Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Rio de Janeiro: From Colonial Town to Imperial Capital (1808–1850)

  • Chapter
Colonial Cities

Part of the book series: Comparative Studies in Overseas History ((CSOH,volume 5))

Abstract

One of the most beautiful cities in the world is Rio de Janeiro. In the 20th century most visitors to Rio admire its tropically forested mountains, experimental architecture, and vibrant beaches. The ‘marvelous city’ is now edging toward seven, perhaps eight million people. It is at once one of the loveliest yet most improbably located major cities in the world. Its very site poses innumerable problems of inadequate water supply, improper sewage disposal, and water and air pollution that seem insoluable due to its population density. Such problems are nothing new to Rio; from the beginning of its colonial history, Rio has been a naturally lovely city in which it has been difficult to live. The city has always owed more to its natural setting than to what the Portuguese did when they initiated settlement in the sixteenth century.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Notes

  1. Discovery and initial settlement: Lucinda Coutinho de Mello Coelho, ‘Aspectos da Evolução Urbanistica de urna Cidade-Estado (Rio de Janeiro-Guanabara)’, in: Eurípedes Simões de Paula (ed.), A Cidade e a História, vol. 1, Anais do VII Simpósio Nacional dos Prof essores Universitários de Historia (São Paulo, 1974), pp. 267–271; John Hemming, Red Gold: The Conquest of the Brazilian Indians, 1500–1760 (Cambridge, Mass., 1978), pp. 119-138; maps in Eduardo Canabrava Barreiios, Atlas da EvoluçãoUrbana da Cidade do Rio de Janeiro — Ensaio — 1565–1965 (Rio de Janeiro, 1965), pp. 7, 9. A useful summary of the phases of Rio’s historical evolution from 1565 to 1850 appears in Maria Yedda Linhares and Maria Bárbara Levy, ‘Aspectos da Historia Demográfica e Social do Rio de Janeiro (1808–1889)’, in:Colloques Internationaux du Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, No. 543, L’Histoire Quantitative du Brésil de 1800 à 1930 (Paris, 1973 ), pp. 126–128.

    Google Scholar 

  2. Garrison town: Hemming, Red Gold, pp. 137–138, on elimination of the Tamoio; Coelho, ‘Aspectos’, I, pp. 272-278; Barreiros, Atlas, map 8, ‘A Cidade do Rio de Janeiro nos meados do século XVII’, p. 13.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Commercial centre: Dauril Alden, Royal Government in Colonial Brazil (Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1968), pp. 10–13, 44–45; Coelho, ‘Aspectos’, I, pp. 279–284; Barreiros, Atlas, Map 10, ‘A Cidade do Rio de Janeiro nos principios do século XVIII’, p. 15; Fernando Monteiro, A Velha Rua Direita (Rio de Janeiro, 1965), pp. 9–48; and Luiz Edmundo, Rio in the Time of the Viceroys, transi, by Dorothea H. Momsen (Rio de Janeiro, 1936 ), pp. 26–30, 47–53.

    Google Scholar 

  4. Capital city: Alden, Royal Government, pp. 11, 29–51; Coelho, ‘Aspectos’, I, pp. 281–284; Robert Southey, History of Brazil: Part the Third (1822; repr. New York, 1970), pp. 813–818; (F. Agenor) Noronha Santos, As Freguesias do Rio Antigo, ed. by Paulo Berger (Rio de Janeiro, 1965), pp. 20, 119.

    Google Scholar 

  5. Images of late 18th century Rio: Edmundo, Rio, pp. 11–21.

    Google Scholar 

  6. Arrival of the Court: Alan K. Manchester, ‘The Transfer of the Portuguese Court to Rio de Janeiro’, in: Henry H. Keith and S.F. Edwards (eds.), Conflict and Continuity in Brazilian Society (Columbia, South Carolina, 1969), pp. 148–183; Luiz Edmundo, A Corte de D. João no Rio de Janeiro, 2nd ed. (Rio de Janeiro, 1957), I, pp. 69–102.

    Google Scholar 

  7. Arrival of the Court: Alan K. Manchester, ‘The Transfer of the Portuguese Court to Rio de Janeiro’, in: Henry H. Keith and S.F. Edwards (eds.), Conflict and Continuity in Brazilian Society (Columbia, South Carolina, 1969), pp. 148–183; Luiz Edmundo, A Corte de D. João no Rio de Janeiro, 2nd ed. ( Rio de Janeiro, 1957 ), I, pp. 69–102.

