A “escassez de numerário” e a adoção do açúcar como moeda no Brasil colonial

Abstract

Resumo: A documentação do período colonial revelando queixas dos colonos sobre falta de moeda metálica pode ter induzido muitos historiadores a acreditar que o açúcar foi usado como meio de pagamento em razão da escassez de numerário. Este artigo questiona tal argumento e reforça a tese de que a adoção do açúcar como moeda foi acima de tudo, um artifício político usado pelas autoridades coloniais com o propósito de mediar conflitos entre senhores de engenho e mercadores metropolitanos por ocasião da chegada das frotas.

Total and Added Sugar Intake: Assessment in Eight Latin American Countries

“…In previous centuries, sugar was used as a commodity currency and represented wealth [ 1 , 2 ]. In this way, it was common to use high amounts of sugar in the food preparations to demonstrate possessions, and this influenced the taste preferences as a result of experiential learning that was passed down the generations [ 1 , 3 ].…”

O crédito no Brasil no período colonial: Uma revisão historiográfica

“…On the other hand, reports on monetary offer elevation often happen at abundance times, as described by Pyrard de Laval, who was in Bahia in 1611 when sugar price reached the highest value ever -the same scenario was only observed again in the 17 th century, in 1636, 1637 and 1669 (Schwartz, 1985, p.400-401;Menz, 2013). 12 Fernando Cerqueira Lima highlighted that in moments of sugarcane production crisis, for instance, sugarcane was used as money to replace money shortage, it would be "a political maneuver used by colonial authorities to mediate conflicts between senhores de engenho and metropolitan traders at fleet arrivals" (Lima, 2012).…”

“…The analysis was based on concrete social practices recorded in documental corpus, which was so far little explored, or not explored at all. It does not mean that official documents were abandoned, but they became ancillary or the very object of different studies, mainly of research focused on monetary circulation (Lima, 2005a(Lima, , 2005b(Lima, , 2012(Lima, , 2013Carrara, 2009, p.86-91).…”

El crédito en economías de Antiguo Régimen: Algunas cuestiones teóricas y reflexiones sobre la historiografía de la América portuguesa

“…El tema de la escasez de moneda es discutido por Carrara, especialmente a partir de los nuevos estudios de Cerqueira Lima (2012), Puntoni (2017) y Santos (2013) que cuestionan la supuesta falta de efectivo. Gran parte de las quejas ante la escasez constante sería el resultado de la inestabilidad política, la falta de monedas específicas (oro, cobre o plata, por ejemplo, con destino a diferentes mercados) o el resultado de circunstancias cíclicas, escenarios completamente diferentes a la denuncia crónica.…”