PORTUGUESE MIGRATION TO RIO DE JANEIRO, Rosana Barbosa Nunes A ~hesissubmitted in conformity with the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Department of History University of Toronto. Q Rosana Barbosa Nunes, 1998. National Library Bibliothèque nationale du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions et Bibliographie Services services bibliographiques 395 Wellington Street 395. nie Wellington OttawaON K1AON4 OttawaON KIA ON4 Canada Canada The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive licence allowing the exclusive permettant a la National Librâry of Canada to ~ibliothequenationale du Canada de reproduce, loan, distriiute or sell reproduire, prêter, distribuer ou copies of this thesis in microform, vendre des copies de cette thèse sous paper or electronic formats. la forme de microfiche/nlm, de reproduction sur papier ou sur format élecîronique. The author retains ownership of the L'auteur conserve la propriété du copyright in this thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protège cette thèse. thesis nor substantial extracts fkom it Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or otherwise de celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation. Em Mem6ria da Minha Sogra, Martinha dos Anjos Rosa Nunes. Para os Meus Filhos Gabriel and Daniel. Acknowledgements mer the years, my journey towards this dissertation was made possible by the support of many individuals: Firstly, 1 would like to thank my parents, SebastiZo and Camelina Barbosa for continually encouraging me, since the first years of my B.A. in Rio de Janeiro. 1 would also like to thank my husband Fernando, for his editing of each subsequent draft of this thesis, as well as for his devoted companionship during this process. My parents- in-law Carlos and the late Martinha Nunes were also very supportive and helpful, in assisting me with the care of their two grandchildren, Gabriel and Daniel, and with other financial and practical support. 1 am also in debt to my supervisor, Prof. Peter Blanchard, for his careful and attentive revisions of my thesis. Further deserving of my gratitude are Prof. David Higgs and Prof. David Raby, for their friendship and guidance, since my first months at the University of Toronto; a difficult the for me, since 1 was having to adapt to a new culture and language. Prof. Martin Klein has also also shown me a great deal of support and kindness throughout this tirne. Finally, 1 would like to thank the staff of the Arquivo Nacional do Rio de Janeiro, Biblioteca Nacional do Rio de Janeiro, Arquivo Nacional da Torre do Tombo in Lisbon, Biblioteca Nacional de Lisboa, and of Robarts Library in Toronto. ABSTRACT Contrary to what has been indicated by previous sources, Portuguese migration to Rio de ~aneirofrom 1822 to 1850 was a significant aspect of the cityrs history. During the first half of the nineteenth century, many Portuguese fled the difficult economic and social conditions in Portugal for better economic opportunities in post-independence Brazil, which was experiencing a boom that was fuelled by such comodities as coffee. The capital of the mpixe, Rio de Janeiro was the most affected by this prosperity. In particular, its retail commercial çector attracted many immigrants £rom France, England, Spain, Italy, Germany, and most especially from Portugal. A majority of Rio's migrants worked in the retail and wholesale sectors. The arriva1 of Portuguese migrants was facilitated by the fact that they were mostly well received by the Brazilian government and elite, who wanted to create a "whiten nation, while still continuing to import thousands of Africans every year. Portuguese immigrants served these ends, as they were arriving in large numbers and did so over a long period of tirne, virtually without any state sponsorship- Yet, the Portuguese sometimes faced hostility and aggression £rom the population at large, as a consequence of the nationalism which arose from Brazilian independence, and the fact that they were regarded as cornpetition for jobs. Brazilians also blamed the many Portuguese shop-owners for the high cost of living in Rio. Yet, despite the presence of this hostility, most Portuguese immigrants in R~Ode Janeiro, adapted well to their new environment. They married or developed relationships with local people, bought properties in Brazil, and most did not IV. return to Portugal. 