Rio de Janeiro (Atlantic History)

Introduction

From the 17th century on, the city of Rio de Janeiro was an important urban center in the southern Atlantic, connected to Lisbon, Buenos Aires, Angola, the Mina Coast in western Africa, and Mozambique. Later on, the city began to receive ships heading for the southern Pacific, in particular the British fleet on its way to Australia. Dating from the 16th century, the foundation of the city gave rise to war waged by the Portuguese, French, and Tupi Indians over the control of Guanabara Bay. The city’s prominence as a regional center only began after Angola was freed from the subjugation of the Dutch. Without support from the metropolis, the local elite formed a victorious army and navy and resumed the slave trade from the ports of Angola. This trade promoted the growth of both the city and the sugar plantations, just as later on it supplied the labor force to exploit the gold deposits discovered in Minas Gerais. Rio de Janeiro was a port of entry and departure, connected as it was both to the vast interior, with the gold mines, and to the Atlantic, where merchants traded African slaves, sugar, rum (cachaça), and later on textiles from Asia. Indeed, urban growth was linked not only to the production of gold and to the influx of adventurers hailing from the Portuguese kingdom and the Crusades, but also to the production of sugar and rum. Even before it gained the status of capital of the State of Brazil, the city bore an enormous political and military influence on the captaincies of the south, all of which were subordinate to the governor of Rio de Janeiro. In 1763, already as capital, it was the center of the struggles against the Spanish on the southern borders and intensified the circulation of merchandise, arms, and soldiers. The great administrative, military, and judicial apparatus that survived until Brazil became independent was created for this very purpose. In 1808 the city received the Prince Regent and the Portuguese nobles taking flight from the Napoleonic Wars. Rio de Janeiro then became the capital of the pluricontinental Portuguese Empire after Lisbon was taken over by French troops. In addition to its political prominence, the city that was previously populated by a multitude of slaves, freed people of color, mestizos, and a few white people began to receive European immigrants, merchants, and agents from the Old World spurred on by the opening of the ports to “friendly nations.” In such circumstances, the city enjoyed remarkable growth and modernization. Mention should also be made of the fact that the transfer of the court included the first official printing press, museums, academies, libraries, newspapers, and leaflets; the last in particular, which had been prohibited, played a crucial role in refining the habits of the population and stimulating political debates, especially during the process of independence between 1821 and 1822. Thereafter, the city was transformed into the political center and the cradle of the nation, developing into a highly efficient web that was responsible for keeping Brazil’s regional elites united.

Research Resources

Gathered together here are the principal instruments of research on the history of Rio de Janeiro. In fact, in the catalogues can be found parochial and administrative documents, as well as travel chronicles. For research dedicated to social history, the books Belchior 1965 and Rheingantz 1965 are indispensable for consultation of parochial archives. For current approaches to the history of power, the best material is found in the Overseas Historical Archives of Lisbon, catalogued by Castro e Almeida 1917–1951. The catalogue Camargo and Borba 1993 is the most authoritative reference on the first printing press in Brazil. Finally, it is worth mentioning França 1999, a catalogue dedicated to the reports on journeys made throughout the colonial period. Such books are indispensable for research on the social, cultural, and administrative history of the city. It should be noted that the above-mentioned documentation privileges the period between 1750 and 1808. In fact, data on the first centuries of colonization are scarcer.

Belchior, Elysio de Oliveira. Conquistadores e povoadores do Rio de Janeiro. Rio de Janeiro: Livraria Brasiliana, 1965.
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Comprised of small biographies of the early conquistadores and settlers of the city, this work also provides information on the origin of the data presented and adds bibliographic references, as well as indexes with respect to the posts, functions, occupations, and titles of the subjects of the biographies.
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Camargo, Ana Maria de Almeida, and Rubens Borba de Moraes. Bibliografia da Impressão Régia do Rio de Janeiro. 2 vols. São Paulo: Edusp: Livraria Kosmos Editora, 1993.
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The book lists the titles published in Rio de Janeiro between 1808 and 1822, when the court settled in the city. This work contains brief comments about each publication and is the best compendium and study on the birth of the press in Brazil.
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Castro e Almeida, Eduardo de, ed. Inventário dos documentos relativos ao Brasil existentes no Archivo de Marinha e Ultramar. Anais da Biblioteca Nacional. Vol. 39, 1917; Vol. 46, 1924; Vol. 50, 1928; Vol. 71, 1951.
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The Overseas Historical Archives in Lisbon boasts the largest holdings of manuscripts on Rio de Janeiro; these catalogues cover the period between 1616 and 1757. These inventories and the respective digitized documentation (Projeto Resgate-Arquivo Histórico Ultramarino) are also available at the University of Brasília website.
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França, Jean Marcel C. Visões do Rio de Janeiro colonial. Rio de Janeiro: José Olympio, 1999.
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A guide to the travel chronicles dedicated to colonial Rio de Janeiro, this anthology is comprised of information on the journey, a small biography of the traveler, and extracts of the narrative referring to the city, translated into Portuguese. It should be mentioned that Portuguese-speaking travelers are not included.
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Rheingantz, Carlos G. Primeiras famílias do Rio de Janeiro. 3 vols. Rio de Janeiro: Brasiliana, 1965.
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Genealogical survey of families based on research in the parish registers of baptisms, marriages, and deaths in the period between 1616 and 1700. Family trees or lineage are enumerated alphabetically and refer to the parishes of Rio de Janeiro, São Gonçalo, and Niterói.
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Memoirs and Annals

Since the 18th century, many scholars have written on the history of Rio de Janeiro and preserved valuable information, sometimes culled from holdings not preserved by time. Their approaches vary, producing ephemerides, emphasizing the picturesque, or writing erudite histories. In writing their annals and memoirs, these scholars obviously did not always use academic rigor and documental criticism, nor did they mention the source of their information. Be that as it may, the works listed here are fundamental to the most varied historical approaches. Their testimonies should nonetheless be submitted to the critique of historians. Araújo 1820–1822 and Lisboa 1834–1835, based on the documentation of the diocese and the City Chambers, are outstanding as monumental works dedicated both to political-administrative and to ecclesiastical history. The daily life of the city is also featured among these studies; initially, the author of Fazenda 1919–1921 gathered together picturesque episodes and registered the day-to-day affairs of the city between the 16th and 19th centuries. Vivaldo Coarcy (Coaracy 1965) dedicated himself to the early days of the city, a period scarcely documented and studied. Edmundo 2009 focused on the changes that the city underwent after it was granted the status of capital of the State of Brazil. Finally, Fazenda (Fazenda 1912) consulted the archives of the Charity Home and produced a valuable study on its benefactors, that is to say, the elite of the city of Rio de Janeiro.

