Landlords and Tenants in The Wake of Abolition and Ecological Devastation in Brazil's Middle Paraíba Valley

Landlords and Tenants in the Wake of Abolition and Ecological Devastation in Brazil's Middle
Paraíba Valley
Author(s): JOHN J. CROCITTI
Source: Agricultural History, Vol. 83, No. 2 (SPRING 2009), pp. 143-173
Published by: Agricultural History Society
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Landlords and Tenants in the Wake of Abolition
and Ecological Devastation in Brazil's Middle
Paraíba Valley
JOHN J.CROCITTI
Thisarticleuses Barra do Pirai as a case studyof ruralland tenure, produc-

tion,consumption, and labor in Brazil's Middle Paraíba Valleyduringthe
halfcentury followingabolitionof slaveryin 1888. Dairyfarmingand rail-
road development distinguished Barra do Piraifromothercoffee-producing
areas thatsufferedfromecological devastation.By 1900 the land's loss of
precludedfurther
fertility plantationagriculture in Barra do Pirai,leadingto
fromlucrativecoffeecultivationto dairyfarmingbased on
the transition
meagercapital inputs.Compared to the earliercoffeeculture,dairyfarms
produced only modest wealthfor landlordsand requiredfewerlaborers,
compellingimpoverishedtenantsto migratein searchof employment. Since
Barra do Pirai was an importantrailroadjunction,many rural laborers
ended up in thelocale afterusingthe railroadas a migratory path.At the
same time,therailroadand proto-industries thatitstimulated providedalter-
nativeemployment for rurallaborers,thereby partiallymitigating thelever-
age landlordshad overthe abundant labor The
force. availabilityofindustrial
and proto-industrialemploymentcreated occupational diversityamong
ruraltenantsand introducedthemto workroutinesthatwouldbecomecom-
monplacewhentheregionmorefullyindustrialized after1940.
During the half century following the abolitionof Brazilian slavery

in 1888,mutationsin land tenure,production,consumption,and labor
JOHNJ.CROCITTI is an associateprofessor ofhistoryat San Diego Mesa College,San

Diego.He receiveda master'sdegreein history
fromTulaneUniversity and a doctorate
fromtheUniversity ofMiami(CoralGables).In additiontowriting articles
on twentieth-
Brazil,he co-editedTheBrazilReader:History,
century Culture
Politics, forDuke Univer-
sityPresswiththe late RobertM. Levine.He currently is editingBrazil Today:An
ofLifeintheRepublicforGreenwood
Encyclopedia Press.
© theAgricultural
History 2009
Society,
DOI: 10.3098/ah.2009.83.2.143
143

History
Agricultural Spring
fundamentally alteredruralBarra do Piraí,a município(county) in the

Middle Paraíba region of Rio de JaneiroState. Two interdependent
factorsdistinguishedrural Barra do Piraí fromother decadent coffee
municípiosin Brazil. First,as soils became increasinglyexhaustedafter
1888, landownersin Barra do Piraí convertedcoffee plantationsinto
granjasleiteiras(dairyfarms)thatoperatedwithscarce capital and tech-
nological simplicity.During coffee'speak productionin the nineteenth
century, plantation owners extensivelyemployedslave labor.Witheco-
logical devastationand the conversionof coffeeorchardsto cow pas-
tures,demand for rural labor decreased, therebyallowing owners of
granjasleiteirasto use means otherthanmoneywages to bind labor to
the land. In Barra do Piraí those othermeans includedincentivessuch
as subsistenceplots and housing offeredto underemployed,impover-
ishedrurallaborersand formsof coercionsuch as paymentof salariesin
scripthatwas redeemable only at the landowner'sstore.Thus,the con-
version to granjas leiteirasgenerated a surplus of labor that allowed
the ruralelite,despite its diminishedwealth and statusin the wake of
ecological devastation of landholdings and abolition's negation of
humans as property,to preserveits ironclad controlof the local rural
workingclass.
However,a second factor,whichunquestionablywas the mostexcep-
tional economic developmentin the município,attenuatedlandowners'
controlof the ruralworkingclass. By 1888 urban Barra do Piraí pros-
pered because it had become Brazil's mostimportantrailroadjunction.
The railroadaffectedrurallabor in two ways.First,rurallaborersfrom
decadentcoffeezones in Rio de Janeiroand Minas Gerais used the rail-
road as a migratory path whensearchingforemploymentopportunities.
Second,and more pertinent, the railroadprovidedalternativesto work-
on
ing granjas leiteirasfor Barra do Pirai's ruralresidents,eitherdirectly
as railroad workers or indirectlyas laborers in the proto-industries
spawnedby railroad-inducedprosperityand urbanization.Withthe rail-
road facilitatingmigrationand generatingnon-agricultural employment,
landownershad more difficulty binding labor to granjas leiteiras.The
interdependenceof these two primarydevelopments- the transitionto
granjasleiteirasin theruralzones and theavailabilityofnon-agricultural
employment - placed rural Barra do Piraí in a transitionalphase that
featured neitherthe nineteenthcentury'sabsolute contrastbetween
144

2009 Landlordsand TenantsinBrazil'sMiddleParaiba Valley
opulentlord and slave nor industrialBrazil's hallmarkrelationship

betweenindustrial andurbanproletarian.1
capitalist
Thisuniquecombination ofgranjasleiteirasand therailroaddistin-
guished Barra do Piraifrom otherdecadentcoffeeregions. In thewest-
ern São Paulo municípioof Rio Claro,coffeeproductionpeaked in
1901,by whichtimecoffeeculturewas alreadyunviablein Barra do
Pirai.To ensureadequatelaboron thecoffeeplantations wellintothe
twentieth century, Rio Claro's landownersreliedon immigrant work-
ers.In Barra do Pirai,the supplyof rurallabor forgranjasleiteiras
alwaysexceeded demand,therebyobviatingimmigrant labor.Thus,
among nineteen adult immigrants who died in Barra do Pirafs First
Districtin 1935,in onlyone case did the officialobituarylinkthe
deceased'soccupationto agriculture. At thesametime,however, urban
Barrado PiraigrewintoBrazil'smostimportant railroadjunction, not
onlyemploying more workers than any other local enterprise butalso
generating robustcommercial development thatmadethecitythemost
important economicand politicalcenterin theMiddleParaíbaValley.
Rio Claro also had railroadoperations, but its car barnhardlycom-
pared to the maintenance roundhouse, classificationyards,coalingsta-
tion,and passengerdepotmaintainedby theBrazilCentralRailroad
inBarrado Pirai.Commercial development inRio Clarolaggedthatof
Barrado Piraiin a parallelmanner.2
Barrado Piraialso differed fromdecadentcoffeemunicípios in Rio
de Janeiro's lowerelevations. In themunicípio ofSilvaJardim, theavail-
abilityof land sustaineda significant populationof freesubsistence
farmers wellbeforeabolition.Despitetheirclassification as subsistence
farmers,thesepeople suppliedlocal and regionalmarketswithfood-
stuffssuchas maniocand lower-grade coffee.Althoughthelocal,more
commercially orientedlandholding eliteplayeda largerrole in provi-
sioningthese markets, thefree populationbothbeforeand afteraboli-
tionfoundopportunities forindependent or semi-independent farming
occupations. In Barra do Pirai,such in were
opportunities farming rare,
and non-farming occupationsofferedthebestchanceat greaterinde-
pendenceforthe ruralworkingclass.Rural Barra do Pirai certainly
exhibited similaritiesto Rio ClaroandSilvaJardim, suchas a migratory
and
population rudimentary livingconditions, duringthehalfcentury
following abolition.However,its unique aspects- the conversionof
145

Agricultural
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plantationsto granjas leiteiras and the importanceof the railroad-

nuances the storyof Brazilian landlordsand tenantsin thewake of abo-
litionand ecological devastation.3
Coffee,Latin America's boom crop par excellence duringthe nine-
teenthcentury,had shaped the Middle Paraiba's economy and, in the
process,completelyaltered the land and the people who lived there.
Gone were the wild forests,denuded in favor of the coffeeorchards'
orderlyformations.In a cruel irony,however,the coffee plantations
thatbestowedgreatfortunesand ersatznoble titlesupon landowners-
commonlyreferredto as coffeebarons- also guaranteedthe region's
eventualstagnation.Coffeeplantsremainedproductiveforthirtyyears
at most.When coupled withthe inefficient and destructivecultivation
techniquespracticedon local plantations,onlythe unyieldingclearingof
virginforestscould maintaincoffee'sreignin the Middle Paraíba. As
such lands disappeared or became difficultto exploit,the regionlost its
coffeesupremacyto the São Paulo frontier. By 1900 only excursionsto
countryvillasor mountain-topretreatswould remindthevisitorthatthe
land recentlybore a richcommodityand, in the distantpast, had pos-
sessed a naturalbeautyand bounty.4
Between 1888 and 1937, the rural elite abandoned the countryside
in the Middle Paraíba because landholdings,regardless of their size
and earnings,yielded only a fractionof theirformerwealth. Natural
calamities such as peste do gado (cow pestilence), locust plagues, and
droughtperiodicallyravaged the region.Even duringless catastrophic
times, ubiquitous saúva ants invaded farms,sometimes destroying
promisingcrops and healthyherdsovernightdespite repeated counter-
attacks by farmers.Difficultas nature mightbe, human shortsighted-
ness imposed far greater impediments to agricultural production.
The soil's high acidityand low organic contentespecially diminished
yields. Pulverized limestone would have reduced acidity after ten
annual applications,but farmersdespaired over the long wait and,
instead,heeded the pitchesof salesmen forsuper-phosphatefertilizers.
Ironically,farmers'impatiencehelped maintainaciditybecause super-
phosphates,althoughup to ten times more expensive than limestone,
were insoluble in local soils.5
Visible scars throughoutthe regionallandscape testifiedto the soil's
low organic content.By arrangingcoffeebushes in neat hillside rows,
146

nineteenth-century plantersproducedartificial channelsthrough which

therichredtopsoilwashedduringheavyrains.The resultant erosionof
organicmaterial leftbehindfine,reddishsoilthatinadequately retained
moisture forcropsduringthedryseason.Travelerseasilynoticedthat
deep,uglygougesmarredthe region'sbeautifully roundedhillsand
servedas conduitsformuddyriversduringtherainyseason.Whenthe
rainsceased,wind,passingcars and oxen,and even humanfootsteps
kickedup thedryredpowderthathad accumulated in low-lyingbasins,
roads,and pathsso that,even to the untrainedeye,the land indeed
appearedcansada(tired).Furthermore, theendofcoffeeculturedidnot
easestrains ontheland,sincefarmers cultivatedsubsistencecropsaccord-
ing to itinerant methods.
agricultural Farmersusuallyburnedaway
thick
stumps, undergrowth, and insects after a newparcel'strees.
clearing
On suchprecipitous and oftendampslopes,thenewcropspoorlycon-
servedthesoil'spreciousnutrients. Withina year,therefore,thelandwas
exhausted, and thefarmers movedon to a newparcel,abandoningthe
old one tothesun,wind,andrain.Abusedinthismanner, thelandnever
recuperated itsprimordialfertility,
therebymakingtheforest's eventual
returnan unrealistic dream.The authorMonteiroLobato,a scionofSão
Paulo'sUpperParaíbaregionwhoexpressedcontempt forsuchageless
practices,echoed and reinforced common wisdom amongurbanBrazil-
iansthatbackward, irresponsible,and uncouthruralfolkofmultiracial
ancestry,colloquiallyreferredto as caboclos,turnedthecountryside into
unproductive wasteland:
In theemptiness ofhissemi-savage life,in whichtheeventsare a slaugh-

teredjacu [guan,a largebird],Άpaca [largerodent]spearedinthewateror
thechildarriving everyninemonths, theburning is theyear'sgreatspec-
tacle,supremedelight fortheeyesand ears.
ComeSeptember, thestartofthe"rains,"thecabocloplantsintheash-
coveredeartha mouthful ofcorn,beansandrice;but,thevalueofhispro-
ductionis nothing consideringtheillsthathe sowedto preparea fourth of
thesurface.
Thecaboclois a negative quantity . ..
Whenthelandbecomesexhausted, theagregado[tenant farmer] moves
from thefarm.In thelocationthereremainthedecayedhouseandthesapé
[grassusedforthatched roofs].One yearlaterandonlythelatterwillattest
to hishavingbeenthere;therestis extinguished as ifbysorcery.6
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Insteadofreforesting formercoffeeplantations, farmersin theMiddle

