DE CHARQUE, COUROS E ESCRAVOS: A CONCENTRAÇÃO DE RIQUEZA, TERRAS E MÃO-DE-OBRA EM PELOTAS (1850-1890)

Abstract

The jerky beef and leathers exports led the Rio Grande do Sul during the nineteenth century. Instrumental in feeding the plantations slaves of the southeast and northeast, the jerky beef was also responsible for further market integration with the rest of southern Brazil. As a result of trading circuit, Pelotas became a major manufacturing complex in the province, concentrating a large slave and enriching their owners – the charqueadores. From the analysis of the postmortem inventories of Pelotas between 1850 and 1890, this paper demonstrates how the agrarian structure, the manpower captive among other economic assets were concentrated in the hands of a few people, enriching an elite at the expense the poor rest of the population.