¹ Alden, Dauril, “The Population of Brazil in the Late Eighteenth Century: A Preliminary Survey,” Hispanic American Historical Review 43 (May 1963), 174–205.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

² Lisanti, Luis and Luisa Marcilio, Maria, “Estrutura demográfica, social, e econômica da vila de Lajes, 1798–1808,” Estudos Históricos (Marilia, São Paulo) 8 (1969), 9–52.Google Scholar Maria Luisa Marcilio, La ville de São Paulo: peoplement et population, 1750–1850. (Rouen, 1968). Marcilio, Maria Luisa, “Tendences et structures des menages dans la capitainerie de São Paulo (1768–1868) selon les listes nominatives d’habitantes,” in L’Histoire quantitative du Bresil de 1800 a 1930, Colloques Internationaux due Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (Paris, 1973), 157–165.Google Scholar Yedda Linhares and Barbara Levy, “Aspectos da história demográfica e social do Rio de Janeiro (1808–1889),” in ibid., 123–142. Altiva Pilatti Balhana, “L’evolution demographique de Curitiba au XIX siècle,” in Ibid., 143–155.

³ Despite this elevation, Vila Rica retained its denomination as a “town.” The status of an urban center was determined by administrative fiat and was not necessarily related to the size and density of the center’s population. Thus Mariana, lesser in size and importance than nearby Vila Rica, was elevated to a “city” after it was made bishopric seat for Minas Gérais in the 1740’s.

⁴ It is difficult to date the decline of the population in the urban core. It would appear that the bulk of the decline occurred in the free population prior to 1796. Thus, for example, in the one urban parish for which there is sufficient data to allow a demographic reconstruction, Nossa Senhora do Pila do Ouro Prêto, the net change between the years 1796 and 1823 was in the loss of 4 out of a total free population of 3489, constituting 0.1% over the intervening 27 years. There was, however, an internal shift in the racial structure of the free population. The racial configuration in 1796–1797 was 25.6% white, 46.9 mulatto, and 27.5% black. In 1823 whites comprised 29.1% of the free population, mulattoes 53.0% and blacks 17.9%. The shift could be due to rapid migration both in and out but, more probably, simply reflects the vagueness of racial definitions. The major decline in the population occurred among the slaves where the number dropped from 2150 to 1251, a decline of 42.3% in 27 years. Clearly this is a reflection of the economic status of the district in contrast with the cattle and coffee areas which were attracting surplus populations from the mineral zone. Mappas da populacao, Ouro Prêto, 1796–1797, Arquivo Público Mineiro, Belo Horizonte, Planilhas 2037, and Mappa Estadístico do Termo da Imperial Cidade do Ouro Prêto, 1823, Arquivo Nacional, Rio de Janiero, Cod. 808, vol. 1, p. 198.

⁵ The various tracts have been compiled and published by Mathias, Herculano Gomes, Um recenseamento na capitania de Minas Gerais: Vila Rica–1804 (Rio de Janeiro, 1969).Google Scholar Because of the complexity and, on occasion, imprecision of the census, the following crucial assumptions were made in coding the data:

• 1.

  1. Sex was established by the name of the individual.

• 2.

  2. Unless otherwise specified marital status is identified as single.

• 3.

  3. All heads of households are assumed to be free unless otherwise specified.

• 4.

  4. Coartados (slaves purchasing their freedom) are treated as members of the group in which they are placed by the census takers.

• 5.

  5. Slaves listed as agregados will be so coded.

• 6.

  6. Forros (freedmen) will be treated as members of the group in which they are placed by the census taker.

⁶ The definitions of household and houseful used in this essay are based on Laslett, Peter, “Introduction,” in Household and Family in Past Time, ed. Laslett, Peter (Cambridge, Eng., 1972), 23–41.CrossRefGoogle Scholar The household refers to those who reside in a dwelling while the houseful includes all who reside on the premises—the main house and all ancillary dwellings in close proximity, such as slave quarters.

⁷ Throughout this essay I have endeavored to provide the basic data suggested by Peter Laslett as the minimum information necessary for providing a basis of cross-cultural comparisons. Laslett, , “The Study of Social Structure from Listings of Inhabitants,” Wrigley, E.A. (ed.), An Introduction to English Historical Demography from the Sixteenth to the Nineteenth Century (New York, 1966), 189–191.Google Scholar Some modifications, however, have been necessary due to differences in cultural context.

⁸ Mappa da População de Termo de Vila Rica do anno 1815, Arquivo Público Mineiro, Belo Horizonte, Maço de População and Table of the Negroes who were taxed since the beginning of the capitation tax in each of the districts (of Minas Gerais), from 1735 to 1750 in Boxer, C.R., The Golden Age of Brazil, 1695–1750 (Berkeley, 1964), 346.Google Scholar

⁹ Count of Assumar to Royal Government, 1721 in de Carvalho, Feu, “Primeiras aulas e escolas de Minas Gerais,” Revista do Arquivo Público Mineiro 24 (1933), 350–351.Google Scholar

¹⁰ Males were allowed to marry at the age of fourteen and females at twelve or earlier if “possessed of discretion and sufficient disposition.” Constituições primeiras do arcebispado da Babia (Lisbon, 1765), Livro 1, Titulo 64, 117.

