Globalizing the Amazon: the Grão Pará and Maranhão. General Trading Company,

Transcrição

1 Globalizing the Amazon: the Grão Pará and Maranhão General Trading Company, Helena Nunes Duarte CALACS 2006 University of Calgary September 29,

2 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

3 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), Marquis of Pombal to Mendonça Furtado, August , Biblioteca Nacional de Lisboa. Pombaline Collection, codex 24, fl Mendonça Furtado to Diogo de Mendonça Corte Real, January , in Marcos Carneiro de Mendonça, ed. A Amazônia na era Pombalina: Correspondência inédita do Governador e Capitão- General do Estado do Grão Pará e Maranhão, Francisco Xavier de Mendonça Furtado, (São Paulo, Instituto Histórico e Geográfico Brasileiro, 1963)

4 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, (Belém: Universidade Federal do Pará, 1970), Instituição da Companhia Geral do Grão Pará e Maranhão (Lisbon: Miguel Rodrigues, 1755), 17. 4

5 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 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 Sebastião José Carvalho e Melo to Company Administration, 1 July 1756, IANTT/CGPM, Livro 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

6 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 João Pereira Caldas to Martinho de Melo e Castro, 5 January 1776, AHU, CU, Pará, caixa 74, doc

7 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 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 João Pereira Caldas to Martinho de Melo e Castro, 1 March 1774, AHU, CU, Pará, caixa 72, doc João Pereira Caldas to Martinho de Melo e Castro, 18 January 1775, AHU, CU, Pará, caixa 73, doc João Pereira Caldas to Martinho de Melo e Castro, 2 January 1776, AHU, CU, Pará, caixa 74, doc

8 Figure 1: Slaves introduced by the Company of Grão Pará and Maranhão, Time of Year Ship Name Origin Quantity Total for the Year September Sta. Anna Angola May S. José Bissau July Nossa Senhora da Atalaia Angola November S. Antonio Cacheu December S. Luis Angola July Nossa Senhora da Conceição Angola November S. Sebastião Maranhão? December S. José Cacheu November S. Sebastião Bissau April S. Pedro Cacheu July Nossa Senhora da Esperança Cacheu May Nossa Senhora da Conceição Angola June S. Antonio Bissau June Nossa Senhora de Madre de Deos Angola July Nossa Senhora da Esperança Bissau August S. João Baptista Angola September S. José Bissau May Nossa Senhora das Necessidades Cacheu February S. Antonio Cacheu August S. Lazaro Angola September Nossa Senhora da Conceição Angola January Nossa Senhora do Cabo Angola June S. Pedro Bissau November S. Pedro Gonçalves Bissau January Nossa Senhora do Cabo Bissau April S. Francisco Xavier Cacheu December S. Pedro Gonçalves Bissau January S. Francisco Xavier Cacheu November S. Pedro Gonçalves Bissau January S. Francisco Xavier Cacheu February S. Francisco Xavier Bissau February S. Pedro Gonçalves Cacheu May S. Antonio Bissau October S. Sebastião Bissau January S. Pedro Gonçalves Cacheu April S. Pedro Bissau April S. Francisco Xavier Bissau June S. Antonio Cacheu August S. Paulo Bissau March Nossa Senhora da Oliveira Bissau July S. Paulo Cacheu TOTAL Source AHU, CU, Pará, caixa 72, doc

9 captain, soldiers and crew (899$655 réis), and acquired fifty arrobas 16 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 liters in Rio or liters in Lisbon; Kenneth Maxwell, Pombal, Paradox of the Enlightenment (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1995), João Pereira Caldas to Martinho de Melo e Castro, 2 January 1776, AHU, CU, Pará, caixa 74, doc João Pereira Caldas to Martinho de Melo e Castro, 2 January 1776, AHU, CU, Pará, caixa 74, doc João Pereira Caldas to Martinho de Melo e Castro, 2 January 1776, AHU, CU, Pará, caixa 74, doc

10 (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 Without specifying sailings, Manuel Dias Nunes calculates that the Company imported 513 slaves in 1775, 488 in 1776 and 561 in 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 João Pereira Caldas to Martinho de Melo e Castro, 10 August 1778, AHU, CU, Pará, caixa 80, doc João Pereira Caldas to Martinho de Melo e Castro, 10 August 1778, AHU, CU, Pará, caixa 80, doc Manuel Nunes Dias, A Companhia Geral

11 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) 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)

12 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), Manuel Dias Nunes, A Companhia Geral do Grão Pará e Maranhão, (Belém: Universidade Federal do Pará, 1970), Manuel Dias Nunes, A Companhia Geral do Grão Pará e Maranhão, (Belém: Universidade Federal do Pará, 1970),

13 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 ( ) 29 Thousands of Arrobas Thousands of Arrobas Pieces of Year Cotton Rice Leather ,510-21, ,197-38, ,396-18, ,659-21, ,476-39, ,521-45, ,217-25, , , , , , , , , ,015 8,133 7, ,236 30,217 26, ,813 57,465 20, ,994 50,920 17, , ,599 22, ,521 75,154 10, , ,845 25, , ,032 25,515 TOTAL 362, , ,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 Despite the fact that 29 Manuel Dias Nunes, A Companhia Geral do Grão Pará e Maranhão, (Belém: Universidade Federal do Pará, 1970),

14 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 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, (Belém: Universidade Federal do Pará, 1970), See figure 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

15 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, (Lisbon: Edições 90, 1969), 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):

16 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 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, Manuel Dias Nunes, A Companhia Geral do Grão Pará e Maranhão, (Belém: Universidade Federal do Pará, 1970), 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

17 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 João Pereira Caldas to Martinho de Melo e Castro, 14 February 1774, AHU, CU, Pará, caixa 72, doc João Pereira Caldas to Martinho de Melo e Castro, 17 January 1775, AHU, CU, Pará, caixa 73, doc João Pereira Caldas to Martinho de Melo e Castro, 11 April 1775, AHU, CU, caixa 74, doc João Pereira Caldas to Martinho de Melo e Castro, 15 September 1777, AHU, CU, Pará, caixa 77, doc

18 exports increased with 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 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 Manuel Dias Nunes, O Cacau Luso-Brasileiro na Economia Mundial: Subsídio para o seu Estudo. Revista Stúdia 8 (1961):

19 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, (Lisbon: Edições 90, 1969),

20 Bibliography Primary Sources Manuscript Companhia Geral do Grão Pará e Maranhão. Arquivo Histórico do Ministério das Obras Públicas Collection. Instituto dos Arquivos Nacionais/Torre do Tombo, Lisbon. Maranhão. Conselho Ultramarino. Arquivo Histórico Ultramarino, Lisbon. Pará. Conselho Ultramarino Collection. Arquivo Histórico Ultramarino, Lisbon. Pombaline Collection. Biblioteca Nacional de Lisboa, Lisbon. Published Mendonça, Marcos Carneiro de, ed. A Amazônia na era Pombalina: Correspondência inédita do Governador e Capitão-General do Estado do Grão Pará e Maranhão, Francisco Xavier de Mendonça Furtado, São Paulo, Instituto Histórico e Geográfico Brasileiro, Instituição da Companhia Geral do Grão Pará e Maranhão. Lisbon: Miguel Rodrigues, Secondary Sources Azevedo, J. Lúcio de. O Marquês de Pombal e a sua época. Porto: Clássica Editora, Bethencourt, Francisco and Kirti Chaudhuri, eds. História da Expansão Portuguesa. vol. 3. Lisbon: Temas e Debates, Boxer, C.R. O Império Marítimo Português, Lisbon: Edições 90, Carreira, Antonio. As Companhias Pombalinas de Grão Pará e Maranhão e Pernambuco e Paraíba. Lisbon: Editorial Presença, Ferreira, Alexandre Rodrigues. Viagem Filosófica pela Capitanias do Grão Pará, Rio Negro, Mato Grosso e Cuaibá. Lisbon: Estudos Homenagem a Borges Macedo, Maxwell, Kenneth. Pombal, Paradox of the Enlightenment. New York: Cambridge University Press,