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Portuguese Brazil Sugar Economy Boom (1550s)
In the 1650s, after Portugal fully expelled the Dutch and recovered Pernambuco in 1654, Portuguese Brazil's sugar economy entered a period of full re…
Timeline
- 1654Pernambuco (Recife) · Northeast BrazilAfter key victories at the Battles of Guararapes in 1648 and 1649, the Portuguese-Brazilian allied forces completely expelled the Dutch West India Company in 1654, recovering the colony of Pernambuco, clearing obstacles for the full reconstruction of the sugar economy, and marking the end of the Dutch colonial era in Brazil.
- 1654–1659Bahia (Salvador) · Northeast BrazilPortuguese planters in Pernambuco and Bahia rebuilt and expanded sugar mills (engenhos), imported large-scale slave labor from Africa, and restored sugarcane acreage, causing Brazil's annual sugar output to quickly recover to pre-Dutch war levels and continue growing.
- 1655–1659Coastal ports of Northeast Brazil · BrazilBrazilian sugar exports were transshipped to Europe via the port of Lisbon, and the Portuguese Atlantic triangular trade system (Brazilian sugar—African slaves—European manufactured goods) matured in the late 1650s. After the Dutch withdrawal, Brazil regained its monopoly on the European sugar market, laying the economic foundation of the Portuguese colonial empire for the next century.
Sources
- Sugar Plantations in the Formation of Brazilian Society: Bahia, 1550–1835 — Stuart B. Schwartz (1985)
- The Dutch in Brazil, 1624–1654 — C. R. Boxer (1957)
- Empires of the Atlantic World: Britain and Spain in America, 1492–1830 — J. H. Elliott (2006)