Conflicts and Conspiracies: Brazil and Portugal, 1750-1808

by Kenneth Maxwell

Overview

Maxwell (Latin American studies, Harvard U.) offers an interpretive framework to help explain why independent Brazil differed from former Spanish colonies by adopting a monarchical system of government and by not fragmenting into separate states. He looks at how social, political, and economic compulsions molded and were molded by policy and events during the formative half century. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780415949880
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	06/28/2004
Pages:	318
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Kenneth Maxwell holds the Nelson and David Rockefeller Chair in Inter-American Studies at the Council of Foriegn Relations. He has taught at Yale, Princeton and Columbia Universities and the University of Kansas. Dr. Maxwell's recent books include Naked Tropics: Essays on Empire and Other Rogues (2003), The Making of Portuguese Democracy (1995) and Pombal: Paradox of the Enlightenment (1995).

Table of Contents

Foreword Preface Acknowledgements Abbreviations
Glossary 1: Dispositions Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo - the Luso-Brazilian commercial system - the British Factory - free traders and contrabandists - new measures - opposition - privileged trading companies - nationalization- Jesuits - the chosen collaborators. 2: Change The international situation - fears of British power - the development of the northeast - reforms - the juntas da fazenda - economic crisis - the contraction of British trade - industrial development - the privileged established interests. 3: Divergence Growing tensions - laxity in Minas Gerais - the Diamond District - the contracts - the fall of Pombal - extinction of the companies- debilitation of the role of the Royal Treasury - nobles and businessmen- neo-mercantilism - subversion. 4: Confrontation Minas Gerais - the regional economy - society - the élite - distinctive solutions - patronage disputes - alienation- Melo e Castro - a classical conflict. 5: Conspiracy The tactics of revolt - the activists - the ideologues - the financial interests - the program - disagreements - nativism - social conservatism - the plot. 6: Skulduggery The suspension of the derrama - the coalition in disarray - loyalists - arrest in Rio de Janiero - the devassas - the death of Cláudio Manuel da Costa - Manitti - the viceroy and the governor - the contractors escape incrimination. 7: Crisis The records in Lisbon - the British - diplomatic successes - Melo e Castro - the alçada - the scapegoat - dangerous sleeping dogs - the sentence - the hanging of Tiradentes - a double failure. 8: Compromise Dom Rodrigo de Sousa Coutinho - proposals for reform - a federative empire - dearth and prosperity- the Bahian mulattoes - opposition - the choice - the dénouement. Maps Statistical Appendix Bibliography Index

Editorial Reviews

"This brilliant monograph has long reigned as the premier treatment on the origins of Brazilian independence. It has no equal and richly deserves a new readership." -- Thomas Skidmore, Brown University

"This attractive edition should make the Luso-Brazilian world of the late eighteenth century more accessible to English-language readers, especially those interested in the empires of the Atlantic World." --Mary Karash, Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan

From the Publisher