Sociedade e economia portuária de São Mateus (1848-1889): a exportação da farinha de mandioca pelas águas “dorminhocas” do rio Cricaré

Abstract

This work carried out a study about the port and the economy of São Mateus in the second half of the 19th century, especially the export of manioc flour and coastal shipping lines. The economic and social formation of São Mateus, especially from the foundation of the village in 1764 and during the beginning of the 19th century, was also addressed in the work, as in this period the foundations of the fundamental characteristics that marked the region are found: river and maritime transport, export of manioc flour, slave labor and land concentration. The consolidation of the Mateense noble elite, the expansion of agricultural frontiers to the west, land and ethnic conflicts between whites, Indians and blacks in the contact zones were also analyzed. The 1848 timeframe refers to the elevation of the village to the city, demonstrating its economic, social and demographic relevance. The year 1889 marks the end of the empire and the beginning of socioeconomic transformations, with the abolition of enslaved blacks a year earlier (1888), the main local workforce, and intense arrival of immigrants, new agricultural frontiers, and the end of the period of centrality and hegemony of cassava flour for the municipality's economy. The research methodology consisted of reading theses, dissertations and books on the history of São Mateus and Espírito Santo. Subsequently, an analysis of the existing primary sources in the Public Archives of the State of Espírito Santo (APEES), related to the object of research, was carried out. Inserted in the proposal of Regional History, the port and economy of São Mateus were analyzed according to their specificities and particularities, but within the historical context and a network of connections between other ports in Espírito Santo and Rio de Janeiro and Bahia.