Paraíba continuedclearingthe few remainingvirginwoodlands.Land-
ownersoftenused thefelledtreesforconstruction projectson theirpro-
perty or sold them to lumbermills.Most of the however,ended up
trees,
as firewoodor charcoal.Since ruraland urbanhouseholdsstillrelied on
wood-burningstoves,landownerssatisfiedtheirown needs and earned
substantialincome in Barra do Pirafs marketby harvestingwood. With
residentsin the nearbyfederalcapital (cityof Rio de Janeiro)and rail-
roads also demandingfirewoodand charcoal,incentivesforthe exploi-
tation of scarce woodlands became irresistible,"resultingin its [the
forest's]disappearance near the railroad lines and the most populous
centers."Lincoln Carvalho,whose grandfather was a coffeebaron in the
picturesquevillage of Conservatóriain the neighboringmunicípioof
Valença, grewup in the shadow of lush woodlands and witnessedtheir
devastation.As coffeecultureall but disappearedin the Middle Paraíba,
his widowedmotherresortedto harvestingwood whenshe encountered
generatingthe incomenecessaryto hold on to theirproperty
difficulties
in Dorândia, one of Barra do Pirafs ruraldistricts. Carvalho lamented,
"What desolation!Withtheforestsmissing,the urus [crestedpartridges]
no longersang . . . and the region'sexuberantfauna had completelydis-
appeared . . . even thesingingof birdsin theremainingtreeshad become
a tearfulsensation."7
Despite his sentimentality, Carvalho fullyunderstoodthatwood sales
mightpreventalienation of his parents' holdingin Dorândia and pre-
servea modicumof his family'sprioraffluence.For the Carvalho family
and otherlandowners,income fromfirewoodsales outweigheddesires
forecologicalpreservationwell intothe 1940s.In 1945 a sixteen-alqueire
(one alqueire is approximatelytwelveacres) holding,Fazenda Ponte da
Onça, locatednextto theMartinsCosta railroaddepot in Barra do Pirafs
Mendes District,contained two woodlands each measuringthree and
one-halfalqueires thathad a totalvalue of forty-two thousandcruzeiros.
The firewoodharvestfromthose parcels,however,would have fetched
an estimatedseventy-two thousandcruzeiros.Since the entireproperty,
includingthe manor,a commercialbuildingfacingthe railroad depot,
and a gristmill, was worthonly187,000cruzeiros,thefirewoodeasilyrep-
resentedthe most importantasset available to the landlord.Moreover,
the railroad'sproximityprovidedthe landlordwitha customerrightat
148

2009 Landlordsand Tenantsin Brazil'sMiddleParaiba Valley
his doorstep.Undersuchconditions, the temptation to clear the two

woodlandsmight wellhavebeenirresistible.8
Withtheregion's existing clearings losingtheirfertility andvirgin wood-
landdisappearing, changes in rural land tenure and usage became para-
mount between1888and1937.Although largeholdings stilldominated the
ruralsetting,
smalleronesoflessthantenalqueiresalsodottedtheMiddle
Paraíbalandscapeafter1888.Subdivision of estatesby heirsproduced
smallertractsthatusuallyfailedto maintain theirowners'lifestyle. Some
fallenaristocrats
soldthelandandstarted lifeanewelsewhere. Otherspro-
curedsupplementary or even primary in
income urbancenters, whilestill
otherspooled resourceswithrelativeswho had inherited neighboring
tracts.Despitesubdivision, largelandholdings persistedand sometimes
evengrewlargerthanthegreatcoffeeplantations. Occasionally, theorigi-
nalheirskeptfamily estatesintactwhile,inothercases,thosenewcomers
whoturnedan ampleprofit invested in moreland.However,theselarge
holdings resembled theformer coffeeplantations in acreagealone.Only
thelandowner's orhisadministrator's householdanda handful oftenant
householdsoccupiedlandswherehundredsof enslavedlaborersonce
lived.Furthermore, landowners residedin modesthousesinsteadofthe
mansions ofyesteryear. Certainly, largelandholdings stillconferred con-
siderablestatusforselectfamilies intheMiddleParaíba,butitwasa status
devoidofseigniorial bearingandaristocratic elegance.9
As coffeeproduction declinedand debtsmounted, manyproprietors
alienatedtheirlandholdings to creditors, speculators,andmigrants from
MinasGerais,and theneitherleftBarrado Pirai,settledon relatively
modesttractselsewherein themunicípio, or movedto Barrado Pirai
This
city. occurredcontemporaneously with the deathofplantation patri-
archsand thesubsequentdivisionofproperty among heirs. As a result,
fazendas(plantations) oflessthanone hundredalqueires, sítios(farms)
offiveto fiftyalqueires,and chácaras(country homes)oflessthanfive
alqueiresbecamecommon. Alongwiththepassingofthegreatplanta-
tionswentthesumptuous lifestyle, socialstatus, andpoliticalpowerthat
hadbeentheprideofcoffeebaronssincethemid-nineteenth century. For
some,thefallprovedunbearable. One planter, formerly theepitomeof
and
power,wealth, manlypride,spited creditors by settingfireto his
entireholding.Indictedforarson,whichwouldhavebeenan unthinkable
outcomewhentheplanterstoodat theapex of wealthand power,the
149

Agricultural
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emotionallydistraughtman escaped an embarrassingtrialonlyby dying

shortlyafterhis fieryrampage.10
The demiseofcoffeeculturedid notlead to thetotaldisappearanceof
giantholdings.Major Antonio Gomes da Graça, eighty-two yearsold in
1940,startedwitha fewalqueiresduringthenineteenthcenturyand mul-
tipliedthemintofiveholdingscoveringhundredsof alqueires.Aftercof-
fee's decline, he successfullyswitched to dairy production,thereby
preservinghis positionas one of Barra do Pirai's wealthiestlandowners.
Dona Isabel FerreiraLeal also keptherfamily'sseven-hundred-alqueire
holding- Fazenda PonteAlta - intact.Located in the hillsoverlooking
the Santana de Barra railroaddepot,Fazenda PonteAlta supportedsug-
arcane,corn and bean fields,truckgardens,and dairyherds.The income
derivedfromthisdiversified productionenabled Dona Isabel to preserve
two hundredalqueires of the holdingas woodlands.In a signthatnoble
pretensionsendured,Dona Isabel also maintainedtwo elegantmansions
on the property, one as her own residenceand the otherforimportant
guestsfromthecapital.11
Strategicmarriagessometimescounteredthe trend toward smaller
landholdings.José Dias da Cunha owned two tracts,Fazendas Palmital
and Sertão,in São José do Turvo and lefttwo equal heirs,a daughter
Josephinaand a son Olympio Baptista.When her fatherdied in 1930,
Josephina'shusband,a neighboringlandlordnamed Bráulio Augustode
Mendonça,executedthe deceased's estate.The final,friendly settlement
ceded Fazenda Palmitalto Bráulio who thenconsolidateditwithhisprior
holding,SítioCachoeira.As a morefrequenttactic,however,heirsavoided
breakingup the familyestate by movingto cities and entrustingtheir
shares of rural propertyto relatives.In effect,a landed familywould
branchout intourbanoccupations,therebyeliminatingcertainrelatives'
dependencyon the ruralpropertyforincome,but conservingeach one's
loyaltyand responsibilityto thefamily'slegacy.Octávio Diniz Junqueira,
memberof a powerfullandowningclan in Dorândia, practicedmedicine
in Barra do Pirai city.Luis Vachod, whose motherowned Fazenda da
Espuma in VargemAlegre,also held a medicaldegree.Otherchildrenof
the ruralelite became lawyers.Instead of pressingfora share of his late
father'sestate,LincolnCarvalhopursueda careerin law in Barra do Pirai,
leavinghis motherand brotherin charge of the family'sone-hundred-
alqueire holdingin Dorândia, Fazenda dos Alpes. Carvalho derivedno
150

incomefromFazendados Alpes,butinsteadsaw hisfutureinheritance

evaporateas thefamily unloadedvaluableheirlooms andprizedcattlein
a desperatestruggle to meetexpenses. Despitehiscareerin thecityand
theproblems at FazendadosAlpes,Carvalhoregularly visitedDorândia
tohelphisfamily andforget personalproblems. Familytiesandemotional
needs,therefore, committed Carvalho to the notionthatFazenda dos
Alpesshouldremainintacteventhoughhisowneconomicinterest might
haverecommended division andsale oftheunproductive property.12
Strategicmarriages and branching out intourbanprofessions might
delaybreakup of the greatestates,buttheycouldnotreversethelong-
termtrendtowardsmallerholdings. As formercoffeeplantations fell
deeperintoruin,theirownersincreasingly soldoutor allowedcreditors
to seizetheproperty afterlengthy courtactions.Desperatelandowners,
inan attempt to salvagepartoftheirestates, oftensoldportions oftheir
until
property nothing was left.In othercases,speculators and creditors
acquiredwholeestates, butthensoldsmallerlotscarvedfromthebank-
ruptformer plantations. As a result,holdingsof less thanone hundred
alqueires,oftenacquiredin a seriesofmodestpurchases, becamecom-
moninBarrado Piraiby1937.
PedroPauloGomesPereira'sholding inDorândia,FazendaBoa Lem-
was
brança, typical. Born in 1878, Gomes Pereirahad puttogether the
thirty-five-alqueireproperty withfivepurchases between1909and 1930.
His stuccomanorrecollected pastelegance with itsmanyrooms,hard-
woodfloors, paperedwalls,andparloranddining-room furniture.Bythe
mid-1940s, however, age and neglecthad turned houseandfurniture into
decrepit relicsfrom a bygone era.Valued at slightlyless than six dairy
cows or eightoxen,the entirefurnished manorhardlydenotedgreat
wealth,status, or power.Ignaciode AssisMartins'sestatepresentedan
evensorrier picture. A nativeofMinasGeraisanda civilengineer retired
fromtheSão Paulo-RioGrandeRailroad,AssisMartinshad twohold-
ings,the twenty-five-alqueire Fazenda Feliz Esperançaand the nine-
alqueireSítio da Tapera, in the nearbymunicípio ofRio Claro.Whenhe
diedin 1937at theage ofsixty-four, however, AssisMartinsresidedin
urbanBarra do Pirai'straditionally aristocraticneighborhood, Nossa
Senhorade Santana,insteadof on his ruralproperty. Fazenda Feliz
Esperança'smanorhardlyappealedto a manofAssisMartins'seduca-
tionandmeans.Thewattle-and-daub mansion, pejoratively describedas
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"rustic"by assessors,containedfourbedrooms,fourparlors,a kitchen,

