade by acquiring 94 slaves at the Cacheu market
in Africa (Guinea-Bissau) and transporting them to Grão Pará and Maranhão, where they
were sold for 7,108$920 réis. Provisions and transportation of the slave cargo totaled
6,670$960 réis, resulting in a profit of 437$960 réis.4
According to article thirty of its statutes, the Company acquired the monopoly
right to the slave trade, but did not fix the unit prices of slaves. Rather, the Company was
to sell slaves throughout the captaincy for whatever the agreed upon price, provided that
the Royal Treasury would receive its fee.5 The arrangement established by the Crown
alarmed the landowners. Without set prices for the slaves and the desire for profits, the
Company could raise the price of slaves at its own discretion. In a letter dated 7
November 1755, Bishop D. Miguel de Bulhões wrote to the Secretary of State, Sebastião
José Carvalho e Melo in order to voice the concerns of the landowners, especially in light
of the rumor spread by the administrators of the Company that slaves could not be sold
4
Manuel Dias Nunes, A Companhia Geral do Grão Pará e Maranhão, 1755-1778 (Belém: Universidade
Federal do Pará, 1970), 462.
5
Instituição da Companhia Geral do Grão Pará e Maranhão (Lisbon: Miguel Rodrigues, 1755), 17.
4
for under 150$000 réis per head.6 Consequently, the State exempted slave ships from
entry taxes in 1755 and continued to subsidize the trade from 1757 to 1761. The
Governor of the State, João Pereira Caldas, suggested to the Crown that African slaves
should be taxed not only to avoid inflation on the part of the monopoly company, but also
to enable financially strapped landowners to acquire slaves. Therefore, the Crown
decided that the Company was not to pay entry taxes to the Royal Treasury until
landowners received some benefit and warned that the exemptions were to favor planters:
“In that State of Grão Pará and Maranhão, they do not pay dues for slaves so that prices
in respect to this Royal kindness will benefit the landowners of the same state and
agriculture, which should be promoted.”7
Throughout the centuries, the price of slaves along the western coast of Africa
suffered considerable inflation, but methods of purchase and sale remained quite similar.
The Portuguese slave trade saw significant increases in purchase rates: at the end of the
fifteenth century, a slave was worth 4$826 réis; by the mid-sixteenth century, their value
was 6$187 réis; and by the first half of the seventeenth century, they were valued at
40$000 réis. During the twenty-three years of monopoly, the price of slaves varied
between 20$000 and 120$000 réis, depending on their classification.8 However, in the
second half of the eighteenth century the process of acquiring and purchasing slaves in
Africa had not changed. Africans desired new products and the Portuguese bartered
goods for slaves. Trade items included textiles, guns, mats, hats, and as trade developed
with Brazil, tobacco and firewater. Similarly, the sale of slaves in the captaincies of Grão
6
Bishop D. Miguel de Bulhões to Sebastião José Carvalho e Melo, 7 November 1755, Instituto dos
Arquivos Nacionais/Torre do Tombo, (hereafter cited as IANTT) / Arquivo Histórico do Ministério das
Obras Públicas, Companhia Geral do Grão Pará e Maranhão (hereafter cited as CGPM), Livro 84.
7
Sebastião José Carvalho e Melo to Company Administration, 1 July 1756, IANTT/CGPM, Livro 84.
8
João Pereira Caldas to Martinho de Melo e Castro (Secretary of State of the Navy and Overseas), 12
March 1774, Arquivo Histórico Ultramarino (hereafter cited as AHU), Conselho Ultramarino (hereafter
cited as CU), Pará, caixa 72.
5
Pará and Maranhão remained identical to trade in other parts of the world. Once
unloaded, slaves would be put on display at the town squares and public markets with
price tables hung around their necks with rope. Interested buyers observed their health,
age and other physical characteristics, and negotiated according to the laws of supply and
demand.
Due to the inhumane treatment the slaves received and the psychologically
damaging effects of the Middle Passage, many arrived ill at Brazilian ports while others
would perish during the voyage. Although few escaped, voyage accounts demonstrate
those who fled and were listed as losses for the Company.9 In addition, the Company
administrators located at the African ports still exported the slaves even if they
demonstrated signs of infection so that they could make use of the tax incentives given to
them by the Crown. Company sales charts reveal that of 165 slaves arriving in Belém
from Cacheu on the slaving ship São Francisco de Paula in 1775, thirteen were rejected
for various reasons. Of the thirteen, eleven were subsequently sold at 40$000 réis and two
died, when their value was estimated to be between 40$000 and 100$000 réis.10 In
addition to the cost of acquiring slaves other costs such as transportation, provisions and
medicine were added; transportation costs amounted to 16$000 réis per unit, whether
slaves were exported to Belém or São Luís.
On 1 March 1774, the Governor General, João Pereira Caldas, sent the Secretary
of State of the Navy and Overseas, Martinho de Melo e Castro, official tabulations of the
production of commodities, the introduction of slaves, and other economic matters of the
9
João Pereira Caldas to Martinho de Melo e Castro, 5 January 1776, AHU, CU, Pará, caixa 74, doc. 6264.
João Pereira Caldas to Martinho de Melo e Castro, 5 January 1776, AHU, CU, Pará, caixa 74, doc. 6264.
10
6
Crown. Charts accompanying the report maintain that from 1757 to 1772 the Company of
Grão Pará and Maranhão introduced 9, 001 slaves (see fig. 1).11
In addition, other charts and arrivals in Brazil suggest that slave imports
continued steadily until the demise of the Company in 1778. For example, the 1773
correspondence included a letter to the Purveyor of the Company that informed of the
arrival of the ship São Sebastião from Cacheu with a cargo of 187 slaves and, when
adding on expenses of transportation and provisions, was valued at 181,743$503 réis.12
Similarly, in February 1774, the sloop São Pedro Gonçalves with its cargo of 216 slaves,
valued at 17, 953$148 réis, landed in the state of Pará. The following August, the same
ship transported 91 slaves, valued at 8,270$180 réis, for a total of 307 slaves transported
in 1774 from the port of Bissau to Belém.13 On the 29 June 1775, the São Francisco de
Paula left the port of Cacheu with 176 slaves, valued at 15,811$665 réis. Chief Sergeant
and Commander of the fortress of Cacheu, Antonio Vaz de Araujo, certified the
acquisition receipt of the human cargo, approving the 13,255$000 réis for the purchase of
the slaves and the 2,556$665 réis in expenses, including land provisions (522$436), a
nine and a half percent shipping commission (1,308$856) and on-board supplies
(725$363).14 However, stops and unloading cargo increased the expenditures involved in
slave trading. In the case of the São Francisco de Paula, the stopover in São Luís added
an additional 228$999 réis. Similarly, upon arriving in Belém, the Company paid the
11
João Pereira Caldas to Martinho de Melo e Castro, 1 March 1774, AHU, CU, Pará, caixa 72, doc. 6110.
João Pereira Caldas to Martinho de Melo e Castro, 1 March 1774, AHU, CU, Pará, caixa 72, doc. 6110.
13
João Pereira Caldas to Martinho de Melo e Castro, 18 January 1775, AHU, CU, Pará, caixa 73, doc.
6184.
14
João Pereira Caldas to Martinho de Melo e Castro, 2 January 1776, AHU, CU, Pará, caixa 74, doc. 6264.
12
7
Figure 1: Slaves introduced by the Company of Grão Pará and
Maranhão, 1757-177215
Time of Year
1757 - September
1758 – May
1758 – July
1758 - November
1758 - December
1759 – July
1759 - November
1759 - December
1760 - November
1761 – April
1761 – July
1762 – May
1762 – June
1762 – June
1762 – July
1762 - August
1762 - September
1763 – May
1764 - February
1764 - August
1764 - September
1765 - January
1765 – June
1766 - November
1767 - January
1767 – April
1767 - December
1768 - January
1768 - November
1769 - January
1770 - February
1770 - February
1770 – May
1770 - October
1771 - January
1771 – April
1771 – April
1771 – June
1771 - August
1772 – March
1772 – July
Ship Name
Sta. Anna
S. José
Nossa Senhora da Atalaia
S. Antonio
S. Luis
Nossa Senhora da Conceição
S. Sebastião
S. José
S. Sebastião
S. Pedro
Nossa Senhora da Esperança
Nossa Senhora da Conceição
S. Antonio
Nossa Senhora de Madre de Deos
Nossa Senhora da Esperança
S. João Baptista
S. José
Nossa Senhora das Necessidades
S. Antonio
S. Lazaro
Nossa Senhora da Conceição
Nossa Senhora do Cabo
S. Pedro
S. Pedro Gonçalves
Nossa Senhora do Cabo
S. Francisco Xavier
S. Pedro Gonçalves
S. Francisco Xavier
S. Pedro Gonçalves
S. Francisco Xavier
S. Francisco Xavier
S. Pedro Gonçalves
S. Antonio
S. Sebastião
S. Pedro Gonçalves
S. Pedro
S. Francisco Xavier
S. Antonio
S. Paulo
Nossa Senhora da Oliveira
S. Paulo
Origin
Quantity Total for the Year
Angola
371
371
Bissau
173
Angola
399
Cacheu
125
Angola
406
1103
Angola
372
Maranhão?
16
Cacheu
146
534
Bissau
209
209
Cacheu
169
Cacheu
146
315
Angola
371
Bissau
138
Angola
542
Bissau
146
Angola
312
Bissau
128
1637
Cacheu
147
147
Cacheu
208
Angola
407
Angola
270
885
Angola
665
Bissau
167
832
Bissau
138
138
Bissau
125
Cacheu
189
Bissau
127
441
Cacheu
159
Bissau
109
268
Cacheu
180
180
Bissau
227
Cacheu
192
Bissau
198
Bissau
87
704
Cacheu
216
Bissau
177
Bissau
198
Cacheu
176
Bissau
129
896
Bissau
190
Cacheu
151
341
TOTAL
15
9001
Source AHU, CU, Pará, caixa 72, doc. 6110
8
captain, soldiers and crew (899$655 réis), and acquired fifty arrobas16 of rice (25$000
réis),two arrobas of dried meat (1$280 réis) and cards with string for landing tickets
($487 réis), for a total of 926$422 réis. By adding costs rendered in Guinea and Brazil,
the imported lot delivered 16,967$076 réis.17
According to company balance sheets, administrators organized and sold slaves in
various lots, subject to age and physical criteria. According to the 1775 records of the São
Francisco de Paula, suppliers in Africa valued male and female slaves equally provided
they were of same age and physical classification. For example, the 80 physically fit adult
males and 30 healthy females both rendered 80$000 réis each.18 In the case of this
particular voyage, slaves were divided into twelve categories, organized into lots of men,
women, boys and girls. The 80 fit adult males of high quality rendered 80$000 réis, while
the remaining 11 were obtained at prices varying from 30$000 réis to 75$000 réis.
Likewise, the 30 healthy adult females were valued at the same 80$000 with the
remaining 16 appraised between 30$000 réis and 75$000. Similarly, the purchase price of
the 15 strong boys and 18 girls was 80$000 réis, while the weaker boys and girls were
acquired from 30$000 to 75$000 réis.19 While male slaves usually outnumbered female
slaves, the records demonstrate that they were valued equally.
In 1777, an additional 534 slaves arrived in Belém from various ports in Guinea:
the Nossa Senhora de Nazaré arrived on 8 January with 170 slaves (valued at
13,798$836), the Santa Anna and São Domingos arrived on 5 February with 200 slaves
16
An arroba is a measure of weight equal to 36.27 liters in Rio or 13.80 liters in Lisbon; Kenneth Maxwell,
Pombal, Paradox of the Enlightenment (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1995), 187.
