“Empório dos gêneros do sertão e do comércio”: elite proprietária e trabalho indígena no Baixo Amazonas em finais do século XVIII e início do XIX (1780-1810)

Abstract

This dissertation aims to investigate the economic and strategic importance of the Baixo Amazonas, a region belonging to the State of Grão-Pará and Rio Negro, specifically in the Captaincy of Pará, through the analysis of the landowning elite and indigenous labor, between the years of 1780 and 1810. The research focuses on the formation of a colonial “elite” that emerged in the Lower Amazon from the mid-18th century, strengthened by the rise of Minister Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo and the Pombaline reforms. These reforms, along with the regulation of indigenous labor through the “Diretório dos Índios” (Indian Directorate), reconfigured policies regarding the use of indigenous labor, which had a significant impact on the collection of the “drogas do sertão” (hinterland drugs) and agriculture. Through the analysis of period documents, the dissertation seeks to highlight the participation of these two groups and their contribution to the economy of the “drogas do sertão” and to the agriculture of the Lower Amazon region at the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th centuries.