and a porch.However,onlytwo of thelivingquartershad papered walls,
two of the parlorsdid not even have wooden floors,the tile roofwas in
"ruins,"and the entirehome had fallenintoa stateof disrepair.Cultural
decline in the ruralMiddle Paraíba had indeed been stunning.In past
years,rural nobles would have entertainedguests fromthe capital at
Fazenda Feliz Esperança. In 1937 an untitled,middle-classprofessional
treatedtheestateas a simpleinvestment, devoid ofaestheticvalue and to
be shunnedwheneverpossiblein favorof urbanlife.13
The ruralproprietorswho succeeded the fallencoffeebarons turned
Barra do Pirai into a prominentdairy center despite infertileland,
smallerholdings,and the ruralelite's decliningsocial status.Newcom-
ers fromMinas Gerais led the conversionof fazendas into granjas lei-
teiras. In many ways, the newcomers from Minas Gerais repeated
a migratoryprocess that occurred a centuryearlier when mineiros
(people fromMinas Gerais) whose familieshad been enrichedby their
province'seighteenth-century gold-miningboom moved to the Middle
Paraíba Valley along with theirslaves to establish coffeeplantations.
Backed by theiraffluentfamiliesin Minas Gerais,these mineiroscom-
prised a disproportionateshare of the Middle Paraiba's coffeearisto-
cratsand merchantsduringthenineteenth-century coffeeboom. By the
late nineteenthcenturya new generationfromMinas Gerais,whichwas
gaininga national reputationas a dairyproducer,saw opportunitiesin
theMiddle Paraíba. Coffeeculture'ssteep declinein theMiddle Paraíba
deflatedland pricesso that,in 1920,farmlandthatonce supportedvalu-
able orchardssold forless than a tenthof its 1900 price.At the same
time,the regionattracteddairymenbecause of itsproximityto growing
marketsin the capital and easy access to the Brazil Central Railroad.
The bargainprices and the potentialformodest profitsinduced frugal
mineirosto take the shortride on the SouthernMinas SystemRailroad
to Barra do Pirai or on the West Minas Railroad to neighboringBarra
Mansa in search of land deals. Barra do Pirai's coffeeelite viewed the
newcomerswithmixedfeelings.On one hand,cash-shortlandlordswel-
comed buyouts by nouveau riche mineiros who "still bore callused
hands." On the other,the paltrysumsofferedforexhaustedplantations
insultedthe once noble elite who bitterlyreferredto the upstartsas
"those who preyon chickens."14
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2009 Landlordsand TenantsinBrazil'sMiddleParaíba Valley
Although mineiros playeda leadingroleintheconversion to dairyfar-

ming, their riseto prominence did notfollow a simplepattern offamily or
individual migration from onestatetoanother. Instead,familiesconstantly
branchedout betweenRio de JaneiroStateand MinasGerais,settling
wherever ruralinvestment opportunities appearedand relativesmight
lendaid.TheDinizJunqueira clanhadrootsinMinasGeraisandBarrado
Pirafs ruraldistrict, Dorândia.CaptainJoséFranklin DinizJunqueira and
Dona IgnáciaEuphrosinaFortesJunqueira produced at leasttwo sons,
OvídioFranklin andAlberto. Theformer wasborninMinasGeraisinthe
early1860sand latermovedto Dorândia.Alberto'sbirthdateandplace
are unclear, although recordsshowthathe acquireda granjaleiteirain
Dorândia,FazendaPaisandú,sometimebeforehis deathin November
1933.Atleastfrom1933untilhisdeathin1939,OvídioFranklin derivedan
incomefrom securities investments whilelivingon FazendaPaisandúwith
hiswidowed sister-in-law, Ignácia, owedhimthelargesumofonehun-
who
dredcontos. AlbertoandIgnacia'sson,JoãoPedro,inherited boththedebt
and FazendaPaisandúafterhis mother'sdeathin 1935.At thattime,
JoãoPedroownedanothergranjaleiteirain Dorândia,FazendaMaricá,
and,by1940,he addedFazendaCanavialtohisholdings.15
Although itisunclearwhenthemineiro branchoftheDinizJunqueira
familyacquired Fazenda Paisandú and how Ovídio Franklinaccumu-
latedsecurities, it is certainthatsomerelativesalreadyownedland in
Dorândiaas thedistrict madethetransition fromcoffeeto dairyproduc-
tion.The Manifesto Barrensede 1880,a petitioncallingforBarra do
Pirafs elevationto município status,listedas a signatory CaptainJoão
AugustoDinizJunqueira, a plantation ownerinDorândia.After1915the
clan's leader in Dorândia became Ovídio Franklin'scousin,Alberto
CarlosDiniz Junqueira, a nativeof Barrado Piraibornin 1887.At a
youthful thirty of
years age, AlbertoCarlos commandedrespectin
Dorândiaas a captainin theNationalGuardand an important land-
owner.His birthdate in Barrado Piraiand rapidsocialascendancy in
DorândiaaddsmoreevidencethattheDinizJunqueira clanownedrural
property in the area the
during waningdays ofthe coffee era.Viewedin
thismanner, it becomesclearthatthefamily's mineirobranchdid not
randomly to
migrate Dorândia, but instead chose a locationwhererela-
tivesalreadyknewwhichneighbors wishedtounloadproperty andcould
influence thetermsofsale infavoroffamily members.16
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History
Agricultural Spring
Agostinho Leal do Nascimentohad humblerroots than the Diniz

Junqueiraclan,but neverthelesswas a mineirowho migratedto Barra do
Piraito eventuallybecome a landowner.Whenhe marriedAdalgiza Grijó
in 1910,nineteen-year-old Agostinhoresidedin Conservatóriaand worked
as a farmhand. Thirty-twoyearslaterthecouple purchasedan eleven-and-
one-half-alqueiregranja leiteirain Barra do Pirai alongside the Minas
TransitSystemRailroad,successorto theold SouthernMinas SystemRail-
road.The longintervalbetweenmarriageand purchaseof thegranjaleit-
eira,Sítio Boa Esperança,suggestsAgostinho'shumblebackgroundas a
farmer.He probablyleftMinas Gerais on the SouthernMinas System
Railroad,gainedworkas a farmhand nearConservatória, and settledthere
aftermeetingAdalgiza, a nativeof Rio de JaneiroState.Afteryears of
saving,Agostinhofoundan affordablefarmavailable near the Prosperi-
dade railroad station,close to Conservatória,but nonethelessin the
municípioof Barra do Pirai near the town of Ipiabas. Verylikely,Ago-
stinholearnedofSítioBoa Esperança bywordofmouthand,ifthegranja
leiteirahad been moredistantor beyondrailservice,he mightneverhave
had timeor transportation to visitthe site and seal the transaction.His
case also indicatesthatmineiroswhopurchasedlandintheMiddleParaíba
commonlyrode the mountainous,narrow-gaugerailroadfromsouthern
MinasGerais,passingthroughnumerousstopsinthemunicípiosofValença
and Barra do Pirai.At anypointalongtheline,theymightgaintemporary
or long-termwork,finda spouse and starta family,and eventuallylay
down a permanentstake witha land purchase.This path was especially
importantfor humblerfarmersfromMinas Gerais who, lackingwell-
placed relativesin Barra do Piraiand unable to pay real estatebrokersto
finda cheap parcel,had to migratefirstand searchforland later.Further-
more,therailroaddictatedtheroutetakennotonlybyfuturelandowners,
butalso byrurallaborersfromsouthernMinas Gerais who would remain
tenantsforever. Thus,it is hardlysurprising thatthehillyterrainalong the
rail line betweenConservatóriain Valença and the cityof Barra do Pirai
became home forbothlandlordsand tenantsfromMinas Gerais.17
Few farmhandswere as lucky as Agostinho Leal since most rural
families,bothnativeto Barra do Pirai and migrantfromanotherregion,
lived on someone else's land. Commonlyreferredto as colonos by 1930,
thesetenantfamiliestypicallyhad at least one memberwho workedon a
granjaleiteiraeitheras a tenantfarmer, sharecropper, or salariedlaborer.
154

Unlikethestrictregimenof thepre-abolition coffeeplantations, over-

on
sight granjas leiteiras was sporadic so that colonos enjoyed fair
a
degreeofindependence intheperformance oftheirdailytasks.In return,
however, they boremuch ofthe forlivestock,
responsibility pastures, cul-
tivatedfields,orchards,truckgardens, sugarmills,gristmills,cachaçaor
pinga(sugarcanealcohol)stills, dams, carts, wagons.Poorlyedu-
ox and
catedanddependent onthelandlordfortheirhomes, colonostoiledfrom
dawntoduskjusttomaintain modestlives.Tripstothemunicípio seatfor
marketday,religious festivalsand,increasingly, secularholidaysoffered
themeagerlyanticipated diversions.Less frequently, watersheds in the
lifecyclesuchas baptismsand marriages providedwelcomefestivities.
Even deathof a family memberor friend, althoughcertainly a somber
occasion,stoodout as a timeforreunionand exemption fromroutine.
Fromsomeviewpoints, thecolonoled a pitiful life,"entirelyexploited,
[and]besides thelandlord who eatshisflesh,now also thetheater andthe
radiohavetakenuponthemselves tolaughat hisblood,satirizing him."18
The colono'slifewas difficult,butit was also one thatruralfamilies
withouta patronmightwell have coveted.Life became tenuousfor
uprooted ruralfamiliesthatannually searchedfora tolerablepatronwho
mightprovideshelterand a plotof land.The outright miseryhounding
migrant ruralfamiliesaroused pity from citydwellers, yetalso reinforced
urbannotionsthatruralfolkwereuneducated, unhealthy, anddangerous
peopleto be avoided.In 1931,Belisário Pena,who serveda stintas Brazil-
ianministerofeducation andhealth, offeredexpertcorroboration forcity
dwellers'mixture ofpityandprejudicetowardruralfolk:
Thefarmhands arepoorpariahs, whointhelandoftheirbirthwanderlike

foreignbeggars,exiledintheir own country,justlikemigratorybirds,from
to
region region, to
city city, farm to farm,malnourished, ragged,hungry,
tormented withverminous malarialanemia,themutilations
slothfulness, of
leprosy,thedeformations ofendemicgoiter, thedevastationsoftuberculo-
sis,venerealmaladiesandcachaça,theinconsiderateness ofignorance,the
blindnessoftrachoma,therottenness ofbubo,leishmaniasisandphagedenic
ulcers,
spreading withouthindrances theseills.
Forthesepariahsofpassiveexistence, without a notionoffreelife,of
thehygienic state,of nutritiouseating,of the possessionof land and a
comfortable home,lifeonlyhas someenchantment underthefallacious
intoxication
ofcachaça.19
155