    Google Scholar 

  8. Forts and garrisons: Barreiros, Atlas, map 14, ‘A Cidade do Rio de Janeiro nos principios do século XIX’, p. 19; map 16, ‘A Cidade do Rio de Janeiro nos meados do século XIX’, which is based on the 1852 Gamier map, p. 21; Noronha Santos, As Freguesias, pp. 133–134; Antonio Pimentel Winz, História da Casa do Trem (Rio de Janeiro, 1962); and Vivaldo Coaracy, Memórias da Cidade do Rio de Janeiro (Rio de Janeiro, 1965 ), III, p. 297.

    Google Scholar 

  9. Churches: Benjamin de A. Carvalho, Igrejas Barrôcas do Rio de Janeiro (Rio de Janeiro, 1966); Moreira de Azevedo, O Rio de Janeiro: Sua História, Monumentos, Homens Notáveis, Usos e Curiosidades (Rio de Janeiro, 1969), I, pp. 77–396; Coaracy, Memórias, pp. 265–312.

    Google Scholar 

  10. Cemeteries: Edmundo, Rio, p. 51; Barreiros, Atlas, map 16, p. 21; Noronha Santos, Freguesias, pp. 86, 113, 128.

    Google Scholar 

  11. Protestant churches: Barreiros, Atlas, map 16, p. 21.

    Google Scholar 

  12. Squares: Morse, ‘Brazil’s’, p. 155; Barreiros, Atlas, maps 14, p. 19 and 16, p. 21; Noronha Santos, Freguesias, p. 115; Mello Barreto Filho and Hermeto Lima, História da Poicia do Rio de Janeiro (Rio de Janeiro, 1942), p. 98.

    Google Scholar 

  13. Markets: Barreiros, Atlas, maps 14, p. 19 and 16, p. 21; Jean Baptiste Debret, Viagem Pitoresca e Histórica ao Brasil, transl, and ed. by Sérgio Milliet (São Paulo, 1940), tomos I & II, passim; and Arquivo Geral da Cidade do Rio de Janeiro (hereafter ARJ), 49.1.69, Officios sobre os logares em que devem estacionar mercadores com quitandas, 1830–1831.

    Google Scholar 

  14. Changes in squares: Edmundo, Rio, pp. 43–4; Coelho, ‘Aspectos’, pp. 284–285; Walter Colton, Deck and Port (New York, 1852), pp. 122–123; Rio de Janeiro, Biblioteca Nacional (hereafter BN), Manuscript Section, I-3-15-8, Rodrigo de Sousa Coutinho Conde de Linhares, Ofício do Conde de Linhares á S.M., enviando-1he a cópia da carta por ele dirigida ao Intendente Geral de Polícia, Paulo Fernandes Vianna, Rio de Janeiro, 1809;O Periódico dos Pobres, I, No. 49 (August 12, 1850), p.2: John Parish Robertson and William Parish Robertson, Letters on Paraguay (London, 1838), I, pp. 164–169; F. Dabadie, A travers l’Amérique du Sud (Paris, 1859), p. 55. In 1817 dances held by the black brotherhood of Rosario in the Campo de Santana were forbidden because of ‘disorders’, BN, II-34, 28, 25, Representação de Nossa Senhora do Rosario, 1822.

    Google Scholar 

  15. Palaces: Noronha Santos, Freguesias, pp. 19–21, 111; Azevedo, O Rio, pp. 11–24; Coelho, ‘Aspectos’, I, p. 285; and Maria Odila Silva Dias, ‘The establishment of the Royal Court in Brazil’, in: Russell-Wood, Colony, p. 98.

    Google Scholar 

  16. Administrative Buildings: Noronha Santos, Freguesias, pp. 95, 110–112, 138; Azevedo, O Rio, II, pp. 275–291; Coaracy, Memórias, III, pp. 20, 22.

    Google Scholar 

  17. Theatres: Edmundo, Rio, pp. 267–286; Coelho, ‘Aspectos’, I, p. 285; Barreiros, Atlas, maps 14, p. 19 and 16, p. 21; Noronha Santos, Freguesias, p. 97; and Coaracy, Memórias, pp. 40–41.

    Google Scholar 

  18. Aterrado: Fortunato Correa de Azevedo, Corpos de delicto sobre ferimentos ... Quaes os lugares que na Cidade do Rio de Janeiro ... são mais favoraveis ao saude? Tese apresentada à Faculdade de Medicina do Rio de Janeiro (Rio de Janeiro, 1850), pp. 51–52; Gustavus R.B. Horner, Medical Topography of Brazil (Philadelphia, 1845), p. 103.