Araújo, José de Souza Azevedo Pizarro e. Memorias historicas do Rio de Janeiro e das provincias anexas a jurisdição do Vice-rei do Estado do Brasil. 9 vols. Rio de Janeiro: Impressão Régia, 1820–1822.
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Dedicated especially to Rio de Janeiro, this work also addresses the other captaincies of Brazil from the very beginning, the emphasis being on church history. The work, started in the decade of 1780, gathers together principally documents of the office of the diocese and the municipal chambers of Rio de Janeiro and surrounding towns. Also available online.
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Coaracy, Vivaldo. O Rio de Janeiro no século XVII. Rio de Janeiro: J. Olympio, 1965.
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This work offers a good résumé of the history of Rio de Janeiro in the 17th century. Its greatest merit is the name and subject reference index, which locates the personages and events by year. Although the book is conceived based on primary sources, the author does not provide the origin of the information presented.
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Edmundo, Luís. O Rio de Janeiro no tempo dos vice-reis, 1763–1808. Brasília: Senado Federal, 2009.
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A presentation of the daily life of the city: streets, transportation, feasts, inhabitants, and most prominent institutions. Based on reports made by travelers, the author sets out to demonstrate the backwardness of the city in the period before 1808.
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Fazenda, José Vieira. Os provedores da Santa Casa de Misericórdia da cidade de São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro. Rio de Janeiro: Typographia do Jornal do Commércio, 1912.
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The Santa Casa de Misericórdia (Charity Homes) promoted philanthropy, and its benefactors came from the highest local elite. This book gathers together indispensable information on the institutions and sponsors based on the Books of Registers, Books of Agreements, and Books of Revenue and Expenses between 1620 and 1950.
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Fazenda, José Vieira. “Antiqualhas e Memórias do Rio de Janeiro: Rio de Janeiro.” Revista do Instituto Histórico e Geográfico Brasileiro 86 (1919): 140; 88 (1920): 142; 89 (1921): 143.
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Without the rigor of academic history, this item deals with the inexhaustible source of information on colonial Rio de Janeiro, presenting the history of buildings, streets, fortifications, neighborhoods, events, and personages; in other words, it provides data not always available in official documents. Available online.
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Lisboa, Baltazar da Silva. Annaes do Rio de Janeiro, contendo a descoberta e conquista deste paiz, a fundação da cidade com a historia a historia civil e ecclesiastica, até a chegada d’el rei dom João VI: Além de noticias topográficas, zoológicas, e botânicas. 7 vols. Rio de Janeiro: Na Typ. Imp. E const. De Seinot-Plancher e Ca., 1834–1835.
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Dating from 1790, the seven volumes of the annals bring together historical, topographical, zoological, and botanical documents systematized by the naturalist and magistrate. On consulting manuscripts now disappeared, the author wrote in particular about the civil and ecclesiastical history of the city.
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Wars and the Founding of the City

The war waged between the Portuguese and the French in Guanabara Bay around 1560 demonstrated Portugal’s keen interest in the southern Atlantic, as shown by Serrão 2008. According to the historical tradition, the sole protagonists of the defeat of France Antarctique and the founding of Rio de Janeiro were the European Catholic and Protestant rivals, as seen by Mariz and Provençal 2005. In the decade of 1990, however, the event was considered to be more complex, especially when Mendonça 1991 explored the war as part of Portugal’s colonial expansion or when Lestringant 1990 compared the various French colonial enterprises in the 16th century. An even greater step forward was taken when an analysis was offered of the indigenous insertion in the war and in the colonization of Rio de Janeiro. In this sense, Almeida 2003 analyzed the surprising capacity of the Tupi chiefs as negotiators when they appealed to the Portuguese monarchs for military status and control of land.

Almeida, Maria Regina Celestino de. Metamorfoses indígenas: Identidade e cultura nas aldeias coloniais do Rio de Janeiro. Rio de Janeiro: Prefeitura da cidade do Rio de Janeiro, 2003.
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A description of the decisive participation of the indigenous population in the wars and the Portuguese colonization of Rio de Janeiro and the surrounding territory. The events dealt a fulminating impact on the Tupis, giving rise to the concept of “the noble Indian” and other cultural transformations indispensable to insert them into colonial society.
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Lestringant, Frank. Le huguenot et le sauvage: L’Amérique et la controverse coloniale, en France, au temps des Guerres de Religion (1555–1589). Paris: Aux Amateurs de Livres, 1990.
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This book is a notable contribution to understanding the failure of France’s overseas enterprises in the 16th century. It also addresses the religious struggles and how the French received the reports of journeys to America, with specific reference to the primitivism and cannibalism of the Tupi Indians.
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Mariz, Vasco e Lucien Provençal. Villegagnon e a França Antártica. Rio de Janeiro: Nova Fronteira, 2005.
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The biography of Villegagnon, the naval officer who commanded the foundation of France Antarctique and the French victory in Guanabara Bay, this erudite study traces the religious quarrels in Europe and America. It highlights the dispute in the southern Atlantic but is overemphatic with regard to the heroism of the main character.
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Mendonça, Paulo Knauss de. O Rio de Janeiro da pacificação: Franceses e portugueses na disputa colonial. Rio de Janeiro: Prefeitura da cidade do Rio de Janeiro, 1991.
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An analysis of the war between the Portuguese, French, and Tupis in the southern Atlantic between 1550 and 1560 that led to the founding of Rio de Janeiro. The combat allowed the land and the Indian population to be brought under control and resulted both in the Catholic victory over the Protestants and in the triumph of Portuguese colonialism.
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Serrão, Joaquim V. O Rio de Janeiro no séc. XVI. Rio de Janeiro: Andrea Jakobsson, 2008.
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Emphasis is placed on the war against the French and the founding of the city, and the claim is made that the Portuguese authorities at that time already acknowledged Rio de Janeiro’s strategic position in the southern Atlantic. The work is in two parts: a historical study and the reproduction of seventy-two documents culled from Portuguese archives.
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Atlantic Expansion

