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Farms and Sugar Mills in The Coast of São Vicente: Traces of a Forgotten Economy (16th to 18th Centuries)

Abstract

The first systematic sugar cultivation experiment in Brazil, on the coast of Sao Vicente (Sao Paulo), was peculiar and brief. Even without the obstacles of monopoly, it had Flemish and Italian support, the production setup rehearsed its first steps, with the use of slave labor. In about 40 years, however, production had declined, surpassed by the big businesses that migrated to the Northeastern coast. In Sao Vicente, an almost anonymous economy remained, whose profile of properties, owners and products is difficult to reconstitute. Based on the analysis of studies on land ownership in Brazil, the historiography on Colonial São Paulo and the implementation of this first sugar core, some results of an ongoing research, focused on the identification and recognition of Farms and Mills in the coast of Sao Vicente, are presented for the development of a digital atlas.

Keywords
Sugarmills; Sugar Economy; Land Ownership; Digital Atlas; São Vicente

Universidade Estadual Paulista Julio de Mesquita Filho Faculdade de Ciências e Letras, UNESP, Campus de Assis, 19 806-900 - Assis - São Paulo - Brasil, Tel: (55 18) 3302-5861, Faculdade de Ciências Humanas e Sociais, UNESP, Campus de Franca, 14409-160 - Franca - São Paulo - Brasil, Tel: (55 16) 3706-8700 - Assis/Franca - SP - Brazil
E-mail: revistahistoria@unesp.br