    Google Scholar 

  19. Hospitals: Azevedo, O Rio, pp. 433–447; Noronha Santos, Freguesias, pp. 28, 129, 131; BN, Relatorio da commissão de salubridade geral da Sociedade da Medicina do Rio de Janeiro (Rio de Janeiro, 1832), p. 29; Horner, Medical Topography, pp. 86, 89–90; Relatorio da Commissão de Vesita das prizões, carceres de conventos, e estabelecimentos de caridade (Rio de Janeiro, 1830), pp. 2, 9, 17–18; and Barreto Filho, Historia, p. 150.

    Google Scholar 

  20. Pharmacies: Monteiro, Velha Rua, pp. 46–47.

    Google Scholar 

  21. Prisons: BN, Relatorio das prizões, pp. 2–3, 24–35; BN, Relatorio da Sociedade de Medicina, pp. 30–31; Horner, Medical Topography, p. 121; Winz, Casa do Trem, p. 70; Rio de Janeiro, Arquivo Nacional (hereafter AN), Ij6-186, Polícia, March 15, 1835, and April 26, 1838; ARJ, 48-3-41, Prisões Civis, Militares e Religiosas, 1830–1842; and BN, II-34, 30, 41, Oficio de Visc, de Alcântara ao desembargador corregador [sic] do crime sôbre os máus tratos que se faziam na ilha das Cobras aos presos ..., Rio de Janeiro, 1830; Ij6-166, Polícia, April 23, 1833, and Ij6-164, Polícia, August 5, 1825. See also Barreto Filho, História, pp. 98, 105.

    Google Scholar 

  22. Police: A detailed study of the police in the 19th century isHistória da Polícia do Rio de Janeiro: Aspectos da Cídade e da Vida Carioca (1831–1870) by Mello Barreto Filho and Hermeto Lima, (Rio de Janeiro, 1942). On crime in 19th century Rio, the correspondence of the Chiefs of Police with the Minister of Justice, which is archived at the Arquivo Nacional, is invaluable.

    Google Scholar 

  23. Cleaning up Rio: ARJ, 43-2-59, Estincção de caēs… 1830 and 1833;Relatorio da Sociedade de Medicina, pp. 10, 19–20, 15; John MacDouall, Narrative of a Voyage to Patagonia (London, 1833), pp. 316–317; Howard Greene and Alice E. Smith (eds), The Journals of Welcome A. Greene (Madison, 1956) I, pp. 147–148; Johann B. von Spix and Carl F.P. von Martius, Viagem pelo Brasil, transl. by Lucia F. Lahmeyer and ed. by B.F.R. Galvão and B. de Magães (Rio de Janeiro, 1938), I, p. 110; John Shillibeer, A Narrative of the Briton’s Voyage (London, 1818), p. 19; BNI, 3-3-15-8 Ofício do Conde de Linhares, 1809; Cotton, Deck, pp. 122–123; Ewbank, Life, p. 88;O Periódico dos Pobres I, 49 (August 12, 1850), p. 2.

    Google Scholar 

  24. Roads and paving: Debret, Viagem, tomo II, plate 33; ARJ, 6-1-23, Documentos sobre a Escravidão, 1816–1822, fols. 84–89, 94–97; 6–147, Excravos ao ganho, 1846, 1849, fols. 24–27, 126–127; 39-1-28, Africanos livres empregados em trabalhos e obras publicas da Municipalidade, 1852–1861; AN, Ij6–468, Ofícios do Chefe de Polícia e Casa de Correção sobre Africanos, 1834–1868; Noronha Santos, Freguesias, p. 23; and Adolfo Morales de los Rios Filho, O Rio de Janeiro Imperial (Rio de Janeiro, s.d.), pp. 18–23.

    Google Scholar 

  25. Porterage and carriages: Debret, Viagem, tomo II, plates 5, 5, 12, 30, 14–16; Rios Filho, O Rio, pp. 113–117.

    Google Scholar 

  26. Slave trade: Maurício Goulart, Escravidão Africana no Brasil (São Paulo, 1950), p.272, who estimated that 940,000 slaves passed through Rio or its vicinity between 1801 and 1851.

    Google Scholar 

  27. Valongo: Mary Karasch, ‘Slave Life in Rio de Janeiro, 1808–1850’ (Madison, Ph.D. diss., University of Wisconsin, 1972 ), pp. 112–33.