Once the war against the French was over, the city began to expand territorially, commercially, and politically, as shown by Abreu 2010. Right in the midst of the Iberian Union, according to the classical study Boxer 1952, the future governor Salvador de Sá acted as general Master of the Field in Tucuman and later on freed Angola from the control of the Dutch. This consolidated Atlantic expansion and dependence between Brazil and Africa, between the sugarcane economy and the slave trade. Even though submitted to Lisbon, as Sampaio 2003 points out, the elite of Rio de Janeiro increased its trading and area of influence, a strategy not always in alignment with the interests of the Crown. The study presented by Alencastro 2000 shows the close ties between the two sides of the Atlantic and the “deterritorialization” of Brazil; that is to say, the history of Portuguese America can no longer be considered without taking into account its relation with the African continent.

Abreu, Mauricio de Almeida. Geografia histórica do Rio de Janeiro (1502–1700). 2 vols. Rio de Janeiro: Andrea Jakobsson Estúdio, 2010.
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In the sphere of historical geography, this monumental study looks at Rio de Janeiro from three perspectives: the Portuguese control of the territory, the conquest of the indigenous peoples, and the consequent shaping of society; the city’s insertion in the Atlantic system and economic connections with America, Africa, and Europe; and internal organization of urban space, together with the social, religious, and economic aspects of this occupation.
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Alencastro, Luiz Felipe. O trato dos viventes, formação do Brasil no Atlântico Sul. São Paulo: Companhia das Letras, 2000.
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Slavery was the linking factor between the economies and societies of the southern Atlantic, the uniting element between the plantations and gold mines of Brazil and the slave trade centered in Angola. Rio de Janeiro was an important reference in this non-territorial space of the Lusitanian archipelago, as Boxer had pointed out.
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Boxer, C. R. Salvador de Sá and the Struggle for Brazil and Angola 1602–1686. London: University of London, 1952.
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Based on a magnificent biography, Boxer analyzes the interconnection between Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, and Luanda. He also shows how Rio de Janeiro gained strength in the political game of the Empire when the Dutch were expelled from Angola and gradually became a core part of the trading network in the southern Atlantic.
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Sampaio, Antônio Carlos. Na encruzilhada do império: Hierarquias sociais e conjunturas econômicas no Rio de Janeiro (c.1650–c.1750). Rio de Janeiro: Arquivo Nacional, 2003.
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This work deals with the economic growth of Rio de Janeiro as of the second half of the 17th century. An analysis is made of credit, urban assets, and the city’s merchant elite. Wealth was accumulated by merchants not only through the market but also by way of concessions granted by the monarchy.
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Urban and Political Expansion

According to Boxer 1962, between 1697 and 1798 the captaincy of Rio de Janeiro received the jurisdiction over the vast area between São Paulo and Colônia de Sacramento. The gold discoveries in Minas Gerais sharpened the demand for slaves and trade in general, promoting the growth in population and urban expansion of Rio de Janeiro, the gateway to the interior of the country, a theme researched by the author of Cavalcante 2004. In fact, historians emphasize that in the middle of the 18th century the economic and political center shifted from Bahia to the Center-South, which lent even more impetus to building in the city that was later to be the seat of the Portuguese Empire. In other words, as argued by Bicalho 2003, due to its strategic position and driven forward by gold, sugar, and trade, the city became the capital in 1763 and in this way expanded its powers over the State of Brazil. Headquartered in the city, the governors controlled the troops, implemented reforms, and saw to the tax collected on the production of gold. Alden 1968 claims that the interventions introduced by the Marquis de Pombal were an attempt both to strengthen the viceroy’s command and to rationalize the colonial administration. Mention should also be made of the study carried out by Wehling and Wehling 2004 on the installation in 1751 of the Relations Court (Tribunal da Relação) of Rio de Janeiro, this being the supreme court of justice in Brazil’s Center-South.

Alden, Dauril. Royal Government in Colonial Brazil: With Special Reference to the Administration of the Marquis of Lavradio, Viceroy, 1769–1779. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1968.
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Although this work does not address the city directly, it does offer an acute analysis of the government of the Marquis of Lavradio, an important viceroy of the State of Brazil. Rio was the capital from where economic reforms were set in motion, wars architected against the Spanish, and measures introduced to restore finances. The geography of the administration deserves special mention.
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Bicalho, Maria Fernanda. A cidade e o Império: O Rio de Janeiro no século XVIII. Rio de Janeiro: Civilização Brasileira, 2003.
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This work initially addresses the attempted and effective French invasion of 1711. It goes on to show how gold and the imperial disputes raised the city to the status of State of Brazil, commercial port, and military garrison to defend the borders to the south. The book also deals with urbanism and analyzes in an innovative manner the relations between the City Chambers and the metropolitan authorities.
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Boxer, C. R. The Golden Age of Brazil, 1695–1750: Growing Pains of a Colonial Society. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1962.
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A panorama of the discovery of gold mines and the consequent immigration of Portuguese, Portuguese-Brazilians, and slaves to Brazil’s Center-South. Such events led to the political and economic axis shifting from Bahia and Pernambuco to Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais.
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Cavalcante, Nireu. O Rio de Janeiro setecentista: A vida e a contrução da cidade da invasão francesa até a chegada da corte. Rio de Janeiro: Jorge Zahar, 2004.
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A reconstruction of the city from the first French occupation to the arrival of the Court, when urban evolution followed the dictates of Portuguese tradition, external and internal conflicts, and the city’s growth in both population and trade. The intercourse between architecture and social history is the principal feature of the book.
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Wehling, Arno, and Maria José Wehling. Direito e justiça no Brasil colonial: O Tribunal da Relação do Rio de Janeiro, 1751–1808. Rio de Janeiro: Renovar, 2004.
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A study on the Relations Court of Rio de Janeiro, established in 1751 as the supreme court of justice in the Center-South. Belonging to the area of history of law, the book presents an erudite, formal analysis of the institution but fails to explore politics sufficiently, that is, justice as a result of social and jurisdictional conflicts.
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Trade and the Internal Market

The studies dedicated to the internal market caused a considerable break in the historiography, questioning as they did the conception of “mercantile colonization of modern times,” the “theory of dependence” in vogue since the 1950s. Following this trend, Bauss 1977, Lobo 1978, and Santos 1993 analyzed trade balances, customs revenues, and the prices of merchandise. In fact, these studies verified Brazil’s growth in trade and the formation of its internal market in Brazil’s Center-South. This new tendency was consolidated with the thesis presented by Brown 1986. This researcher analyzed the dynamics of colonial economy and drew the conclusion that the internal market was vigorous despite being subjected to the limits imposed by slavery. Fragoso 1998 claimed that the trade dynamic was not always dictated by the metropolis or even completely dependent on the external market, which explained the accumulation of capital. As a matter of fact, the studies on trading in colonial Rio de Janeiro evidenced not only the formation of the internal market but also the increase in smuggling, according to Pijning 2001. Also in respect to the internal market, mention should be made of Martinho and Gorestein 1993 and its analyses of the various groups of merchants.

Bauss, Rudolph. “Rio de Janeiro: The Rise of Colonial Brazil´s Dominant Emporium, 1777–1808.” PhD diss., Tulane University, 1977.
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This thesis sets out to analyze the economic expansion of Brazil’s Center-South in order to understand the predominance of Rio de Janeiro as the main political and commercial center between 1777 and 1808. To this end, the work resorts to an analysis of trade balances and the correspondence of the viceroys.
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Brown, Larissa Virginia. “Internal Commerce in a Colonial Economy: Rio de Janeiro and Its Hinterland, 1790–1822.” PhD diss., University of Virginia, 1986.
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This work shows the importance of the domestic market in Rio de Janeiro and surroundings in the period prior to independence. Not only was the city a large hub for consumers, but it also acted as a metropolis for Brazil and for peripheral ports on the map of overseas trading.
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Fragoso, João. Homens de grossa aventura: Acumulação e hierarquia na praça mercantil do Rio de Janeiro, 1790–1830. Rio de Janeiro: Civilização Brasileira, 1998.
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Unlike the explicative models, this book proves that the slave-owning economy was quite independent from the foreign market and indeed proved to be a stimulus for the accumulation of capital and formation of a colonial domestic market. Special attention is paid to Rio’s role as a mercantile and financial hub in the southeast of the country.
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Lobo, Eulália M. Lahmeyer. História do Rio de Janeiro: Do capital comercial ao capital industrial e financeiro. Vol. 1. Rio de Janeiro: IBMEC, 1978.
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The opening chapter analyzes the administration and trade in the city between 1760 and 1800. The study reveals that the decline of mining was followed by the formation of a powerful merchant bourgeoisie that was independent from the big farmers and capable of providing credit to the king as well as to the powers in City Chambers and the rural elites.
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Martinho, Lenira M., and Riva Gorenstein. Negociantes e caixeiros na sociedade da independência. Rio de Janeiro: Prefeitura da Cidade do Rio de Janeiro, 1993.
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The two authors first address the social mobility of the Portuguese traveling salesmen based in Rio and installed in the domestic market of Brazil’s Center-South in the early 19th century. The book also deals with the big entrepreneurs, their insertion in the local elite, and their connections with shipping, insurance, and supplying the market.
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Pijning, Ernst. “Contrabando, ilegalidade e medidas políticas no Rio de Janeiro do século XVIII.” Revista Brasileira de História 42 (2001): 397–414.
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This article analyzes smuggling in the port of Rio de Janeiro in the 1700s. The measures to repress illegal trade serve for the reader to reflect on the monarchy and the malleability of the local government, that is to say, the public morality of the laws and authorities of the epoch.
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Santos, Corcino M. dos. O Rio de Janeiro e a conjuntura atlântica. Rio de Janeiro: Expressão e Cultura, 1993.
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Dedicated to the port of Rio de Janeiro, this study analyzes foreign and domestic trade, customs revenues, prices of merchandise, and the delivery of slaves. It uses dozens of tables based on a study of primary sources to show the substantial circulation of wealth.
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The Slave Trade

The early studies on the slave trade concentrated on the ports where the Africans embarked and disembarked, the awful transportation conditions, and the high mortality rate, as in the Klein 1969 article on Rio de Janeiro. Within the scope of economic history, Florentino 1997 offered an analysis of the oscillations of this trade and the profits and powers of the traffickers, a group that was also studied in Guimarães 2005. Lately, the dynamic of the slave trade has begun to serve as a reference for social history, since the increased entry of Africans in the slave communities represented a threat to the power enjoyed by the crioulos, slaves born in Rio de Janeiro, according to Florentino 2008.