¹¹ Illegitimacy is used in this essay in its juridical sense. That is, children are considered illegitimate when their parents are not listed as being married. It is clear, however, that social norms tended to blur the distinction between legitimate and illegitimate children.

¹² The racial categories used in this essay are as follows: mulatto is the product of black-white parentage and is synonymous with pardo; black is a general term meaning Negro and including within it two sub-categories—crioulo or native-born black and preto or African-born black; cabra is the offspring of white-mulatto parentage.

¹³ Relasam dos Moradores da Freguizia de Santo Antonio da Caza Branca do Termo de Vila Rica da Capitania de Minas Gerais, 12 August, 104, Arquivo Nacional, Rio de Janeiro, Lata 130, Pacote 2.

¹⁴ The three bodies of data do not appear to be internally consistent. The 1815 and 1818 Mappas were prepared under the direction of the Captain Major of the county, António Eulalio da Rocha Brandão and are very similar in format. The 1823 Mappa was prepared by the secretary of the provincial government, Luis Maria da Silva Pinto and is far more detailed than its predecessors, including age breakdowns, vital statistics, occupations, and business enterprises. There are significant differences in the material presented by the 1815 and 1818 mappas and the 1823 mappa. Because of its internal structure I have generally relied upon the latter mappa. The 1823 mappa also includes Indios as a category.

¹⁵ This view is commonly held and much of its acceptance can be attributed to the pioneering studies by Freyre, Gilberto, especially his Casa-grande & senzala: Formação brasikira sob regime patriarchal de econômia (14th ed., 2 vols., Rio de Janeiro, 1969).Google Scholar While Freyre’s studies focus on a specific economic and social environment many of his conclusions have been generalized to apply to colonial Brazil in general. See, for example, Azevedo, Fernando, A cultura brasileira (4th ed., Sao Paulo, 1964), 513;Google Scholar Costa Pinto, L.A., Lutas de famílias no Brasil: Introdução ao seu estudo (Sao Paulo, 1949), 46–50:Google Scholar Candido, António, “The Brazilian Family,” in Brazil: Portrait of Half a Continent, eds. Lynn Smith, T. and Marchant, Alexander (1951; reprint ed., Westport, Conn., 1972), 303–304.Google Scholar An implicit critique of this view can be found in Willems, Emilio, “Structure of the Brazilian Family,” Social Forces 31 (1953), 339–346.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

¹⁶ For an extended treatment of this topic see my “Marriage and the Family in Colonial Vila Rica,” Hispanic American Historical Review 55, 2 (May, 1975). The general conclusions based on the census data are supported by the 1823 population summary which defines the racial composition of the entire population. Of the white population of all ages, 26.5% were married; of mulattoes, 21.0%; and of blacks, 20.4% were married. No indians were listed as married. Mappa Estadístico, 1823. The data provided by Linhares and Levy, “Aspectos da história demográfica,” p. 129 suggest that the same general pattern holds for Rio de Janeiro in 1799.

¹⁷ Admittedly the large number of cases in which the race of one or both of the spouses prevents the formulation of conclusions based on this census. It is, however, interesting to note that census material for two nearby rural districts in 1831 suggest that this pattern might not be far from typical. Thus in Cachoeira do Camp the percentage of marriages involving individuals of different races was 10.9% using contemporary racial distinctions or 8.0% using only three racial groups. For São Gonçalo do Bação the proportion in both cases was 18%. Census tracts for Cachoeira do Campo and São Gonçalo do Bação, 1831, Maço da Populacao, ΑΡΜ.

¹⁸ While it is impossible to generalize from one instance, it is interesting to note that while the houseful averaged 5.1 people in size, the household averaged 4.89 people. This figure is almost exactly the same as that for the urban areas of Brazil as reflected in the 1950 census. Lynn Smith, T., Brazil, People and Institutions (Baton Rouge, 1963), 474.Google Scholar While it is very possible that Vila Rica is not a typical colonial urban center, the similarity raises many questions about the development of the residential unit in Brazilian history.

¹⁹ Using the technique of measuring the age of the mother at the time of the birth of the eldest residing child a rough indicator of age at the time of marriage of women can be obtained. This maximum figure for women was 22 years or 21 when nine months for pregnancy is assumed. Husbands averaged 7.3 years older than their wives so it seems possible that during the fourth decade of the head’s life the structure of the houseful would begin to change as children left and were replaced by agregados or slaves.

²⁰ The median age of the heads of these households was 28.

²¹ Furthermore, the presence of a dependent family unit, husband-wife, mother-children, or father-child is viewed as constituting a dependent household.

²² The presence of the enjeitados was more than the cause for scandal. Since the municipal council was responsible for placing them in foster homes and paying for their keep, the enjeitados were a fiscal drain on the municipal council's revenues. The council took a number of steps to try to stop the practice of abandoning children, going so far as to appoint inspectors for districts whose duty it was to ensure that pregnant women did not abandon their infants. Correição, 24 October 1761, Arquivo Público Mineiro, Belo Horizonte, Cod, 22 (CMOP), fols, 142–143.

²³ Faced with such a high proportion of foundlings and illegitimate children, many of the restrictions, if not social attitudes, against these groups had to be modified. Thus purchase of letters of legitimacy was permitted, wills often recognized illegitimate children and provided for them, and even the church was forced to waive strictures against illegitimate birth for the ordination of priests.

²⁴ This type of society has been termed “neoteric” by Nancie Gonzalez, who has studied its existence among Black Caribs in Central America. Gonzalez, , “The Neoteric Society,” Comparative Studies in Society and History 21, 1 (January 1970), 1–13.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

²⁵ Because of the lacunae found in the 1804 census in terms of racial identification, the 1823 Mappa Estadístico was utilized in computing fertility rates. The Mappa Estadístico totals all the parishes of the county of Vila Rica by age, sex, and race. The figures thus include rural parishes as well as the urban core. Arquivo Nacional, Rio de Janeiro, Cód 808, Vol. 1, fol. 198.

²⁶ Certainly a commonly accepted view is that slavery in Brazil was highly dependent on the slave trade to maintain itself. This was due to the low slave fertility rate and the lack of interest by Portuguese slave owners in encouraging slave pregnancies. This view is particularly well stated by Robert Conrad in his The Destruction of Slavery in Brazil, 1850–1888 (Berkeley, 1972). Seldom has the contrary position been advocated although Herbert Klein in his very suggestive study “The Internal Slave Trade in Nineteenth-Century Brazil: A Study of Slave Importations into Rio de Janeiro in 1852,” Hispanic American Historical Review 51, 4 (November, 1971): 567–585, suggests the possibility. From a range of materials covering the first half of the 19th century in Minas Gerais it appears that reproduction had become important to the maintenance of the slave population. It is, however, doubtful that reproduction would have provided the necessary surplus needed to supply the burgeoning coffee frontier’s needs. It should also be noted that mortality rates need to be examined in detail as well as fertility rates.

²⁷ A sample of the earliest records available for Vila Rica, dating from 1716, show that 488 of 512 slaves were males. Cód. 8 (Cámara Municipal do Ouro Prêto), APM. Of this sample only 3.7% were born in Brazil.

²⁸ The number of freed cabras represented 10.8% of those still enslaved. Comparable figures were 11.9% for mulattoes and 13.6% for crioulos. There were, however, a relatively large number of African-born individuals who were heads of households and for whom no clear determination of status can be made. Considered for the purpose of this essay to be freedmen because of their demographic configuration (in terms of sex balance and marriage rate they conform closely to the freed population), their inclusion as freedmen would alter these conclusions by reducing the disparity of manumission rates. Freed Africans would thus constitute 11.2% of the number still enslaved.

²⁹ The mina slave was popularly viewed in the mining district as a symbol of good fortune in finding gold and the mina female was seen as especially beautiful. Luis Vahia Monteiro to King, 5 July, 1726, Documentos bistóricios 94, p. 29–30.

³⁰ The status of the widow in Portuguese society was somewhat ambivalent. On the one hand, marriage with a widow was frowned upon. An early eighteenth century dictionary defined the widow as “a woman whose husband is dead. Marrying a widow is a form of bigamy [and is ] contrary to Canon Law.” Bluteau, Raphael, Vocabulário portuguez e latino (8 vols., Coimbra, 1712–1721) 8, 540.Google Scholar On the other hand, a wealthy widow was expected to remarry. This is supported by folk sayings such as “a rich widow is soon married” (Ibid.) or “The rich widow cries out of one eye and looks around with the other.” (Francisco Luiz Ameno) Diccionário exegetico, que declara a genuina, e propria significação dos vocahulos da lingua Portugueza (Lisbon, 1781), 298.

³¹ An examination of two rural parishes in 1804 suggests that the familial organization of the urban center was not atypical in general terms of the mineiro mining zone. Located in the county of Vila Rica, the parishes of Cachoeira do Campo and Congonhas do Campo help us to define the parameters of familial organization. In 1804, 26.4% of all housefuls in Cachoeira were headed by solitaries; for Congonhas, the figure was a startling 53.2%. Fewer housefuls in either parish contain either extended or multiple families than the capital. Extended families represented 8.6% of all Cachoeira housefuls and only 1.4% of those in Congonhas. The figures for multiple families are 2.1 % for Cachoeira and 9.7% for Congonhas. The number of nuclear families exceeded that of Vila Rica—53.3% for Cachoeira and 44.6% for Congonhas and in both the number of single men and women with children was substantially lower than in the capital. Thus while the general tendency was for overall similarities, marriage was far commoner in the rural areas than in the cities. Census Tracts for Cachoeira do Campo and Congonhas do Campo, Casa dos Contos, Arquivo Nacional, Rio de Janeiro.

³² The data do not permit the examination of family ties between housefuls. Thus it is impossible, at this time, to evaluate the effect of kinship upon residential patterns.