17
João Pereira Caldas to Martinho de Melo e Castro, 2 January 1776, AHU, CU, Pará, caixa 74, doc. 6264.
18
João Pereira Caldas to Martinho de Melo e Castro, 2 January 1776, AHU, CU, Pará, caixa 74, doc. 6264
19
João Pereira Caldas to Martinho de Melo e Castro, 2 January 1776, AHU, CU, Pará, caixa 74, doc. 6264
9
(valued at 16,442$743), and the São Pedro Gonçalves arrived on the 21 June with 164
slaves and 9 large “young” (valued at 13,536$543). Of the total 534 slaves who
disembarked in Guinea, 37 perished.20 On 25 February 1778, the São Pedro Gonçalves
arrived from Cacheu with 164 slaves valued at 13,949$241 réis and the São Antonio
arrived from Benguela with 563 slaves, which cost 37,252$919 réis.21
Despite the fact that the slave trade was highly profitable, at times the Company
of Grão Pará and Maranhão suffered considerable losses. Company ledgers from the
galley São Antonio Delfim, captained by Lourenço Gomes dos Santos from Benguela to
Belém on 31 March 1778, reveal losses. When calculating the price of 591 slaves
(30,329$337 réis), port taxes (4,754$550), subsidies (165$000), provisions (200$032)
and shipping (6,310$400), total expenses amounted to 43,563$319 réis. However, the
death of 10 slaves in Benguela, 58 during the voyage and 2 in Pará cut heavily into profit
margins. Through the sale of slaves ranging in price from 30$000 to 110$000 réis, the
Company collected 39,470$090 réis, a real loss of 4,093$299 réis.22
Several studies speculate on the total number of slaves introduced to the Amazon
via the Company of Grão Pará and Maranhão between 1757 and 1788. Without
specifying sailings, Manuel Dias Nunes calculates that the Company imported 513 slaves
in 1775, 488 in 1776 and 561 in 1778.23 In addition, he argues that the years of the
monopoly company introduced a total of 25,365 slaves to Pará and Maranhão, of which
9,229 were from Bissau, 8,362 came from Cacheu, and 7,774 arrived from ports in
Angola and Benguela. Likewise, Antonio Carreira asserts that a total of 31,317 slaves
20
João Pereira Caldas to Martinho de Melo e Castro, 29 December 1777, AHU, CU, Pará, caixa 78, doc.
6504.
21
João Pereira Caldas to Martinho de Melo e Castro, 10 August 1778, AHU, CU, Pará, caixa 80, doc. 6623.
22
João Pereira Caldas to Martinho de Melo e Castro, 10 August 1778, AHU, CU, Pará, caixa 80, doc. 6623.
23
Manuel Nunes Dias, A Companhia Geral. 463-464.
10
made the passage, originating from Bissau, Cacheu, Sierra Leone and Cape Verde.24
However, he includes slaves destined for market in Rio de Janeiro as well. Stuart
Schwartz estimates that circa 30,000 slaves entered the Amazon region, with the majority
stemming from ports in Guinea.25
However, the Crown also instituted the Company of Grão Pará and Maranhão to
increase and develop agriculture and commerce in the Amazon. Initially, the region had a
rudimentary economy without any substantial markets. However, when the Company
began its operations on a regular basis in 1756, the economy transformed into one
dedicated to external global markets. It was expected that not only would the inhabitants
of the regions reap the rewards of a better quality of life and progress, but also that
improvements would persuade others to colonize and urbanize the Amazon. Through the
Company, Amazonian products would be passed through Lisbon, where they would be
exported to Northern Europe, the Baltic States, the Mediterranean, Asia and African
markets.
The Crown and the Company worked together to create incentives for production
and subsidies, such as tax relief for slave imports. In addition, there were schemes to
distribute land, tools, seeds and other agricultural products to the natives and colonists, so
that they could participate in the occupation and the colonization of Northern Brazil.
According to the logic of the Crown, the Company acted as a catalyst to promote not only
trade required for economic development and prosperity, but also settlement that deterred
24
Antonio Carreira, As Companhias Pombalinas de Grão Pará e Maranhão e Pernambuco e Paraíba
(Lisbon: Editorial Presença, 1983) 51.
25
Stuart Schwartz, “Escravatura e Comércio de Escravos no Brasil no século XVIII,” in Francisco
Bethencourt and Kirti Chaudhuri, História da Expansão Portuguesa, vol. 3 (Lisbon: Temas e Debates,
1998) 113.
11
rival European nations from militarily engaging the Portuguese, which in turn meant
more economic growth.
The Company represented an opportunity for change in the undersized economy
of Northern Brazil. Correspondence from governors of Maranhão and Pará to the Crown
demonstrates that imperial administration was particularly motivated in removing hurdles
to economic development. In order to increase trade in commodities, Company statute
twenty-three allowed goods to be purchased on credit, stimulating demand and creating
potential for the introduction of new products to the markets in Northern Brazil. Credit
interest was guaranteed at five percent and goods could not be sold for more than 45
percent of the original cost from Lisbon.26 The Crown further reduced interests rates to
three percent and, when it came to the purchase of slaves during the first year, no interest
was charged.27
Pombaline mercantilism dedicated itself to strengthening the colonial economy
and investing capital profitably, and benefited from a quick increase in agricultural
productivity and commerce. Commencing in 1760, an evident structural economic
change took place in Maranhão. The Company ships began plying the São Luís trade
routes, loaded with commercial goods, and reinvigorated the economy of Northern
Brazil. With 52 ships of the Company’s merchant fleet operating on the Maranhão route,
180 registered Lisbon destined departures left Brazilian ports from 1760 to 1778, and
demonstrated the quantity and diversity of the region’s exports.28 Cargo consisted of
cotton, rice, tanned leathers, hides, ginger, cacao, indigo, wax, tapioca, coffee, tobacco,
26
Instituição da Companhia Geral do Grão Pará e Maranhão (Lisbon: Miguel Rodrigues, 1755), 14.
Manuel Dias Nunes, A Companhia Geral do Grão Pará e Maranhão, 1755-1778 (Belém: Universidade
Federal do Pará, 1970), 426.
28
Manuel Dias Nunes, A Companhia Geral do Grão Pará e Maranhão, 1755-1778 (Belém: Universidade
Federal do Pará, 1970), 429.
27
12
fat, cloves, turtles, trellis rods and various types of wood; however, cotton, rice and
leather appeared to be the most exported commodities (see fig. 2).
Figure 2: Exportation of Cotton, Rice and Tanned Leather from São Luís to Lisbon (1760-1778)29
Year
1760
1761
1762
1763
1764
1765
1766
1767
1768
1769
1770
1771
1772
1773
1774
1775
1776
1777
1778
TOTAL
Thousands of Arrobas
Cotton
6,510
5,197
3,396
3,659
6,476
7,521
11,217
12,705
23,810
25,470
15,542
12,015
37,236
40,813
20,994
25,886
25,521
40,553
38,051
362,572
Thousands of Arrobas
Rice
225
273
555
627
8,133
30,217
57,465
50,920
109,599
75,154
144,845
129,032
607,045
Pieces of
Leather
21,810
38,212
18,472
21,765
39,132
45,235
25,696
31,621
18,127
23,944
23,694
7,795
26,725
20,903
17,399
22,691
10,037
25,694
25,515
464,467
As production destined for export increased, the landowners of the region were
also stimulated through human and material recourses and by entrepreneurial political
and incentives put forth by the Pombaline government. On the lowlands of Maranhão and
the islands along the Amazon delta, namely the Island of Marajó, large Jesuit ranches
were revitalized through Company projects, with 21,810 pieces of tanned leather
produced. Over the 1760s, production of leathers and other goods increased, from a fleet
of three ships disembarking from São Luís to a fleet of ten by 1769. Despite the fact that
29
Manuel Dias Nunes, A Companhia Geral do Grão Pará e Maranhão, 1755-1778 (Belém: Universidade
Federal do Pará, 1970), 430.
13
there were years when exports could fluctuate, such as in the early 1770s, the average
number of ships departing with leather goods from Northern Brazilian ports increased.30
Until 1766, shipments of rice did not appear at the port of São Luís. In 1767, the
first registered exportation of rice took place with 225,000 arrobas sent to export. Export
trends hardly evolved until the 1770s when rice commodities sold abroad increased
significantly, from 627,000 arrobas in 1770 to 8,133,000 arrobas in 1771.31 However,
most rice produced up until the 1770s most likely came from the Company’s own rice
fields and was seeded to encourage other producers to cultivate the commodity.
Beginning in 1772, there was a considerable evolution of production and exportation,
from 30,217,000 arrobas to 129,032 arrobas in 1778, a 159% increase in exports.
Rice cultivated in both the captaincy of Pará and the captaincy of Maranhão
became the true indicator of productivity. In 1766 the Company, under the direction of
Captain José Vieira da Silva, selected Maranhão for rice cultivation by distributing the
first seeds of white Carolinian rice to the landowners. During the same year the
Company’s Board of Directors sent José de Carvalho from Lisbon to the region with all
of the equipment required to found a factory for husking rice.32 The governor of the
captaincy of Maranhão, Joaquim de Melo Póvoas, embarked on a several strategies to
encourage landowners to cultivate rice, including convincing the Company board to
guarantee remunerative profits for rice. Yet, landowners were not enthusiastic about
growing a better quality Carolinian rice instead of their native red husked variety, which
was easier to harvest and produce. Therefore, Pombal intervened by enacting laws
30
Manuel Dias Nunes, A Companhia Geral do Grão Pará e Maranhão, 1755-1778 (Belém: Universidade
Federal do Pará, 1970), 426-429.
31
See figure 2.
32
Joaquim de Melo e Póvoas to Martinho de Melo e Castro, 10 May 1771, AHU, CU, Maranhão, caixa 45,
doc. 4398; Joaquim de Melo e Póvoas to Martinho de Melo e Castro, 30 June 1772, AHU, CU, Maranhão,
caixa 46, doc. 4482.
14
obligating the planters to grow the Carolinian variety and subjected dissenters with stiff
penalties. Soldiers who understood soil cultivation techniques were sent to the region to
implement procedures used in Portugal for rice production, while ensuring that white
Carolinian rice was planted. New technology improved the quality of the product as well;
the Governor requested funding for new pre-industrial mills since the pestles used in the
old mills would often break the grains of rice. In the end, new rice products and
technologies led to a boom in production that provided enough rice to sustain the empire
and export (via Lisbon) to London, Hamburg, Rotterdam, Genoa, Marseilles and other
important port cities.33
Cotton also revolutionized the economy of Maranhão and capitalized on a
commodity that had long been produced in the region to serve an internal market. The
population of Maranhão cultivated and consumed natural cotton prior to the institution of
the Company. The female indigenous population understood and utilized spinning and
manual weaving techniques.34 Incentives for cotton growing in the Maranhão region
stemmed from the Company that was anxious to capitalize on a much sought after
commodity, especially in industrializing European markets. In addition, with the
American War of Independence running from 1776 to 1782, the British could not supply
its own demand for cotton. The Pombaline government viewed the opening of the cotton
market as a way to even out the trade deficit that the Portuguese had with the British.35
In 1760, three ships belonging to the Company, sailing from São Luís to Lisbon
with 6,510 arrobas, made the first exports of cotton. From 1766 to 1778, the Company
33
C.R. Boxer, O Império Marítimo Português, 1415-1825 (Lisbon: Edições 90, 1969), 192.
Alexandre Rodrigues Ferreira, Viagem Filosófica pela Capitanias do Grão Pará, Rio Negro, Mato
Grosso e Cuaibá (Lisbon, Estudos Homenagem a Borges Macedo, 1992).
35
Manuel Dias Nunes, “Política Pombalina na Colonização da Amazónia.” Revista Stúdia 23 (1968): 2324.
34
15
shipped cotton in large quantities, totaling 355,066 arrobas.36 After September 1776,
Governor Melo Póvoas managed to place a tax exemption on cotton, where the Company
paid the producers 4$800 réis per arroba. The prized commodity probably received the
exclusion due to the fact that it had stimulated the manufacturing industry in Portugal,
especially in light of Pombaline reform in the textile industry. As exports from the colony
exceeded the needs of the Portuguese Empire, cotton was re-exported out of Lisbon to
other European markets, namely London, Rotterdam, Hamburg, Amsterdam, and
Marseilles.
Products originating from Pará during the early years of the Company were
largely natural products, such as cacao, fine and coarse cloves, parsley, annatto, oils and
wood. However, like Maranhão, exports from Pará increased dramatically: from
88,767$238 réis in 1756 to 170,508$251 réis in 1777.37 In addition, the Crown
experimented with new export commodities, such as indigo, in relation to the demands of
the European market.
In order to satisfy the needs of European dye-makers, indigo was actively pursued
as a commodity for export in Pará. However, production came later in the Company’s
existence, with the first news of indigo crops coming on 17 December 1772, from
Gonçalo José da Costa. In his letter he informed the Crown, by way of the Secretary of
State for the Overseas, that he had produced indigo and that he was willing to assume a
factory that had been founded on the Tocantins River by Guilherme Burcem, Francisco
Velho and José Miguel Aires for 50,000$000 réis if he was guaranteed a price of 1,200
36
Manuel Dias Nunes, A Companhia Geral do Grão Pará e Maranhão, 1755-1778 (Belém: Universidade
Federal do Pará, 1970), 399-419.
37
AHU, CU, Pará, caixa 64, doc. 5571; caixa 68, doc. 5808; caixa 68, doc.5825; caixa 69, doc. 5898; caixa
70, doc. 6011, caixa 72, doc. 6110; caixa 72, doc. 6122; caixa 73, doc 6184; caixa 74, doc 6264; caixa 74,
doc. 6229; caixa 76, doc. 6362; caixa 76, doc. 6365; caixa 77, doc. 6420; caixa 78, doc. 6504, caixa 79,
doc. 6536.
16
réis a pound.38 Costa was concerned that the Company of Grão Pará and Maranhão often
purchased indigo too cheaply because of the growers in Maranhão, and consequently he
wanted a guaranteed price for the commodity. In response, Governor João Pereira Caldas
informed Martinho de Melo e Castro that an effort should be made together with the
Company to ensure that a fair price be obtained for producers: “For without the certainty
of profit, nothing could be achieved with [his] efforts.”39 In January of the following
year, the governor informed the Crown: “that while indigo is harder to establish, it
precisely depends on time to accomplish.”40 Similarly, in April he submitted some indigo
samples and argued that the difficulty in growing indigo would discourage the planters if
a rational price was not established.41 Subsequently, the Governor grew quite
disillusioned when trying to encourage enough landowners to grow the crop so that
export would be viable: “In the end, what is certain, as so many years of experience
proves, is that for everyone it is easy to produce a little indigo, but in order to obtain
larger amounts we must recognize the difficulty, whether for reasons of weather or the
quality of the plants.”42
Essentially, in the State of Grão Pará and Maranhão, the cultivation and
processing of indigo never fulfilled the expectations of the Crown or Company for
commercialization. In relation to other goods, such as leather, cotton and rice, production
levels are almost insignificant. In 1775, The Company loaded 31 arrobas of indigo aboard
the Santa Ana and São José in São Luís and 18.5 arrobas in Belém. The following year
38
Gonçalo José da Costa to Martinho de Melo e Castro, 17 December 1772, AHU, CU, Pará, caixa 69, doc.
5922.
39
João Pereira Caldas to Martinho de Melo e Castro, 14 February 1774, AHU, CU, Pará, caixa 72, doc.
6101.
40
João Pereira Caldas to Martinho de Melo e Castro, 17 January 1775, AHU, CU, Pará, caixa 73, doc.
6182.
41
João Pereira Caldas to Martinho de Melo e Castro, 11 April 1775, AHU, CU, caixa 74, doc. 6209.
42
João Pereira Caldas to Martinho de Melo e Castro, 15 September 1777, AHU, CU, Pará, caixa 77, doc.
6441.
17
exports increased with 53.75 arrobas leaving Pará on board the Santa Ana and São
Francisco Xavier, and 58 arrobas exported out of Maranhão on the São Pedro Gonçalves.
In 1777, no records show exports originating from Maranhão, while Pará exported 82.66
arrobas on three different ships. Comparing the proportion and value of indigo exports
with other commodities, it is quite clear that the Company’s attempts at making indigo a
mainstream export product failed.43
The Company also exported other goods, such as medicinal plants and cacao;
according to their demand in Europe and other export markets. All products were subject
to the laws of supply and demand. For example in the case of cacao, the demand for the
commodity increased as the world became more industrialized, especially in Great
Britain, Germany, and the United States of America. Cacao was used as a nutritional
stimulant and gradually entered more and more households. Yet, Portugal and Spain, as
producers, monopolized its commercialization. Lisbon and Seville were the only ports
with legal cacao importation, where it would be re-exported along the usual
Mediterranean, Baltic and North Sea routes.44
The Company of Grão Pará and Maranhão held a monopoly for twenty years over
the commerce and navigation of the captaincies, ending in 1778.The close
interconnection between the Company and the local fiscal and administrative structure
did not end when the new monarch, Queen Maria ascended the throne and liquidated the
Company. In fact, the “extinct” company continued to trade well into the 1780s in Brazil.
From 1755 to 1778, the Company focused on a cyclical global trade: one that transported
European goods to obtain slaves, who would in turn form a labor force in a region that
43
AHU, CU, Pará, caixa 69, doc. 5913; caixa 69. doc. 5922; caixa 74, doc. 6209; caixa 74, doc. 6421; caixa
78, doc. 6504.
44
Manuel Dias Nunes, “O Cacau Luso-Brasileiro na Economia Mundial: Subsídio para o seu Estudo.”
Revista Stúdia 8 (1961): 23.
18
would export commodities to Europe. The Company significantly changed the
demographic of the Amazon, by providing a regular supply of slaves and shipping routes
to maintain the sequence of trade. In the words of Caio Prado Júnior, “white cotton
turned Maranhão black,” and the same could be argued for Carolinian rice.45 It is
important to understand that even though trade existed prior to the Company, the stability
and magnitude of the monopoly era allowed for exponential commercial growth.
Globalizing the Amazon, the Company took an economically backward region of the
Portuguese empire and placed it at the center of a global economy.
45
Quoted in C.R. Boxer, O Império Marítimo Português, 1415-1825 (Lisbon: Edições 90, 1969), 192.
19
Bibliography
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Manuscript
Companhia Geral do Grão Pará e Maranhão. Arquivo Histórico do Ministério das
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Tombo, Lisbon.
Maranhão. Conselho Ultramarino. Arquivo Histórico Ultramarino, Lisbon.
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Pombaline Collection. Biblioteca Nacional de Lisboa, Lisbon.
Published
Mendonça, Marcos Carneiro de, ed. A Amazônia na era Pombalina:
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21