Entre o café e o açúcar: perfil econômico dos produtores de Visconde do Rio Branco (1870-1889)

Abstract

This study aims at establishing the economic profile of producers of today’s municipality of Visconde do Rio Branco, upon the second half of the XIXth century, especially from 1870 to 1889. In order to achieve so, we sought to learn about the agricultural products grown in the region, as well as to identify the workforce in the crops. The main source to accomplish this research was the inventories post mortem. From these documents, we analyzed the goods that belonged to the inventoried parties, established the composition of such assets and the importance of each in the amount of the inventoried wealth over the studied period. To approach the subdivisions in the land structure, we used the land records, deeds which allowed us to assess the dimension of the productive unities. For each instance sketched above, we addressed the produce developed in the region observing the dynamics of the production of the two main local crops: sugarcane, grown there since the town’s settlement, and coffee, whose production excelled in both state and national scenarios.