1. INTRODUCTION II. TEE LITERATURE III. THE IMMIGRANTS IV. THE REASONS FOR MIGRATING V. THE ELITE'S VIEW VI * ANTI-FOREIGN RESPONSE VI1 . ADAPTATION VITI. CONCLUSION IX * BIBLLOGRAPHY VI. MAPS, TABLES AND PICTURES MaP 1 Map II Map III MaP IV TABLES Numbers of Foreigners Registered in the Police Depaxtment of Rio de ~aneiro Number of Portuguese Entering Rio de Janeiro Monthly Average of the Number of Portuguese Entering Rio de Janeiro. Marital Status of Portuguese Immigrants Marital Status of the Non-Portuguese Immigrants Brazil: Exports of Primary Products 1823 Population of the Ten Largest Braziiian Cities Population of the Urban Parishes of Rio de Janeiro Destination of migrants from Porto Number of Portuguese Staying in Rio de Janeiro Number of Non-Portuguese Imigrants Staying in Rio de Janeiro Occupations of Portuguese in Rio de Janeiro Occupations of Non-Portuguese migrants in Rio de Janeiro 4.9. Age Distribution of Portuguese Inmigrants 4.10. Age Distribution of Non-Portuguese Immigrants 7.1. Free and Slave Population in the City of Rio de Janeiro, 1838 7.2. Free and Slave population in the City of Rio de Janeiro, 1849 7.3 . Population of the Urban Parishes of Rio, 1838 7.4. Population of the Urban ~arishesof Rio, 1849 PICrnS Picture 1 Source: Leslie Bethell (ed.) . Brazil : Em~ireand Re~ublic (Cambridge, 1989), p- 44. 1. INTRODUCTION Portuguese migration to Brazil has always been a significant aspect of ~razilianhistory. Since the early years of colonisation, Portuguese settlers migrated to Brazil in order to assert their control over the new land. The exact number of the Portuguese who settled in Brazil during the colonial period is uncertain. What is known is that Portuguese settlers made up most of the white population of Brazii during the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries. For instance, Azorean couples played a significant role as frontier settlers in southern razi il during this period. The Portuguese Crown sent these migrants to establish a settlement at Santa Catarina in the late 1600s. More Azoreans arrived in the 1700s in order to serve the same purpose: settling areas in southern Brazil which were in constant threat from the neighbouring Spanish.1 Passport books from the late eighteenth century also show that there was a constant flow of Portuguese to Brazil, migrants seeking to work in the most important centres of the colony.2 Portuguese migration did not stop after Brazil became an independent country. Large numbers continued to migrate to razi il during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. For instance, passport registers show that £rom April 1831 to May 1842, there were more than eighteen thousand Portuguese immigrants registered 1 H. B. Johnson. "Portuguese Settlement, 1500-1580," in Leslie Bethe11 (ed). Colonial Brazil (Cambridge, 1987), p. 35. 2 Arquivo ~istoricoUltramarino. Registo de Passaportes, 807/808, anos de 1791 a 1799. at Rio de Janeiro alone.3 From 1855 to 1922, it has been estimated that almost one million Portuguese arrived in razi il as immigrants .4 However, despite this fact, the Portuguese as an immigrant group have received little attention from Brazilian historians. This has been due to the Eact that the Portuguese were originally regarded by Brazilians as colonisers, rather than immigrants. It has also been a result of Brazilians' desire to turn their back on the colonising nation and forge ahead in new directions. Within this general picture of limited interest, the least studied period of Portuguese immigration has been the years between the declaration of Brazilian independence and the abolition of Brazil's slave trade (1822 to 1850). This was a period which saw many important changes occur in both Brazil and in Portugal, including the end of the Portuguese trade monopoly with Brazil, the eventual independence of Brazil, the rise of Brazilian nationalism, and an increase in Braziiian hostility towards the Portuguese. The following study will show that large numbers of Portuguese arrived in Rio de Janeiro from 1822 to 1850. These migrants were attracted by the vigorous economic expansion that was occurring in the city and were readily accepted by the 3 Arquivo Nacionai do Rio de Janeiro. Apresentaçao de Passaportes de Estrangeiros na policia. C6dice 381, volumes 1 - 16. 4 Sérgio Buarque de Holanda. Historia Gera1 da Civilizacao Brasileira. O Brasil ~onarauico-Torno II, Vol. 4 (Sa0 Paulo, 1964), pp. 209/210. Sacuntala de Miranda. "Emigraçao e Fluxos de Capital, l87O-l9l4, " in Maria Beatriz Nizza da Silva (ed). EmiaracZo/ImiaracZo em Portuaal (Lisboa, 1993), p. 55. Miriam Halpern Pereira. A ~oliticaPortuauesa de EmiaracZo, 1850-1930 (Lisboa, 1981), p. 20. 11. Brazilian elite who saw them as an easily accessible source of European immigrants who could 'whitenf the new nation. Yet, the general population of the city reacted negatively towards these newcomers. Still, despite this animosity the Portuguese adapted well and, generally, did not return to Portugal. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND The historical developments during the first half of the nineteenth century had a profound impact on the flow of Portuguese migrants to Brazil and on the environment these newcomers found in their new country. ~egimingin 1807 European events precipitated ~razi1ia.nindependence, one of a serious of crises that affected Portugal throughout the nineteenth century. In that year, Napoleon's troops threatened to invade Portugal and to remove £rom power Dom Joao, the prince xegent who govemed Portugal in the name of his insane mother, Dona Maria 1.