Florentino, Manolo. Em costas negras: Uma história do tráfego de escravos entre a África e o Rio de Janeiro. Rio de Janeiro: Companhia das Letras, 1997.
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This important study is based on serial sources that associate the slave trade with the demand for labor for the economy of Rio de Janeiro between 1790 and 1830. It also analyzes the logic of the traffickers along with their profits, powers, and ties with the marketplaces of Portugal, Africa, Goa, and Macau.
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Florentino, Manolo. “The Slave Trade, Colonial Markets, and Slave Families in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, ca. 1790–ca. 1830.” In Extending The Frontiers: Essays on the New Transatlantic Slave Trade Database. Edited by David Eltis and David Richardson, 275–312. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2008.
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From 1808 onward, there was a notable increase in the number of African slaves in Rio de Janeiro. Dependence on the slave trade had its origins in the significant entry of adult men, rather than women and children. In spite of the inability of this population to reproduce, the predominance of Africans threatened the crioulos in the slave communities.
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Guimarães, Carlos Gabriel. “O fidalgo-mercador Francisco Pinheiro e o ‘negócio da carne humana,’ 1707–1715.” In Actas do Congresso Internacional “Espaço Atlântico de Antigo Regime: Poderes e sociedades.” Lisbon, Portugal, 2–5 November 2005.
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Based on the correspondence of merchant Francisco Pinheiro, this article analyzes the slave trade from the Mina Coast in western Africa to Rio de Janeiro, a risk-filled, costly, and lucrative enterprise. The quantitative data also prove the profits enjoyed both by agents and the ship captains.
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Klein, Herbert S. “The Trade in African Slaves to Rio de Janeiro, 1795–1811.” Journal of African History 10.4 (1969): 533–549
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This pioneer study on the slave trade points to the appalling conditions and high mortality rate resulting from transportation of slaves from Angola and Benguela to the port of Rio de Janeiro. Available online for purchase or by subscription.
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Slavery and Society

In the last decades of the 20th century, slavery became a core theme in Brazilian historiography. In the case of Rio de Janeiro, the studies have traditionally concentrated on the African ethnic groups and their insertion in society and the economy, as in Karash 1987, Algranti 1988, and Lima 2008. The research has also analyzed the reaction of the colonial authorities to the difficulty of the social insertion of free colored men, amidst the multitude of Negroes and mulattos in the city, as in Lara 2007. Indeed, the color black was an indication of the captive origin of individuals and their ancestors; in other words, the marks of slavery promoted social exclusion, as shown by Venancio 1999 in his demographic study on abandoned children. Yet color was also an incentive to sociability, living together, and forming identities based on fraternities, brotherhoods, and festivities, as claimed by Soares 2011 and Viana 2007. Gomes 2010 addresses an innovative theme in a study on how marriage and godparent relations were also part of sociability, whether among slaves or free Negro or mulatto men. One thus realizes how close ties were made between the color of the skin, slavery, or freedom.

Algranti, Leila Mezan. O feitor ausente: Estudo sobre a escravidão urbana no Rio de Janeiro. Petrópolis, Rio de Janeiro: Vozes, 1988.
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Unlike the rural world, in the city could be found “earner slaves” who divided their tasks between house and street, where they usually acted as vendors to supplement the incomes of their masters.
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Gomes, Flávio dos Santos. “Africans and Slave Marriages in Eighteenth-Century Rio de Janeiro.” The Americas 67.2 (2010): 153–184.
DOI: 10.1353/tam.2010.0022Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
This article addresses the polemical theme of matrimony and godparent relations between Negroes and mulattos and between slaves and free men. Such alliances could act as strategies for social ascension and bring together people of different status. The study also proves that whole families of slaves were actually not so rare in slave-owning society. Available online by subscription.
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Karash, Mary C. Slave Life in Rio de Janeiro (1808–1850). Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1987.
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The most in-depth study of slavery in Rio de Janeiro, this book places emphasis on daily life, ethnic and social diversity, and forms and conditions of work in place at the time. It also shows the rise of a rich Afro-carioca culture different from that of the other localities of Brazil.
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Lara, Sílvia Hunold. Fragmentos setecentistas: Escravidão, cultura e poder na América portuguesa. São Paulo: Companhia das Letras, 2007.
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Dedicated to the second half of the 18th century, this item studies the political significance and the fear provoked by the increase in the population of Negroes and mulattos, both slaves and free men, in the cities of Salvador and Rio de Janeiro. An analysis is made of the registers left by the authorities and the 18th-century images of Negroes and mulattos.
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Lima, Carlos. Os artífices do Rio de Janeiro 1790–1808. Rio de Janeiro: Apicuri, 2008.
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Whether slaves or free men, craftsmen in Rio de Janeiro took an active part in building urban properties. Through their work, some achieved social mobility acting as rentiers or businessmen and then abandoned their crafts.
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Soares, Mariza de Carvalho. People of Faith: Slavery and African Catholics in Eighteenth-Century Rio de Janeiro. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2011.
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This study on African ethnicities, slavery and brotherhoods of free Negroes, and slaves in Rio de Janeiro analyzes the norms and sociability of the brotherhood of Saint Elesbão and Saint Iphigenia, underscoring the religiosity and identity of the Maki ethnic group.
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Venancio, Renato P. Famílias abandonadas: Assistência à criança de camadas populares no Rio de Janeiro e em Salvador—séculos XVII e XIX. Campinas, São Paulo: Papirus 1999.
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This comparative demographic study of abandoned children starts out by analyzing the institutions responsible for sheltering them and proceeds to present a profile of the abandoned children, with their social origin, color, mortality rate—and the possible fate of the survivors.
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Viana, Larissa. O idioma da mestiçagem. Campinas, São Paulo: Editora Unicamp, 2007.
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An examination of the formation of religious brotherhoods, their obligations, and rules for inclusion and exclusion, particularly in Rio de Janeiro. Based on the trajectory of colored people, the study observes how identities were built, especially the distinction between mulatto and pardo (“grayish-brown”).
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Religious Practices

Studies concerning religious practices in Rio de Janeiro mostly lend attention to the Jesuit and Benedictine orders. Leite 1945 concentrates on the settlements, strategies aimed at conversion, and Jesuit schools, while Carvalho 1991 and Sousa 2011 researched, respectively, the architectural legacy left by the followers of the order of Saint Ingatius Loyola and the insertion of the Benedictines in the local elite. The broad approach adopted by Pereira 2006 offers an analysis of the action of the Inquisition in the southern captaincies between the 17th and 18th centuries. For the latter century, Silva 1995 and Dines 1992 are dedicated to the imprisonment and extradition to Lisbon of dozens of New Christians accused of practicing the Jewish faith. In addition to the more recurrent research themes, special mention is due to Neves 1997, which analyzes an eminent religious institution active in the city after 1808.

Carvalho, Ana Maria F. M. de. A forma e a imagem: Arte e arquitetura jesuítica no Rio de Janeiro colonial. Rio de Janeiro: PUC-Rio, 1991.
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Articles on Jesuit art and architecture; the first ones are collated with earlier studies made between 1940 and 1950, followed by others that insert the artistic legacy of the Order in the context of the colonization of the New World.
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Dines, Alberto. Vínculos de fogo: Antônio José da Silva, o Judeu, e outras histórias da inquisição em Portugal e no Brasil. São Paulo: Companhia das Letras, 1992.
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With his erudite, if unconventional, narrative, the journalist analyzes the life of the dramatist Antônio José da Silva, born in Rio de Janeiro in 1705 and executed in an act of public penance (auto-da-fé) held in Lisbon. The book also describes the daily life of the New Christians on both sides of the Atlantic.
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Leite, Serafim. História da Companhia de Jesus no Brasil: Do Rio de Janeiro ao Prata ao Guaporé, estabelecimentos e assuntos locais: Séculos XVII e XVIII. Vol. 6. Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, 1945.
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The first book in Volume 6, dedicated to the captaincy of Rio de Janeiro, offers relevant data on the Royal College of Arts run by the Jesuits, as well as notes on the farms, mills, and Indian villages on the outskirts of the city and in Campos dos Goitacazes.
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Neves, Guilherme Pereira das. E receberá mercê: A Mesa da Consciência e Ordens e o clero secular no Brasil, 1808–1828. Rio de Janeiro: Arquivo Nacional, 1997.
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Between 1808 and 1828, the Council of Conscience and Orders functioned in the city to decide on requests made by the secular clergy to be appointed to certain positions and to resolve internal disputes and obstacles to the performance of services. The prosopographic study concludes that the clergy was ill prepared and submitted to the appalling conditions offered by the Crown.
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Pereira, Ana Margarida Santos. A Inquisição no Brasil: Aspectos da sua actuação nas capitanias do Sul, de meados do séc. XVI ao início do séc. XVIII. Coimbra, Portugal: Faculdade de Letras da Universidade de Coimbra, 2006.
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A study of the Inquisition in southern Brazil, this book traces the profile of family members and commissioners and comments on the failure of the visit made to Rio, São Paulo, and Espírito Santo in 1627–1628. Evidence is presented of the persecution of New Christians, especially in the early decades of the 18th century. This is the best study on the subject.
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Silva, Lina Gorenstein F. da. Heréticos e impuros: A Inquisição e os cristãos-novos no Rio de Janeiro século XVIII. Rio de Janeiro: Prefeitura do Rio de Janeiro, 1995.
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An approach to the patriarchal nature of the New Christian families, their relations with the “Old” Christians, and their connections with sugar production and trade. An examination is included of the intervention of the Inquisition, persecutions, imprisonment, confiscations, and consequent disintegration of the group suspected of perpetrating Judaism.
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Sousa, Jorge Victor de A. “Para além do claustro: Uma história social da inserção beneditina na América portuguesa, c.1580–c.1690.” PhD diss., Universidade Federal Fluminense, 2011.
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With its emphasis on Rio de Janeiro, this dissertation studies the social and economic insertion of the Order of Saint Benedict and shows that its institutional powers operated beyond the cloisters between 1580 and 1690. An analysis is made of the Benedictine strategies to benefit from drawing close to the local authorities.
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Local Powers

Studies on local powers adopted as their point of departure the principle that the conquest of Rio de Janeiro resulted in benefits granted by the monarchy and its leading allies. While Rudge 1983 analyzes only the allotments, Fragoso 2000 deals with the royal concession of land, military ranks, and posts in local government as symbolic and material property of the “landed nobility,” the seigniorial elite of Rio de Janeiro. According to Fridman 1999, this capital was used as the basis for this group to invest in land, urban buildings, sugar production, commerce, and the slave trade. This elite also sought to defend its rights before the courts of the colonial and metropolitan administration. In fact, the intention of Fragoso and a group of researchers was to prove the autonomy of the local government, that is, to show the difficulty of the Portuguese monarchy in effectively controlling its possessions. In this sense, according to Bicalho 1998 and Mello 2010, local resistance made itself felt in the conflicts and negotiations between officers of the City Chambers, auditors, traveling judges, and governors, as well as among the local authorities and representatives of the royal power, a theme also developed by Gouvêa 1998. In its analysis of the revolt in the late 18th century, Santos 1992 considers it as part of the crisis of the old colonial system.

Bicalho, Maria Fernanda. “As Câmaras Municipais no Império Português.” Revista Brasileira de História 18.36 (1998): 251–580.
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Centered on Rio de Janeiro, this article sets out to analyze the role played by the overseas municipal chambers in the Portuguese colonial empire. Focused on the 17th and 18th centuries, it also investigates the tensions, negotiations, and commitments between city and metropolis.
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Fragoso, João. “A nobreza da República, notas sobre a formação da primeira elite senhorial do Rio de Janeiro (séculos XVI e XVII).” Topoi 1 (2000): 45–122.
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The early “landed nobility” took an active part in the conquest, acted in the City Chambers, and became the owners of sugar mills. Based on serial sources, this article shows that setting up the sugar industry was favored not only by trade but also by the benefit granted by the monarchy.
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Fridman, Fania. Donos do Rio em nome do rei. Rio de Janeiro: Editora Garamond, 1999.
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This item explores the delimitations and conflicts over land since the colonial period. The accumulation of capital took place with the expansion of royal assets. It is also shown how the lack of land demarcation made it easy for religious orders and local elites to own property.
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Gouvêa, Maria de Fátima Silva. “Homens bons do Rio de Janeiro, ca.1790–1822.” Revista Brasileira de História 18.36 (1998): 297–330.
DOI: 10.1590/S0102-01881998000200013Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
An analysis of the social fabric and political arrangements made in the City Chambers of Rio de Janeiro at the close of the colonial period. There was a predominance of sugar mill owners and businessmen active in a broad range of enterprises, all of whom belonged to the same clientele networks.
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Mello, Isabele de Matos Pereira de. Poder, administração e justiça: Os ouvidores gerais no Rio de Janeiro (1624–1696). Rio de Janeiro: Secretaria Municipal de Cultura do Rio de Janeiro, 2010.
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A study on the often-antagonistic relations between the instances of power on the part of auditors (ouvidores), members of the royal staff, and those belonging to the local elite. At first, the auditors confronted the municipal chambers; later on, the dispute was with the governors of the captaincy.
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Rudge, Raul Telles. As sesmarias de Jacarepaguá. São Paulo: Kosmos, 1983.
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This study of the donations and the dynamic of land in the district of Jacarepaguá since the foundation of the city reproduces extracts of documents but seldom indicates their source. The work is a good instrument for identifying who owned the land.
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Santos, Afonso Marques dos. No rascunho da nação: Inconfidência no Rio de Janeiro. Rio de Janeiro: Prefeitura do Rio de Janeiro, 1992.
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The government of the Count of Resende banned the spread of the Enlightenment in the city. Rumors led the Count of Resende to install a committee to investigate the Literary Society and its members. Although the author agrees that there was an actual crisis of the old colonial system, he claims that the members of the Literary Society opposed breaking with the metropolis and defended the insertion of Brazil in the “project of the Portuguese-Brazilian Empire.”
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The Portuguese Court in the Tropics

Promoted to the status of capital of the empire, Rio de Janeiro underwent substantial political, cultural, and urbanistic changes, all of which are analyzed by Lima 2006. Not only was courtly sociability revived in the city, a topic presented by Malerba 2000, but also the administration was centered on Lisbon, close to the monarch and ruling over the vast empire, as shown by Schultz 2001. This period saw the installation of the Royal Library (Schwarcz 2002) and the first Brazilian newspapers (Silva 2007). Even in exile, as Monteiro 2010 demonstrates, the upper nobility did not mix with the local elites, rich landowners and those involved in multiple business ventures. Finally, the presence of the king in the city strengthened the idea of a Brazilian-Portuguese Empire, a successful project capable of recruiting important allies among the more illuminated Brazilian elite.

Lima, Oliveira. Dom João VI no Brasil, 1808–1821. Rio de Janeiro: Topbooks, 2006.
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Originally published in 1908, this monumental work is dedicated to the government of Dom João in Rio de Janeiro. In particular it offers a profile of the main interlocutors, the plans for transferring the Court and the military interventions undertaken against French Guyana and the Cispaltina Province of Uruguay and Argentina.
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Malerba, Jurandir. A Corte no exílio: Civilização e poder no Brasil às vésperas da Independência, 1808 a 1821. São Paulo: Companhia das Letras, 2000.
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Inspired by the work of Norbert Elias, this study of the sociability of the Court in Rio de Janeiro between 1808 and 1821 stresses the changes in the social practices of the colonial elite as a result of living close to the newly arrived Portuguese immigrants and the regulated palace life in the Court.
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Monteiro, Nuno Gonçalo. “Nobreza titulada e elites nas monarquia portuguesa antes e depois de 1808.” Paper presented at “1808: A Corte no Brasil,” held at Universidade Federal Fluminense in March 2008. In 1808: A corte no Brasil. Edited by Ismênia Martins and Márcia Motta, 19–35. Niterói, Brazil: Editora da UFF, 2010.
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After 1808, Rio de Janeiro did not witness the fusion between the high Portuguese nobility and the local elite; however, after 1822 the high-ranking military garrisoned in the city were to a great extent born in the kingdom. The relations between magistrates and intellectuals and the University of Coimbra were also preserved.
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Schultz, Kirsten. Tropical Versailles: Empire, Monarchy, and the Portuguese Royal Court in Rio de Janeiro, 1808–1821. New York: Routledge, 2001.
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This is a study of the Portuguese Court in exile and the reconstruction of the monarchy in exceptional conditions, immersed in slave-owner society in the old colony and pressed by revolutions. Also emphasized is the adoption of the new political discourse and protocol adapted to the challenges of the era.
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Schwarcz, Lilia M. A longa viagem da biblioteca dos reis: Do terremoto de Lisboa à Independência do Brasil. São Paulo: Companhia das Letras, 2002.
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This work opens with an analysis of the reconstruction of the library of the kings of Portugal immediately following the earthquake in Lisbon and then narrates how it crossed the Atlantic to arrive in Rio de Janeiro. The Royal Library remained there after independence, conferring on the new monarchy the erudition peculiar to the civilized world.
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Silva, Beatriz Nizza da. A Gazeta do Rio de Janeiro, 1808–1822: Cultura e sociedade. Rio de Janeiro: Ed. UERJ, 2007.
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An analysis of the contents of the Gazeta do Rio de Janeiro (Rio de Janeiro Gazette), which published news on food, professional services, clothes, property, the arrival of ships, and uprisings. The newspaper is therefore an essential source for the material and cultural life of the city in the reign of Dom João.
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Images of the City

After the Brazilian ports were opened in 1808, a great number of Europeans came to Rio de Janeiro and described its residents, daily life, and political events, as told in Luccock 1820, Graham 2010 (originally published in 1824), and Schlichthorst 2012 (originally published in 1829). They obviously presented an exotic city peopled by few whites and many slaves, free Negroes, and mulattos. In their painting, besides the residents’ black skin, they lent romantic contours to nature, sometimes represented by European or Oriental clichés such as frozen mountains and Bavarian or even Chinese architecture. However, the images were often conceived in the strong colors of the tropics. In Raminelli 2002, the contrast between the city and nature is the high point of this iconography. In fact, it should be mentioned that the city of Rio de Janeiro was portrayed by fine European artists of the 19th century. Accordingly, included here are three catalogues of paintings dedicated to the city: Ferrez 2000, Bandeira and Lago 2008, and Wagner and Bandeira 2000.

Bandeira, Julio, and Pedro Corrêa do Lago. Debret e o Brasil: Obra completa. Rio de Janeiro: Capivara Editora, 2008.
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This catalogue raisonné of the monumental Brazilian work of Jean-Baptiste Debret, who lived in Rio de Janeiro from 1816 to 1831, includes hundreds of oil paintings, watercolors, and engravings of human types, feasts, clothes, customs, architecture, and urban landscape. Debret’s images are obligatory references to the history of daily life and colonial society.
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Ferrez, Gilberto. Iconografia do Rio de Janeiro, 1530–1890. 2 vols. Rio de Janeiro: Casa Jorge Editorial, 2000.
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Ferrez is a great specialist in the images of Rio de Janeiro. In the first volume can be found references to 4,494 images, some of them with comments by Ferrez; the second reproduces the most important engravings, oils, and watercolors of the city.
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Graham, Maria. Journal of a Voyage to Brazil and Residence There during Part of the Years 1821, 1822, 1823. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2010.
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The daily life and architecture of several cities along the coast are described. As far as Rio de Janeiro is concerned, not only its inhabitants and its urban and natural landscape, but also political facts of importance for the independence of Brazil, are described. Excellent drawings accompany the text.
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Luccock, John. Notes on Rio de Janeiro, and the Southern Parts of Brazil: Taken during a Residence of Ten Years in That Country, from 1808 to 1818. London: S. Leigh, 1820.
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This merchant registered the daily life of the city and the functioning of religious and civil institutions. He witnessed the profound changes in politics and customs as a result of the transferring of the Portuguese Court. As regards the southern regions, he also dwells on trading and the presence of the English following the opening of the ports. Also available online.
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Raminelli, Ronald. “Vistas e paisagens: Imagens do Rio de Janeiro colonial.” Revista de História 147 (2002): 33–52.
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An essay on scenes and landscapes of Rio de Janeiro between the 17th and 19th centuries. In the early representations of the city, the scenes acted as maps, whereas the painters of the late 18th century included the “civitas” in the landscape, emphasizing the Negro population and nature.
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Schlichthorst, Carl. Rio de Janeiro wie es ist: Beiträge zur Tages- und Sitten-Geschichte der Hauptstadt von Brasilien mit vorzüglicher Rücksicht auf die Lage des dortigen deutschen Militairs. Charleston, SC: BiblioBazaar, 2012.
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With great literary talent, between 1824 and 1826 this ex-lieutenant of the imperial German army gives an exceptional description of the residents of the city and its surroundings. Aside from the description of social, political, and military life, the book offers a retrospective of the events leading to independence.
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Wagner, Robert, and Júlio Bandeira, eds. Viagem ao Brasil nas aquarelas de Thomas Ender, 1817–1818. 3 vols. Petrópolis, Brazil: Kapa Editorial, 2000.
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A painter in the Austrian mission, Ender portrayed Brazilian landscapes and cities between 1817 and 1818. The three volumes present 793 watercolors. Volume 2 is dedicated to Rio de Janeiro, where not only the urban landscape and vegetation, but also social types, especially Negroes and mulattos, are represented.
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The City and the Nation

Establishing the Portuguese Court in Rio de Janeiro strengthened even more the political ties between the different Brazilian captaincies, and later on, between the provinces. Centralization of the administration was preserved after independence by virtue of negotiations carried out between the Court and the regional elites, a theme introduced in the Mota 1972 collection. Subjected to political instability, the Portuguese and Brazilian elites debated in the newspapers and endeavored to strengthen the ties between Portuguese and Brazil without counting on popular support, as shown in Slemian 2006, Neves 2003, and Lustosa 2000. Even after independence, claims Barman 1988, the unity of the nation was preserved throughout the 19th century and was fortified by the national project forged in Rio de Janeiro.

Barman, Roderick. Brazil: The Forging of a Nation, 1798–1852. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1988.
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An analysis of the mechanisms responsible for the political unity of Brazil based on the plans proposed by Souza Coutinho and the installing of the Portuguese Court in Rio. The book investigates the construction of Brazilian identity, the institutions created by the Portuguese government, and how they served to keep the state national.
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Lustosa, Isabel. Insultos Impressos: A guerra dos jornalistas na independência, 1821–1823. São Paulo: Companhia das Letras, 2000.
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This work deals with the debates published in the newspapers between the departure of Dom João VI (1821) and the closing of the Assembly by Dom Pedro I (1823). Focused on the Rio de Janeiro, the editors did not involve journalists from the provinces.
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Mota, Carlos Guilherme, ed. 1822: Dimensões. São Paulo: Perspectiva, 1972.
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This commemorative edition gathers together several articles. The role played by Rio de Janeiro in the independence movement is shown in the contributions made by Maria Odila Silva Dias, Francisco Falcón, and Ilmar Mattos. The establishment of the Court lent impulse both to the Portuguese state taking roots in Brazil’s Center-South and to the building of a national state.
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Neves, Lúcia Maria Bastos Pereira das. Corcundas e constitucionais: A cultura política da Independência (1820–1822). Rio de Janeiro: Revan, 2003.
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This is the principal study of the debates on the subject of the independence of Brazil. In both Rio de Janeiro and Lisbon, the political and intellectual elites were indifferent to the population; in newspapers and leaflets, they disputed among themselves the political control of the Brazilian-Portuguese Empire.
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Slemian, Andréa. A vida política em tempo de crise: Rio de Janeiro, 1808–1824. São Paulo: Aderaldo and Rothschild, 2006.
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The arrival of the royal family in Rio de Janeiro gave rise to the emergence of new political values that originated in disaggregation from Portugal. This political instability was actually evident in Rio de Janeiro, where the seat of the Portuguese monarchy was established.
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