    Google Scholar 

  28. Stanley J. Stein, Vassouras (New York, 1970), pp. 17–19, 81–95, 298; BN, II-34, 26. 26, Requerimento dos negociantes desta Praça…, 1847; ARJ, 6-1-43, Escravos ao Ganho e Escravidão, 1833–1841, fol. 9; 6-1-45, Escravidão, 1843, fols. 30–33; 1844, fols. 50–51; 1843, fols. 21, 44–47;O Diario do Rio de Janeiro, XIX (January 4, 1840), 4; and Monteiro, Velha Rua, p. 35.

    Google Scholar 

  29. Imports, Exports: Lobo, História, 83–101.

    Google Scholar 

  30. Docks: Barreiros, Atlas, maps 14, p. 19 and 16, p. 21; Rios Filho, O Rio, pp. 118–21; Noronha Santos, Freguesias, p. 93; after 1851: Richard Graham, Britain and the Onset of Modernization in Brazil, 1850–1914 (Cambridge, 1972), pp. 92–94.

    Google Scholar 

  31. Shops: Rios Filho, O Rio, pp. 267–71; Noronha Santos, Freguesias, p. 18.

    Google Scholar 

  32. Factories: Lobo, História, I, 105–121; ARJ, 43-1-43, Estatistica de casas de commercio…, 1843; Karasch, ‘Slave Life’, pp. 426–432.

    Google Scholar 

  33. Banks : Lobo, História, I, 81-93; Azevedo, O Rio, II, 305–319.

    Google Scholar 

  34. Hotels: Noronha Santos, Freguesias, pp. 136; Coaracy, Memórias, III, 464, 40–41, 50–51, 53.

    Google Scholar 

  35. Free African immigrants: AN, Ij 1 —181, Ministério da Justiça, Registro de Avísos, fol. 73; and Ij6—165, Secretária de Policia da Côrte, Ofícios com anexos.

    Google Scholar 

  36. Housing: Edmundo, Rio, pp. 39–44; Coelho, ‘Aspectos’, I, 284; and John Luccock, Notes on Rio de Janeiro and the Southern Parts of Brazil… (London, 1820), pp. 41–42.

    Google Scholar 

  37. R. Walsh, Notices of Brazil… (London, 1830 ), I, 463–467.

    Google Scholar 

  38. I suspect, but cannot prove that the total number of slaves (43,349) was taken from the tax records. If so, then this total would reflect only the number of taxed slaves above age twelve.

    Google Scholar 

  39. Annuario Politico, Historico e Estatistico do Brazil, 1846–1947 (Rio de Janeiro s.d.), II, 196–97.

    Google Scholar 

  40. ‘Mappa da população escrava residente no munícipio da côrte’ O Camara dos Deputados, O Elemento Servil 1870, p. 157; and Linhares and Levy, ‘Aspectos’, L’Histoire Quantitative, No. 543, p. 135.

    Google Scholar 

  41. Von Spix and von Martius, Viagem, I, p. 143; Jurien de la Gravière, Souvenirs d’un Amiral (Paris, 1860), II, p. 250.

    Google Scholar 

  42. José Pereira Rego, ‘Algumas Reflexöes sobre o Accrescimo progressivo da Mortandade no Rio de Janeiro…’, Annaes Brasilienses de Medicina, VI, no. 2 (November, 1850), p. 32.

    Google Scholar 

  43. Removal of slaves: John Candler and Wilson Burgess, Narrative of a Recent Visit to Brazil (London, 1853), p. 40; Sebastião Ferreira Soares, Notas Estatísticas sobre a Producção Agrícola (Rio de Janeiro, 1860), p. 136; and Linhares and Lévy, ‘Aspectos’, L’Histoire Quantitative, no. 543, pp. 130-131.

    Google Scholar 

  44. Debret, Viagem, tomo I, 126–127, plate 5.

    Google Scholar 

  45. Stein, Vassouras, pp. 117–131.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Authors
  1. Mary Karasch
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Robert J. Ross Gerard J. Telkamp

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 1985 Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, Dordrecht

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Karasch, M. (1985). Rio de Janeiro: From Colonial Town to Imperial Capital (1808–1850). In: Ross, R.J., Telkamp, G.J. (eds) Colonial Cities. Comparative Studies in Overseas History, vol 5. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-6119-7_8

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-6119-7_8

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-009-6121-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-009-6119-7

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation