Manufactures in Portuguese America: The Decree of 1785, Enlightened Practices, and Economic Necessity in the Production of Saltpeter and Iron (1780-1808)

Abstract

Throughout the 20th century, Brazilian historiographical production affirmed that the manufactures of colonial Brazil were mere accessories to the production of tropical agriculture and minerals, without great importance for the economy of the Portuguese Kingdom. However, we propose in this article to show that the issue of manufacturing became significant to the government of the Portuguese Empire, with the appearance of enlightened reformers after 1780. One of the main signs of this transformation can be found in the attempt to produce iron and saltpeter in Brazil, during the years preceding the arrival of the king in 1808. Although many of the attempts to produce these items never got off the ground, naturalists, for example José Vieira Couto and José de Sá Bittencourt e Accioli, studied and recommended the implementation of factories.