History
Agricultural Spring
Since Barra do Pirai's granjas leiteirasrequired many fewerhands

thanthe earliercoffeeplantations,agriculturalemploymentbecame less
steady while salaries remainedmiserable.The shortageof agricultural
employmentcontributedto the constantmigrationof farmhandsand
theirfamilieswithinthe Middle Paraíba and southernMinas Gerais dur-
ing the half centuryfollowingabolition.In 1935 Barra do Pirafs First
District,encompassingextensivefarmlandseven thoughit includedthe
municípioseat, had fivemarriagesin whichthe groom was listed as a
farmhand.None were born in the município,while three came from
Minas Gerais.In thesame yearand district, twenty-eightlegitimatebirths
occurredin whichthe fatherwas classifiedas a farmhand.Over 70 per-
cent of the marriagesthatmade those birthslegitimatetook place out-
side themunicípio.Also in thesame yearand district,fourteenfarmhands
died, but none were nativeto the município.These figurespointto a con-
tinualmovementin and out of Barra do Pirai by rurallaborersas new-
comersreplaced nativefarmhandswho eitherhad leftthe municípioor
remainedin the municípiobut quit farming.20
For laborers,movingfromone granjaleiteirato another,even ifitwas
onlya shortdistanceacross municípioboundaries,requiredgreateffort.
Rugged terrainforcedbackwoods travelersto followvalleysand river-
beds,but theseroutescould easilylead inexperiencedpathfinders in cir-
cles. Roads offeredmore certaindirection,but, in 1937 Brazil's rural
roads did littlemore thanconnectgranjasleiteirasto urbansettlements.
Therefore,residentsmightbe familiarwitha hamletten kilometersdis-
tant,yetnevermeet neighborslivingon granjasleiteirasthatdid not lie
along the road to town.Whetherfollowinga backwoods path or a road,
theruralresidentwho lackedhorsetransportation founda ten-or twenty-
kilometermountainsidewalk daunting.For familiesand singlemen with
modestbelongingsto transport, hindered,ifnot totally
these difficulties
prevented,migrationto othergranjasleiteiras.
It is not surprising,
therefore,that farmhandsleaving the exhausted
coffeeplantationsof the Middle Paraíba and southernMinas Gerais
oftenmigratedby followingthe Brazil Central Railroad or the Minas
TransitSystemRailroad.As theselinesconvergedon Barra do Pirai city,
migrantscould interrupttheirjourneyto check out rumorsof employ-
mentat one of the area's large granjasleiteiras.On the city'ssouthern
approach,Fazenda PonteAlta and Fazenda Santa Maria overlookedthe
156

BrazilCentralRailroad'sSantanade Barrastation. To thewest,Fazenda

SantaCeciliaand Fazendada União couldeasilybe reachedfromthat
railroad'scoal-processing facilityat Pulverisação. East of the city,the
railroad'strackspassedright alongside Fazenda do Pocinho. On thecity's
leftbank,FazendaCampoBomstraddled theMinasTransit SystemRail-
road.Withrailroadsguiding farmhands to theirdoorsteps, theownersof
Barrado Pirai'sgranjasleiteirasneversuffered froma laborshortage.21
Colonos, aided bypart-time non-residentiallaborers, borethedifficult
taskofreinvigorating theirlandlords'decrepit granjasleiteiras. Creeping
vinesthatstrangled theabandonedfieldsrequiredimmediate attention.
Landlordsandcolonosansweredthatchallengewiththeirmostfamiliar
remedy,fire.Afterburningaway the weeds,landlordsintroduced
imported Indiancattle- zebu- thatweremoresuitableforBrazilian
conditions thanEuropeanbreeds.Unsystematic crossbreeding produced
Indubrasil dairycows, a Brazilianhybrid thatvaried widely in size,
color,
andamountofmilkproduced.Landlordsrarelyfencedthealmostverti-
calpastures wheretheirmotley cowsforagedoncapimgordura, themost
commongrassintheregion. The grass'shighfatcontentbenefited dairy
but
production, during the Brazilian winter it became hard and dry.
Consequently, theburning ofpasturesbeforethearrivalofrainsin late
Octoberbecamean annualritualthatfilledthevalleywithirritating, yet
notaltogether unpleasant,fumes.22
Nextto thelanditself, dairycowseasilyrepresented landlords'most
valuableasset.Afterdeducting thevalueofitsland,thesixteencowson
FazendaBoa Lembrança wereworthmorethanallofthegranjaleiteira's
otherassetscombined. Dairycowssharedtherurallandscapewitha vari-
ety of animals and cropsintendedforconsumption on farmsor in local
urbancenters.Oxen wereamongthe mostimportant, figuring promi-
nentlyin estateinventories.Wellintothe1940s,local farmers reliedon
the powerful beaststo haul ancientlooking,two-wheeled carts.Aged
oxen spenttheirlast dayslazilygrazingbeforeheadingto município
slaughterhouses alongwitha fewswineand unproductive cows.Farm
householdsconsumedthebulkof themeatand leatherrenderedfrom
theseanimals,withanysurplusentering thelocal market.In addition,
almostall ruralhouseholdsraisedchickensforpersonalconsumption in
additionto sellinglivebirdsand eggsthroughout thevalley.Fruitsand
vegetables added furthervarietyto theagricultural setting.Landowners,
157

Agricultural
History Spring
colonos, and squatterson ruggedmountaintopscultivatedcorn,beans,

manioc,sweetpotatoes,and bananas in thehillsadjacentto pastures.Per-
haps alludingto thehumbleruralfolkwho dirtiedtheirhandsin thesoil,
local people commonlyreferredto thesecropsas culturascaboclas.23
Whetherproducingmilkthatmightbe sold in thecapitalor farming for
local consumption, farmersseldom employedthe mostup-to-datemeth-
ods. Even on prosperousdairy farms,modern agriculturaltechniques
made onlyscatteredinroads.Special animalfeedsand nutrients were too
costlyformostfarmers. Insteadoffattening cattlewithwheat,barley, or oats,
farmersgenerallyreliedon old standbyssuch as hay,manioc,and sugar-
cane. Withsilos gracingfew farms,however,these feeds lost significant
nutrientsbecause ofimproperstorage.Mechanizationalso atrophied,not-
withstanding promisesby Rio de Janeiro'sInterventor duringthe Estado
Novo (1937-1945),Ernanido AmaralPeixoto,to provideall farmerswith
modernagricultural machinery. In 1939onlyfifteen privatelyownedtrucks
wereregisteredin Barra do Pirai'smostruraldistricts, Dorândia,São José
do Turvo,and VargemAlegre.Tractorsalso were a rarity, if not totally
absent in the município.Lucky farmers owned a single-shareplow that
could be hitchedto a teamofoxen.Some even operatedadvancedrevers-
ible models such as the Z-7 offeredby Brunow & Company of Rio de
Janeiro.For thevastmajority, however,theworkdaybegan and ended as it
had forgenerations, witha trusty hoe slungovertheshoulder.24
Rural familiesalso lagged behindin labor-savingand sanitarydevices
forthe household.Colonos' homes were,at best,cabins.At worst,they
werehutsor shacks.At Fazenda Boa Lembrança,colonos livedin wattle-
and-daub homes roofedwithsapé. The granja leiteira'slone burrocost
morethanone of thosehouses.An ox was worththreeof them.Some of
the colonos at Sítio Feliz Esperança lived in poorlymaintainedwattle-
and-daubhutsthathad sapé roofsand dirtfloors.Othersresidedin a spa-
cious,but poorlymaintained,wattle-and-daubhouse thatcontainedfour
bedrooms,two livingrooms,and a kitchenunder a tile roof.Despite its
size and sturdyroof,the house's tenantsstillwalked on earthenfloors.
Membersof the sole colono householdon Fazendas Palmitaland Sertão
enjoyedtheluxuryofwooden flooringand a tileroof,yettheirhome was
onlyas valuable as fourold drafthorses.In 1940real estateagentsdealing
in the region'sruralpropertystillhad to stipulatewhetherelectricalser-
vice had reached theirofferings. This and the sale of gasolinegenerators
158

impliedthatelectrical appliancesandlighting remained a luxury evenfor

landlords'homes,letaloneforcolonos'households. Likewise, advertise-
mentsstipulated whether pipedwaterwasavailable.Atmealtime, women
cookedon openhearth, wood-burning stoves that filledthehouse with
smoke.Foraffluent landlords andwell-paidadministrators, maidsmight
compensate forthe lackof convenient electricaland water services.For
wivesoflesserlandowners and administrators plusthemanywomenin
colonohouseholds, the
however, only form of domestic helpcamefrom
unmarried daughters. Therefore, theyspentlongdayscleaningthesoot
spewedby wood fires and kerosene lamps- assuming theycouldafford
-
thelatter and totingheavywatercontainers fromwellsand streams.
Thesechoresleftevenlesstimetocompleteotherdutiesrelatedto child
rearing, cooking,sewing,tendingthe family'sgardenand pig sty,and
sweepinga multitude offeathers thatfloatedfromchickenswandering
throughout the house. Undoubtedly, the matronof such a household
couldhonestly claimthatherworkwasneverdone.25
Althoughup-to-dateequipment, methods,and conveniences made
fewinroadsintothegranjasleiteiras'fieldsandhouses,colonoswereby
no meansunfamiliar withsuchmatters. Witha glutoffarmhands in the
município, mostmigrants foundjobs otherthanfarming afterarriving in
Barrado Pirai.In thecase of railroadworkers, many had started their
jobs in a different
localeand thenmovedto Barrado Piraiaftervolun-
taryormandatedtransfers. Othermencameto Barrado Piraihopingto
landa railroadjob orwhatever elsewasavailableotherthanruralwork.
For thelatter,livingin an urbansettingand takinga non-farming job
mighthavefulfilled desiresto escape rurallife.Manyothers, however,
tooknon-farming jobs out of desperation, but remainedcolonoswith
theirlandlords' approval.In othercases,sonsdidnotjointheirfathers as
farmhands, but remained colonos because they lived in their parents'
houses.Cases evenexistedin whichpeople settledin urbanareas,but
workedatlocalgranjasleiteiras. Withso manypermutations oflivingand
working arrangements, thesharpdistinction betweencountry livingand
agricultural work, on one hand, and citylifeand artisan or industrial
labor,on theother,becomesmutedifnotaltogether untenable. People
residedandworkedaccording topossibilities,
andthesedidnotadhereto
a neatdivisionbetweentheruraland theurban,thetraditional and the
modern, or thebackward and the progressive.26
159

History
Agricultural Spring
Not only did many of Barra do Pirafs "industrial"workerslive on

granjasleiteiras,butmuchofthecountryside'sproductionitselfwas non-
agricultural,proto-industrial,or industrial.Food processing,although
linked to agriculture,accounted for a small portionof the rural,non-
farmingproduction.Granjas leiteiras commonlymaintainedmills for
hullingcoffeebeans,gristmills forgrindingcorn into a finemeal known
as fubá, and copper stillsto process sugarcaneinto cachaça. Since they
were waterpowered,installationand maintenanceof coffeehullersand
gristmillsrequiredskillin mechanics,pipefitting, and masonry.Workers
had to build and maintainstone aqueducts and piping that delivered
waterto a giantwheel.The wheel also needed periodicmaintenanceto
lubricateor replace its bearings.When part of the wooden wheel wore
out, workersfashioneda replacementsection.A metal drive shaftand
leatherbeltstransmitted powerfromthewheel to crushingand grinding
stones.Replacement of these parts involvedconsiderable disassembly,
reassembly, and adjustment.Furthermore, duringnormaloperation,the
buildingshousingthese millsbecame suffocatingly hot and dusty.Stills
demandedmuchof the same sweaty labor as millsin additionto stoking
firesthatheated caldronsfilledwithcaldo (sugarcanejuice).27
When operatingmillsand stills,ruralworkersperformedneitherfarm
norindustriallabor in themodernsense of theterms.The millsand stills,
themselves,hardlyconstitutedheavy capital investmentscharacteristic
of industrialenterprises.The corn mill on Sítio Feliz Esperança was
housed in a ramshackleshed assessed at one hundredmil-reis,or one-
tenththe value of an alqueire of farmland.The corn mill on Fazendas
Palmitaland Sertão,even thoughin "perfect"condition,was worthonly
twice as much as the one on Sítio Feliz Esperança. Coffee-processing
equipmenton the same granja leiteirahad a value approximatelyequal
to a team of fouroxen harnessedto a cart.As forthe workers,theycer-
tainlypossessed skillsthatcould be used in industryor,at the veryleast,
had dailyexposureto hydro-mechanical devices foundin industry. In all
likelihood,theycalled themselvespedreiros(masons) whenconstructing
stone aqueducts,bombeiros(plumbers) when fittingpipes and pumps,
and carpinteiros(carpenters)whenmakingreplacementpartsforwooden
waterwheels.Theymighteven have been proud of theirindustriousness.
However,since the same man mightperformeach of those crafts,food-
processingoperationsadhered to no divisionof labor. Moreover,when
160

processing operations wereidle,theseworkers commonly cultivatedthe

samecoffee, and
corn, sugarcane that fedthe millsand stills.Unlike fully
proletarianized workers, theydidnotreceivethebulkoftheirwagesin
currency. Instead,theylivedrentfreeon themillorstillowner'slandand
receivedproducefromthefarmsuchas milk,cheese,andmeat.Muchof
whattheyproducedin themillsand stillswas consumedrighton the
farm. In addition, whether farming orworking inthemillsandstills, they
earnedwagesintheformofscripthatwasredeemableonlyat theland-
lord'sdrygoodsstore.Awareofindustrial craftsbutlaboringaccording
to pre-industrial theseworkershardlyconstituted
social relations, an
industrial working class.Yet,exposureto therhythm and substanceof
mechanicalproduction techniqueshelpedshape their attitudesabout
and preparation forworkoutsideofthefarm.Forthosewholatertook
industrial jobs,therefore, the transitionfromagricultural to industrial
laborerwaspiecemealinsteadofabrupt.28
Ruralresidents did nothave to commuteto Barrado Piraicityfor
proto-industrial industrial
and employment. As earlyas the sixteenth
century, Braziliansugarplantations reliedon localpottery worksforthe
moldsusedinsugarrefining. Nineteenth-century coffeebarons frequently
maintained tileand brickworks, knownas olarias,to meettheirplanta-
tions'construction needs.As townsand citiesgrewduringthetwentieth
century, manyoftheseoperationsdevelopedintolargerceramicplants
thatsupplieda broadermarketwithbricks, roofing tiles,andflooring for
commercial andresidential buildings.Olariasinthebarrense countryside
receivedextraimpetusfromBarra do Pirai'sexceptionalcommercial
growthand the railroad'sconnections to otherurbanmarkets. Olaria
workers moldedtheceramicmaterial, preparedclay and firewood sup-
plies,controlled wood-burning andstackedthefinished
kilns, products on
cartsfordelivery. Colonosfromthe surrounding granjas leiteirasand
localvillagers workedat theolariaownedbyNaveiro& Co.,Ltd.in the
ruraltownofVargemAlegre.Colonoswholivedon Fazendado Pocinho
had a five-minute walkto a neighboring olarialocatedon theroad to
Vassouras. On theoppositesideoftheParaíbaRiver,residents ofFazenda
CampoBomdidnotevenhavetocrosstheirgranjaleiteira'sboundaries
to workat a nearbyolaria.Althoughmostolariashad railroadsidings,
nonewereinthecentralindustrial neighborhoods ofBarrado Piraicity,
thereby making ceramic a rural
productiondistinctly enterprise.29
161

Agricultural
History Spring
Olarias were not the only rural manufacturingenterprises.The

Adriano Maurício & Co. FireworksFactory,Ltd. of Rodeio, a rural
town not far from Barra do Pirai in the município of Vassouras,
employed ten to twenty workers. Although the company's name
included the word "factory,"some of the manufacturingtook place in
a buildingthatresembled a barn. Inside thatstructure,a male worker
operated a press or arbor powered by an electricmotor.A long over-
head driveshafttransmittedpower fromthe motorto the machine,but
no other equipment was attached to the device, and the existing
machinerywas arrangedhaphazardly.Perhaps,the barn-likestructure
originallyenclosed a water-poweredgristmilland had been converted
to fireworksproduction.In another room or building,ten to fifteen
women manuallyassembled the fireworksaround long tables. In addi-
tion to the manufacturing buildings,the factoryincluded a three-story
office,a mansion for the owner, and nine connected structuresthat
probably were row houses for workers.Unquestionably,the Adriano
Maurício & Co. FireworksFactorywas a simple,ruraloperation whose
layoutrecalled days when the plantation'smanoroverlooked the slave
quarters.Equally true,however,both owner and workersparticipated
in an industry.30
Many rural residentswho held non-farming jobs did, indeed, hold
industrialjobs in urbanzones.This raises questionssince theirworkwas
neitherauxiliaryto nor an offshootof life on the granja leiteira.For
example,out of 154 of theFirstDistrict'snewbornin 1935 whose fathers
were railroadworkers,7 (4.5 percent) lived in ruralzones. As railroad
workers, thesefathersclearlylaboredfarfromthefarm,yettheirfamilies
experiencedlife in a rural environment.Can it be assumed that these
men,by virtueof theirmodernurban occupations,never helped their
fathers,brothers,and landlords with the annual burningof pastures?
Was itpossiblethatmarriedrailroadworkersdid not help theirwivestill
gardenplots,prune banana trees,and deliversurplusproduce to Barra
do Pirafsmarket?Furthermore, althoughthesequestionstouchissuesof
ruralproduction,theydo not even hintat culturaland politicaltopics.
The railroadsymbolizedone ofindustrialization's greatestachievements,
themarriageof steel's strengthwithsteam's power.Yet, formanyof the
men who kept trainsoperating,life at its most basic, in the home and
with the family,remained locked withinindustrialization'santithesis.
162

Giventhisparadox,neatcategorizations aboutwhatkindsofpeopleper-
formed whichkindsofjobs areclearlyrevealedas illusions.31
Ruralland tenure,production, labor,and consumption suggestthat
Barrado Pirai'sgranjasleiteirasfellintoa social-economic unittermed
"hacienda"byEricR. WolfandSidneyW.Mintzintheirseminalarticle,
"HaciendasandPlantations inMiddleAmericaandtheAntilles." Paral-
lelingthehaciendamodeldiscussedbyWolfandMintz,Barrado Pirai's
granjasleiteirasoperatedwithscarcecapitalandtechnological simplicity.
Fences,machinery, electrical power, fertilizer,insecticides,specialfeeds,
and selectivecattlebreedingmade fewinroadsintoBarra do Pirai's
countryside.Furthermore, themostsuccessful dairyfarmers soughtcapi-
talfromfamily members ratherthancreditinstitutions. Themarkets sup-
the
pliedby granjas leiteirasalso fitthepattern drawn byWolf and Mintz.
AlthoughmilkreachedtheurbanRio de Janeiromarket, almostall of
theremaining agricultural products met the farm's own needs withany
surplusgoingto localmarkets. Duringthenineteenth century, landhold-
ingsin the município fell
into the or
plantation, fazenda, category.At that
time,landowners employed extensive laborandcapital,bothofthesefac-
torsembodiedinslaves,fortheproduction ofcropsthatweresoldtodis-
tantcustomers. Withecologicaldevastationand the death of coffee
production, however,the haciendacategorypredominated by 1935,a
progression thatWolfandMintzanticipated as a possibility.32
One possibilitynotforeseenbyWolfand Mintzwas thepeasantry's
abilityto findalternative employment. Accordingto theirmodelofthe
hacienda, landlords bound peasants to their estatesthrough a combina-
tionoflandmonopolization, debtpeonage,ritualties,andcoercion.Later
workschallenged Wolfand Mintz,claiming thatin cases ofscarcerural
laborsupplies,peasantsexercisesignificant bargaining powerandmobil-
While
ity. theolder model would have to
applied thesertão(backlands)
inBrazil'sNortheast andthenewerone tocoffeeplantations innorthern
Rio de Janeiro State, neither model fit the granjas in
leiteiras Barrado
Piraí.Colonos enjoyedlittlebargaining powersince rurallabor was
always abundant inBarra do Piraíduring FirstRepublic.At thesame
the
time,thenumberof non-farming jobs increasedsufficiently to absorb
someof thesurpluslabor.Thus,landlordsstillbargainedfroma domi-
nantposition, buttheirongripinwhichtheyhadheldrurallaborduring
thepreviouscentury had weakenedsomewhat. It was labor'smobility
163

Agricultural
History Spring
relativeto thepre-abolitionyears,coupled withcoffeebarons' bitterness

as theiropulence faded,thatfosteredthe commonwisdomabout a scar-
cityof rurallabor.33
The freedomenjoyedbypeople ofcolor,perhaps,mostirkedtherural
elite.Death and marriagestatisticsshow thata significant portion,ifnot
an outrightmajority, of non-whitesin Barra do Pirai were not nativeto
the município.In 1935 out of sixty-eight adult deaths in Barra do Pirai's
FirstDistrictin whichthe deceased was recordedas corparda (biracial)
or cor preta (black), 94 percentwere non-nativebarrenses.In the same
year and district, 48 percentof groomsand nearly42 percentof brides
listedas non-whitehad migratedto Barra do Pirai. Far fromneglected
and dysfunctional descendantsof slaves,people of color took advantage
of shifting opportunitiesto fulfillneeds and desires.Thus,duringthefirst
decades followingabolition,manyquit impoverishedruralzones in Rio
de Janeiroand Minas Gerais forfarmworkin Barra do Pirai. By 1935,
however,youngerpeople of color increasinglyopted forotheroccupa-
tions,leavingfarmworkto people classifiedas cor branca(white).Among
theFirstDistrict'sobituariesof 1935 in whichthedeceased was recorded
as a farmer, farmhand, rurallaborer,or fisherman, non-whitescomprised
two thirdsof the total.Among the same obituaries,nearly18 percentof
deceased listed as non-whitefellinto thatoccupationalcategory,while
approximately14 percentwere listed as railroad workers.In contrast,
amonggroomsin thesame yearand district, who probablyrepresenteda
youngercohortthanthedeceased,not a singlepersonof color workedin
agriculturewhile three-eighths of non-whitegroomsworked on a rail-
road.In additionto thoseclassifiedas railroadworkers,nearly47 percent
of the district'sbiracialand black groomsheld a varietyof otherskilled,
semi-skilled,and non-skilledblue-collaroccupations in 1935. Interest-
ingly,the district'sdeath and birthstatisticsfrom1935 indicatethatthe
age cohortsmaintainedsteadyresidentialpatterns.More than60 percent
of both the deceased and the newbornknown to reside in ruralzones
were classifiedas biracialor black.Among non-whitesin the same year
and district,20 to 25 percentof bothdeceased and newbornwere known
to live in ruralzones.Thus,ruralresidenceremainedavailable to people
of color even thoughtheyincreasinglyfoundnon-farming occupations.
Moreover,forpeople of color belongingto both generations,the deci-
sions regarding migration and occupation required contemplation.
164

Migration couldbe difficult

becauselandowners boundrurallaborbya
variety ofmethods including violenceand debt peonage.Uponarrivalin
Barrado Pirai,farmhands hadtonegotiate withlandlords abouttenancy
arrangements. Younger folkhad to the of
weigh advantages moneywages
againstregimented, andfrequently dangerous, industrialworking condi-
tionsbeforequitting farmwork.Thesewerethesamedilemmas facedby
whites, andlikethewhites, peopleofcolordealtwiththemaccording to
reasonanddesire,andnotbecauseofanomie.34
Colonos and otherruralresidents, regardlessof color,deferredto
landlords' yetextracted
authority, whateverbenefits wereavailablefrom
sucha relationship.Deferencecouldbe grudging or willing.
Especially
duringthe earlyyearsof the FirstRepublic(1889-1930),landowners
attempted to restrict or emancipated
libertos, slaves,bymeansofcoer-
cive measuressuchas vagrancy laws.Indebtedness and ritualkinship,
mostnotablygodparentage, moresubtlyboundbothwhitesandpeople
ofcolorto theirlandedpatrons. However,suchmethodsonlyworkedto
theextentthatlandlordsrespectedeach otherand thelaw.Often,they
respectedneither. Thus,in northern Rio de JaneiroState,wherepost-
abolitionownersofproductive coffeeplantations frettedovera steady
laborsupply, farmhands notonlycouldobtainvagrancy law exemption
anddebtforgiveness, butcouldevenbargainforlowerrents, highercash
payments, andconcessions oflandandtimeforraisingtheirownsubsis-
tencecrops.In Barrado Pirai,weakerdemandforrurallaborreduced
landlords'needformethodsofcontrolsuchas vagrancy laws,indebted-
ness, and ritualkinship while the of
availability non-farming employ-
ment,especiallywiththerailroad,simultaneously undercut thosesame
methods ofcontrol.35
The conversion ofplantations intogranjasleiteirasand theavailabil-
ityofnon-farming employment attenuatedtheextreme domination that
landlordshad formerly exercisedoverrurallaborers, but let therebe
littledoubtthattheformer couldstilldisciplinethelatterwithimpunity.
Landlordssometimes exercisedunrestrained violenceto controlcolo-
nos and stifletheirprotests.On a dailybasis,however,the landlords'
actionsservedcross-classpurposesby helpingto maintainpeace for
landlordandcolonoalike.Sincethestatedidnotprovidea ruralpolice
force,crimesrangingfromchickenthieveryto homicidethreatened
colonos' wellbeing.Landownersassumedresponsibility for meeting
165

History
Agricultural Spring
those threats,eitherindependentlyor througha paramilitaryorganiza-

tion knownas the National Guard. By doing so, theyelicitedthe grati-
tude and fear necessaryforproppingup theirprivilegedstatus.In one
sense,landlordsensuredlaw and order in exchange forcolonos' defer-
ence and respect.At the same time,however,the violence withwhich
landlordskept the peace remindedcolonos that theyhad littlechoice
but to accept the termsof thatexchange.
To stifleantagonismsthatmightbreed violence among colonos,land-
lords meted swiftjustice forminorinfractions. Lincoln Carvalho exer-
cised power freelyon his family'sgranja leiteira,Fazenda dos Alpes, in
Dorândia. An incident involvinga sharecropperdubbed Orozimbo
hinted at colonos' ambivalence toward Carvalho's power. Orozimbo,
who had a violenttemperamentand alwayscarrieda longknife,had been
bullyingother colonos on the granja leiteira.They candidlyexpressed
theirfearsto Carvalhowho thenrespondedwithchallengescalculatedto
provokethe aggressorinto a confrontation. In a combinationof theater
and summaryjustice performedon the steps of his family'smanor,Car-
valho shot at the unrulyOrozimbo,inflicting a minorwound. Carvalho
had declaredOrozimboguiltyof unspecifiedbutwell-understoodcrimes
and had metedextrajudicialpunishment, thusverifyinghis own position
of power. Colonos witnessingthe incidentimmediatelyattended the
wounded Orozimbo and a fewunidentifiedpersonsencouragedhim to
continuethefight, implyinga level of sympathyforthe bullyand resent-
menttowardthe landlord.Yet, colonos' complaintshad helped fuel the
confrontation who
in the firstplace and once Carvalho's father-in-law,
was a chefepolítico (political boss), quashed any legal repercussions,
everyoneforgotthe incident.As forOrozimbo,humiliatedby the show-
down,he leftthegranjaleiteiraand was neverheardfromagain.Colonos
wantedto ridthemselvesofa menace and looked forproofthatCarvalho
stillhad authorityto deliverthatfavor.Theyobtainedboth,and thecase
was closed.36
Landlords'enforcement oflaw and orderdid notalwaysdeliverreal or
symbolic benefits to colonos. landlordsoftendirected
Quite the contrary,
violenceagainstcolonos to keep themin line.Duringthe FirstRepublic,
Lincoln Carvalho's fatherconfrontedresistance to his authorityby
colonos who,under the leadershipof a socialist dubbed JulinhoPepé,
demanded an end to salarypaymentsin scrip.Afterthe seniorCarvalho
166

refused theconcession, colonosarmedwithshotguns andsicklesmarched

on hismanorinangry protest.Colonos from othergranjasleiteirasjoined
themarch, swelling thenumber ofprotesterstomorethanfifty. Blackcolo-
nos,includingsonsofslavesandevenagingex-slaves, didnotjointhepro-
butinstead
testers, servedina private policeforcethatwashastily organized
tosuppress thedisorder. Minhoandallbutfourwoundedcolonosfledthe
sceneafterCarvalhodischarged a fewrounds. Aftercalmwas restored,
Carvalhodelivered thefourbleeding mentothemunicipal jailhousewhere
policemight severely beatorevenexecutetheprisoners. As forCarvalho,
no chargeswerefiledagainsthimforshooting atthefarmhands.37
The blackcolonoshad soundreasonsto defendtheelderCarvalho's
interests.
Theycouldreasonably expectshort-term gratitude fromland-
owners, perhaps a festivalduring whicha cow would be butchered or a
fewdaysofffromwork.Moreover, withdemandforrurallaborweak,the
blackcolonosmighthave securedtheirtenancyon Carvalho'sgranja
leiteirabyhelpingto suppresstheprotesters. Theyalso actedin a way
thatfavoredthelonger-term of
objective maintaining relationships that
had beensetoverthecourseofdecades.As one-sidedas theirrelation-
shipwithlandowners was,at leastitwas a familiarone withwhichthey
hadlearnedtodealoverthecourseofgenerations. Significantly,theblack
colonoscomposing theprivatepoliceforcewerefromthegranjaleitei-
ra's vicinity
whilethe socialistagitator, Julinho, was an outsiderwho
threatened toplungetheblackcolonosintouncharted waters. Facedwith
thatpossibility,
theychosetoprotect theircertain,
albeitgrossly unequal,
relationshipswith the ruralelite.
The seniorCarvalhowon thatbattle.Yet,theconfrontation clearly
warnedof the shakyfoundations upon whichlandowners'authority
rested.Althoughgranjasleiteirascouldbe profitable and theland still
heldvalue,agriculture no longerbuiltand sustainedfortunes as during
thepriorcentury. Barrado Pirai'sexhaustedsoilrequiredheavyinvest-
mentin reforestation, fertilizers, and machinery
insecticides, ifholdings
wereto yieldtheprofits theyoncedid.Unwilling or unableto takesuch
the
measures, municipio's landowners watched as urbanbusinessmen,
professionals,and publicadministrators eclipsedthemin wealthand
influence.To be sure,landowners retainedpowerin the ruralsetting.
But,witheachpassingyear,theirpowerdiminished relativeto Barrado
Pirai'surbanmiddleclass.
167

Agricultural
History Spring
Perhaps more importantly, the power retained by landowners lost

significance as fewer subordinates remainedover whom to wield it.As
Julinhohad demonstrated,colonos soughtalternativesto unconditional
subordinationto landowners.While most did not confrontlandowners
directly, each year more colonos rejected that relationship,eitherpar-
or
tially entirely, by looking outside the granja leiteirafora betterlife.
For many colonos, the search for a betterlife meant journeyinggreat
distancesalong railroadlines thatconvergedon Barra do Pirai.In colo-
nos' favor,however,were the skills that theylearned while repairing
gristmills and workingin olarias.Far fromthe timidbumpkinsand vio-
lentbrutesportrayedby popular wisdom,rurallaborershad the knowl-
edge and initiativeto pursue urban industrialemployment.In Barra
do Pirai, railroads offeredexactly that type of work and, therefore,
attractedmigrantsfromthroughoutRio de JaneiroState and Minas
Gerais.Moreover,migrationto Barra do Pirai would continueand even
increase after1940 as Brazil's industrializationraised expectationsfor
urban employment.
The heterogeneity ofBarra do Pirai's ruralworkingclass raisesdoubts
about simpledistinctionsbetweenruraland urban,and agriculturaland
industriallaborersin Brazil's Middle Paraíba region.Withso manyindus-
triallaborers,such as railroadworkers,maintainingclose linksto rural
life,theirattitudesand perceptionsabout industrialworkprobablyspilled
overto theirproto-industrial and agriculturalfriendsand relatives.There-
fore,even beforeBrazil's rapid industrialization of the 1940s and 1950s,
ruralfolkhad some sense about thenatureofmodernindustry. Certainly,
theseworkersexperiencedindustrialproductionand class conflictdiffer-
entlythan theirEuropean counterpartsof the period. Yet, theirrural
backgroundsdid notmake themuniformly unfamiliarwithindustrialand
capitalistproduction. As the rural economystagnatedafter1888,rural
laborers whetherbychoice or out ofdesperation- increasingly
- turned
to non-farming jobs ranging from modern industrialwork with the rail-
road to proto-industrialworkat olarias.In addition,theymigratedfreely
and frequentlyin search of rural and urban employment,actions that
representeda radical break fromthe rigidcontrolexercisedby coffee
baronspriorto abolition.Therefore, whenBrazil's industrialization accel-
eratedat mid-twentieth century, ruralworkersand theirfamiliesentered
modernizedurbansettingsas membersof a workingclass thathad, over
168

2009 inBrazil's
andTenants
Landlords Middle
Paraiba
Valley
thecourseof a halfcentury, alreadytakenthefirststepsawayfroma

heritage offorcedlabor and agricultural commodity production.
The changesthatoccurredin ruralBarra do Piraí duringthe half
century followingabolitionforeshadowed theregion'scurrentenviron-
mentaland socialsetting. Traveling through theMiddleParaíbain the
late 1930s,one wouldeasilyconcludethatthe ecologicaldevastation
wrought bycoffeeculturewas irreversible. Suchan opinionwouldfind
confirmation after1940as newsteelmills,chemicalplants,and facto-
ries,whichwereoftenbuilton formergranjasleiteiras, worsenedthe
region'senvironmental degradation with unrestraineddischargeofpol-
lutantsintotheairandwater.The landlordswhoconverted plantations
intogranjasleiteirasretainedlocal statusand powerduringthe five
decades followingabolition,but commandednone of the state and
nationalattention thattheformer coffeebaronshad.Once industrial-
izationgainedmomentum, they lost even theirprivilegedlocal posi-
tionsas theurbanmiddleclassassumedregionalpoliticalandeconomic
prominence. Duringtheearlytwentieth century, thegranjasleiteiras'
tenantsremainedimpoverished despitetheavailability ofnon-farming
employment. Their impoverishment and subordinationto landlords,
however, does notovershadowthefundamental improvement related
torurallaborafter1888,theabolitionofslavery. Fornon-white tenants,
independent migration and voluntary non-farming employment would
have been impossiblewithouttheirstatusas freepeople.Whenthe
region'sindustrializationacceleratedafter1940,the granjasleiteiras'
tenants,regardlessof colorandthestatusoftheirforebears, joinedwith
a newgeneration ofmigrants to formtheregion'scontemporary urban
working class.
NOTES
1. I wouldliketothankalloftheanonymous reviewers fortheirtimeandeffortsonthis

manuscript. ForurbanBarrado Pirai'sroleas a thriving railroadjunctionand regional
commercial center,see,John "PearloftheParaíbaNo More:TheLimitsofIndus-
J.Crocitti,
and Modernization
trialization in Brazil"(PhD diss.,UniversityofMiami-CoralGables,
2001),113-22.
2. Warren Dean,Rio Claro:Λ BrazilianPlantation System, 1820-1920(Stanford: Stan-
fordUniversity Press,1976),161-62;Nos. 2173-2526,BinderO-29,Registro de Óbitos,
Cartório do PrimeiroOfício- Barrado Piraí,Barrado Piraí,Brazil;Waldyr OliveiraLima
andMarioF. Güssen,eds.,Annuariode Barrado PirahyEncyclopedia BarrenseAnnode
1935(Rio de Janeiro:Jornaldo Commercio, 1935),25-28.
169

Agricultura]
History Spring
3. Hebe MariaMattosde Castro, "BeyondMastersandSlaves:Subsistence Agriculture

as a Survival Strategy inBrazilDuringtheSecondHalfoftheNineteenth Century,"in The
Abolition ofSlavery andtheAftermath ofEmancipation inBrazil,ed.RebeccaJ.Scott,etal.
(Durham:Duke University Press,1988),60-83.
A wordconcerning working I arbitrarily
definitions: definefazendas(plantations, but
withcoffee's declinemorelikeruralestatesorhaciendas)as morethanfifty sítios
alqueires;
(farms)as betweenfiveandfifty alqueires;andchácaras(country homes)as lessthanfive
alqueires. One alqueireequalsapproximately 48,000squaremeters, ortwelveacres,inthis
region. My definitions do not correspond tothe actualnames of holdings,whichdidnotfol-
lowa pattern. Fazendatranslates intoplantation, denoting an entiresocialsystem basedon
intensive laborand/orcapital,substantial production of an agricultural commodity ear-
markedfora distant market, anda fairamountofself-sufficiency within thelandholding.
Although granjasleiteiras deviatedfromthatpattern, theirofficial titlesalwayscontained
thewordfazendaorsítio.I willavoidtheword"plantation" whendiscussing holdingsthat
clearlydidnotfitthefazenda'ssocialpattern eventhoughthenameoftheproperty con-
tainedthatword.I willalsoavoidtranslating sítiointo"farm"becausemanywereas large
as fazendaseventhough theydidnotsupport thefazenda'ssocialsystem. Regardlessofits
titleor size,thetypical holding in Barra do Pirai was a granja leiteira
by 1937.Therefore,
barring exceptional cases,granjaleiteirawillhereinbe usedtodenotea holding inBarrado
Pirai.Finally, I disagreewithstrict dictionarydefinitions thatequatethePortuguese word
fazendatotheSpanishwordhaciendaintheLatinAmerican context.
4. Warren Dean,With BroadaxandFirebrand: TheDestruction oftheBrazilian Atlantic
Forest(Berkeley: University ofCalifornia Press,1995),168-90;AlbertoRibeiroLamego,
O Homeme a Serra,2nded. (Lucas,Guanabara:ServiçoGráficodo IBGE, 1963),92-94;
RobertoG. Long,"O Vale do Médio Paraíba,"RevistaBrasileirade Geografia Ano 15
(julho-setembro 1953):386,406,408^09; StanleyJ.Stein,Vassouras: A BrazilianCoffee
County, 1850-1900 (Princeton: Princeton University Press,1985),30-35,45-54,213-25.
5. J.B. de Athayde, BarraMansae SeusAdministradores (Juizde Fora: OficinasGráfi-
cas da SociedadePropagadora Esdeva,1971),23;J.B. de Athayde, VoltaRedondaAtravés
de220AnosdeHistória (Rio deJaneiro: Gráfica Laemmert Ltda.,1965),32;J.B.deAthayde,
VoltaRedondaCidadedoAço (Rio de Janeiro: GráficaEditoraAurora, Ltda.,1954),27-28,
34-35;AmaralBarcellos, Barrado Piraí:Registros Históricos e Contemporâneos 1853-1968
(Rio de Janeiro: EditoraPongetti, 1970),59,63;BoletimMunicipal: ÓrgãoOfficial da Pre-
feiturade Barrado Piraí,Nov.10,1934,Sept.7,1935,May5,1934,Jan.22,1938;Correioda
Manhã(Rio de Janeiro), Oct.4,1936,July14,1937,Aug.1,1937,Feb.3,1939,Dec. 12,1940;
LincolnCarvalho, "Os UrusJáNão MaisCantam... e os CafeeirosMorreram de Pé!" no
date,unpublished MS,PersonalCollection ofLeda de CarvalhoFigueiredo, Barrado Piraí,
p. 109-10,119,123;O Petiz(Barrado Piraí),July18,1901,Oct.31,1901;Long,"O Valedo
MédioParaíba,"404-407.
6. Long,"O Valedo MédioParaíba,"404-407;Carvalho, "Os UrusJáNão MaisCan-
tam"119,123;AryFrança, A Marchado Cafée as Frentes Pioneiras(Rio de Janeiro: Con-
selhoNacionalde Geografia, 1960),88-89,250.Forcomments onlandabusenationally, see,
M. RoquettePinto,"TerrasCansadas,"Correioda Manhã,May23,1939.JoséBentoMon-
teiroLobato,Urupês, 1stser.- generalliterature- vol.I ofObrasCompletas de Monteiro
Lobato,19th ed.(1959;repr.;São Paulo:EditoraBrasiliense, 1975),143^4.
7. Relatório 1943Estradade FerroCentral do Brasil(Rio de Janeiro: GráficaPimenta
de Mello,1944),70. On destruction of local forestforwood extraction, see, Carvalho,
170

"Os UrusJáNão MaisCantam,"72-73,119,123,136-37.On production andconsumption

offirewood andcharcoalnationally, see,ArlindoVianna,"A Lenhae o Problema do 'Com-
bustível Vegetal,'"Correioda Manhã,Nov.21,1937.Forin-depth analysis,see,Dean,With
BroadaxandFirebrand, 196-99,252-56,272-76.
8. Inventário,1946,No.929,Box 96,Comarcada Barrado Pirai(hereafter CBP), p.54,
Museoda Justiça, Niterói,Brazil(hereafterMJ).
9. Dozensofclassified advertisements forlandappearedinCorreioda Manhã.See,for
example, Correioda Manhã,May17,1936,July10,1938,Sept.18,1938,Aug.11,1940,Dec.
4, 1940.França,A Marchado Cafée as Frentes 88-89;Long,"O Valedo Médio
Pioneiras,
Paraíba,"414-15.
10. On indebtedness, sale of plantations,
and subdivisionamongheirs,see,Carvalho,
"Os UrusJáNão MaisCantam," 40-41,46,54,119,123,135-38,144.
11. Waldyr OliveiraLimaand MarioF. Güssen,eds.,Anuáriode Barrado Piraí1940
(np:np,nd),72-73,80.
12. Inventário,1930,No. 190,Box 20,CBP,pp. 19-20,41-12,MJ;BoletimMunicipal,
Aug.20,1932,Oct.22,1932;Limaand Güssen,eds.,Annuariode Barrado Pirahy1935,
30-32,37;LimaandGüssen,eds.,Anuáriode Barrado Piraí1940,139-40.On Carvalho's
educationand involvement withthefarmafterstarting a law practicein Barrado Piraí,
see,Carvalho, "Os Urus Já Não Mais Cantam," 45-46,49-50,57,102,113,118,144.
13. Inventário,1944,No. 1101,Box 112,CBP,pp.4,6,19,andthreeunnumbered pages;
Inventário, 1937,No.612,Box 62,CBP,pp.38-39,55-63,90-91,108-109,140-47,MJ.
14. Athayde, BarraMansae SeusAdministradores, 13,15,23;J.B. de Athayde, "Parte
Histórica de BarraMansaDuranteo ÚltimoQuarteldo SéculoXIII," inBarraMansa,em
Revista: Salve3 de Outubro de 1832,Salve3 de Outubrode 1956,ed.J.B. de Athayde(Barra
Mansa:Fundadorde BarraMansa,1956),4-5,9; Athayde, VoltaRedondaAtravésde 220
Anosde História, 11,32;Athayde, VoltaRedondaCidadedoAço,27-28;Carvalho, "Os Urus
JáNãoMaisCantam," 50-51;França,A Marchado Cafée as FrentesPioneiras,82,88;Lamego,
O Homeme a Serra,94,119-20,124,183-84;Long,"O Vale do MédioParaíba,"426-30,
435-36;Stein,Vassouras, 17-18;Affonso de E. Taunay,PequenaHistóriado Caféno Brasil
(1727-1937) (Rio de Janeiro:
Departamento Nacionaldo Café,1945),39-43,50-53,117-19.
15. LimaandGüssen,eds.,Annuario de Barrado Pirahy1935,32,37;LimaandGüssen,
eds.,Anuáriode Barrado Piraí1940,139-40;Inventário, 1939,No. 1150,Box 119,CBP,
pp.6-7,23-24,77-80,MJ.
16. Manifesto Barrense de 1880,inBarrado PiraíAntigae Média,ed.GilsonBaumgratz
(np:np,nd),82,89;LimaandGüssen,eds.,Annuario de Barrado Pirahy1935,32,37;Lima
andGüssen,eds.,Anuáriode Barrado Piraí1940,139-40;Summario Crime,1916,No.744,
Box73,CBP,p.66;Inventário, 1939,No.1150,Box 119,CBP,p.6,MJ.
17.Arrolamento, 1958,No.921,Box95,CBP,pp.2-3,6-7,10-11,15-16,27-28,74,MJ.
18. NhôTico,"LettertotheEditor,"Correioda Manhã,Sept.10,1939.
19. BelisárioPena,"Conferência Perentea IV SemanaNacionalde Educação,Real-
izadanoRiode Janeiro, de 13a 18de Maiode 1931,"quotedinAmaralFontoura, Aspectos
da VidaRuralBrasileira: Seus Problemase Soluções(Rio de Janeiro: GráficaGuarany
Ltda.,1945),16.
20. In 1873,whencoffee culturerequiredintensive
labor,approximately thousand
sixty
slaveslivedin Piraí,Valença,andVassouras, thethreemunicípios outofwhichBarrado
Piraíwaslatercarved.In 1940,aftertheregion'sshiftto dairyproduction, thesamefour
municípios supportedless thantwenty thousandmale and femalecolonosof all ages.
171

History
Agricultural Spring
Stein,Vassouras, 68,118;EmiliaViottida Costa,Da Senzalaà Colónia,3rd ed. (1966;repr.;

São Paulo:EditoraBrasiliense, 1989),98; InstitutoBrasileirode Geografiae Estatística,
VRecenseamento Geraldo BrasilSérieRegional, ParteXV- RiodeJaneiro (Rio deJaneiro:
Serviço Gráfico do InstitutoBrasileirode Geografia 1951),249.
e Estatística,
For a contemporary analysisof ruralincomeand poverty, see, A. CarneiroLeão,
A SociedadeRural,SeusProblemas e Sua Educação(Rio de Janeiro: EditoraSAA Noite,
1939),41-105.
Nos.2536-2640, BindersC-15,C-16,Registro de Casamentos; Nos.4678-5173, Binder
de Nos.
N-44,Registro Nascimentos; 2173-2526, Binder de
O-29,Registro Óbitos, Cartório
do Primeiro Ofício- Barrado Piraí.
Forcontemporary comments on ruralmigration throughout Brazil,see,Leão,A Socie-
dadeRural,SeusProblemas e Sua Educação,41-53;Caio PradoJúnior, "Problemas de Pov-
oamentoe a Pequena Propriedade," Boletimdo Ministério do Trabalho,Indústriae
Comércio 10 (Mar.1944):199-231.
21. JohnD. Wirth, MinasGeraisintheBrazilianFederation, 1889-1937(Stanford: Stan-
fordUniversity Press,1977),59.
22. Long,"O Valedo MédioParaíba,"427-30,435-36.
23. Inventário, 1944,No. 1101,Box 112,CBP,p. 19;Inventário, 1930,No. 190,Box 20,
CBP,p.20,MJ;França, A Marchado Cafée as Frentes 88-90,250;Long,"O Vale
Pioneiras,
do MédioParaíba,"436-38,450-53.
24. Correioda Manhã,June15,1939.Duringthequasi-fascist EstadoNovo(1937-45),
President GetúlioVargasappointedstategovernors knownas interventors. Lima and
Güssen,eds.,Anuáriode Barrado Piraí1940,133,136.
InstitutoBrasileiro de Geografia e Estatística,
V Recenseamento Geraldo BrasilSérie
Regional,ParteXV-RiodeJaneiro, 259;Correioda Manhã,Apr.9,1939,Mar.24,1940,Mar.
31,1940;França, A Marchado Cafée as Frentes Pioneiras, 88-89;Long,"O Valedo Médio
Paraíba,"435-37.Manyfarmers couldnotafford a steel-bladedhoe,thusprompting one
commentator toexclaim, "Aimingat agriculture, however, oursteelindustry mustquickly
resolvetheproblemofthecheaphoe."See,ArlindoVianna,"Agricultura e Siderurgia,"
Correioda Manhã,Oct.23,1938.Meagercapitalinvestment on granjasleiteiras continued
a patternsetbycoffeebaronsintheMiddleParaíbaValleyas abolition approached during
the 1880s.When slaves had been available and the land fertileduringthe mid-
nineteenth century, theregion'scoffeebaronsinvestedheavilyin slaves.By the 1880s
depletedlandsneither yieldedtheprofitsnecessary forcapitalimprovements norjustified
suchexpenditure. Unlikecoffeeplanters infertilewestern São Paulo,therefore, theMiddle
Paraiba'scoffeebaronsdidnotsignificantly replaceslaveswithlabor-saving equipment as
abolitionloomed.See,Viottida Costa,Da Senzalaà Colónia,210-12.
25. Inventário, 1944,No. 1101,Box 112,CBP,p. 19;Inventário, 1937,No. 612,Box 62,
CBP,pp.90,108,146;Inventário, 1930,No.190,Box20,CBP,p.20,MJ;Classified advertise-
mentsinCorreioda Manhã,1935-1940.
26. Occupationaland residential data collectedfrom1935'svitalstatistics in Barra
do Pirai'sFirstDistrict.See,Nos.4678-5173, BinderN-44,Registro de Nascimentos; Nos.
2173-2526, BinderO-29,Registro de Óbitos,Cartório do Primeiro Ofício- Barrado Piraí.
27. Forexistence ofmillsandstillson granjasleiteiras, see,Inventário,1930,No. 190,
Box 20,CBP,pp.19-20;Inventário, 1937,No.612,Box 62,CBP,pp.55,61,108,146;Inven-
tário,1946,No.929,Box96,CBP,pp.53-54,MJ;Carvalho, "Os UrusJáNão MaisCantam,"
18;LimaandGüssen,eds.,Annuario de Barrado Pirahy1935,25-28.
172

28. Inventário, 1937,No.612,Box62,CBP,pp.90-91,108;Inventário, 1930,No.190,Box

20,CBP,p.20;Inventário, 1946,No.929,Box96,CBP,pp.53-54,MJ;Carvalho, "Os UrusJá
Não MaisCantam," 3-4,30-31.
29. StuartΒ. Schwartz, SugarPlantations intheFormation ofBrazilianSociety: Bahia,
1550-1835 (NewYork:Cambridge University Press,1985),118;Stein,Vassouras, 42;Boletim
Municipal, Nov.19,1932;Inventário, 1942,No.732,Box72,CBP,p.11,MJ;"Plantade Barra
do Pirahy,"4threvision, unpublished MS,1948,PersonalCollectionofVenicioCamerano,
Companhia de Cards,Luz e Forçado Rio de Janeiro Ltda.,Barrado Pirai.Forinsights on
proto-industry andslavery inMinasGeraisduring thelateeighteenth andnineteenth cen-
turies,see,DouglasCole Libby,"Proto-industrialisation in a Slave Society:The Case of
MinasGerais,"Journal ofLatinAmerican Studies23 (Feb.1991):1-35.
30. LimaandGüssen,eds.,Anuáriode Barrado Piraí1940,76.
31. Nos.4678-5173, BinderN-44,Registro de Nascimentos, Cartóriodo Primeiro Ofí-
cio- Barrado Piraí.Raymond Williamsoffers interestinginsightsinthisregard. Searching
fortherootsofEnglishpastoralsentiments, Williams foundthatstrict dichotomies between
thecountry and thecityexistedonlyas temporary ideologicalconstructions. Contrasts
betweenthebackward butpurecountry, on theone hand,andthemodernbutvillainous
cityontheother, variedaccording tosocialclassandhistorical period.Furthermore, people
crossedthelinebetweenthetwoworldsregardless ofoccupation andattitude, effectively
blurring thelinebetweencountry andcity.See,Raymond Williams, TheCountry and the
City(NewYork:OxfordUniversity Press,1973),especially chpts.1-7,25.
32. EricR. WolfandSidneyW.Mintz,"HaciendasandPlantations inMiddleAmerica
andtheAntilles," SocialandEconomicStudies6:3(1957):380-412.
33. As anexampleofthenewerscholarship, andfora comparison ofoldandnewthink-
ingon thesubject, see,MarcEdelman,TheLogicoftheLatifúndio: TheLargeEstatesof
Northwestern CostaRicaSincetheLateNineteenth Century (Stanford: Stanford University
Press,1992),especially hisintroduction.
Fora conciseanalysis ofthepeasantry inthesertão, see,AllenW Johnson, Sharecroppers
oftheSertão:Economics andDependence ona BrazilianPlantation (Stanford: Stanford Uni-
versity 1-5.Fornorthern
Press,1971),especially, Rio de Janeiro State,see,Hebe MariaMat-
tosde Castro,Das Coresdo Silêncio:Os Significados da Liberdadeno SudesteEscravista,
BrasilSéculoXIX,2nd ed.(Rio de Janeiro: EditoraNovaFonteira, 1998),PartsIII andIV.
Formoreon theavailability oflabor,libertos' mobility,andlandlords' bitternessin the
stateofRiodeJaneiro, see,Mattosde Castro, Das Coresdo Silêncio, chpts. 10,14,andpp.291-
98,320-21.In MinasGerais,landlords expressed similarcomplaints abouttheruralworking
Eventhough
class'mobility. themineiro laborsupplywasadequate, landlords haddifficulty
itbecauseworkers
restricting couldeasilysettleon vacantlandsinaddition to migrating to
moreprosperous areassuchas Barrado Piraí.On MinasGerais, see,Amilcar ViannaMartins
Filho,"TheWhiteCollarRepublic: Patronage andInterest Representation inMinasGerais,
Brazil,1889-1930" (PhD diss.,
Universityof Illinois
at Urbana-Champaign, 1987),89-94.
34. Nos.2173-2526, BinderO-29,Registro de Óbitos;Nos.2536-2640, BindersC-15,
C-16,Registro de Casamentos; Nos. 4678-5173,BinderN-44,Registrode Nascimentos,
Cartóriodo Primeiro Ofício- Barrado Piraí;Mattosde Castro,Das Coresdo Silêncio,
chpts.13-14,pp. 297-98.
35. Mattosde Castro, Das Coresdo Silêncio, PartsIII andIV.
36. Carvalho, "Os UrusJáNão MaisCantam,"115-16.
37. Ibid.,30-35.
173


Landlords and Tenants in The Wake of Abolition and Ecological Devastation in Brazil's Middle Paraíba Valley

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Landlords and Tenants in the Wake of Abolition and Ecological Devastation in Brazil's Middle

This content downloaded from 62.122.76.60 on Wed, 18 Jun 2014 00:43:23 AM

Thisarticleuses Barra do Pirai as a case studyof ruralland tenure, produc-

During the half century following the abolitionof Brazilian slavery

JOHNJ.CROCITTI is an associateprofessor ofhistoryat San Diego Mesa College,San

This content downloaded from 62.122.76.60 on Wed, 18 Jun 2014 00:43:23 AM

fundamentally alteredruralBarra do Piraí,a município(county) in the

This content downloaded from 62.122.76.60 on Wed, 18 Jun 2014 00:43:23 AM

opulentlord and slave nor industrialBrazil's hallmarkrelationship

This content downloaded from 62.122.76.60 on Wed, 18 Jun 2014 00:43:23 AM

plantationsto granjas leiteiras and the importanceof the railroad-

This content downloaded from 62.122.76.60 on Wed, 18 Jun 2014 00:43:23 AM

nineteenth-century plantersproducedartificial channelsthrough which

In theemptiness ofhissemi-savage life,in whichtheeventsare a slaugh-

This content downloaded from 62.122.76.60 on Wed, 18 Jun 2014 00:43:23 AM

Insteadofreforesting formercoffeeplantations, farmersin theMiddle

This content downloaded from 62.122.76.60 on Wed, 18 Jun 2014 00:43:23 AM

his doorstep.Undersuchconditions, the temptation to clear the two

This content downloaded from 62.122.76.60 on Wed, 18 Jun 2014 00:43:23 AM

emotionallydistraughtman escaped an embarrassingtrialonlyby dying

This content downloaded from 62.122.76.60 on Wed, 18 Jun 2014 00:43:23 AM

incomefromFazendados Alpes,butinsteadsaw hisfutureinheritance

This content downloaded from 62.122.76.60 on Wed, 18 Jun 2014 00:43:23 AM

"rustic"by assessors,containedfourbedrooms,fourparlors,a kitchen,

This content downloaded from 62.122.76.60 on Wed, 18 Jun 2014 00:43:23 AM

Although mineiros playeda leadingroleintheconversion to dairyfar-

This content downloaded from 62.122.76.60 on Wed, 18 Jun 2014 00:43:23 AM

Agostinho Leal do Nascimentohad humblerroots than the Diniz

This content downloaded from 62.122.76.60 on Wed, 18 Jun 2014 00:43:23 AM

Unlikethestrictregimenof thepre-abolition coffeeplantations, over-

Thefarmhands arepoorpariahs, whointhelandoftheirbirthwanderlike

This content downloaded from 62.122.76.60 on Wed, 18 Jun 2014 00:43:23 AM

Since Barra do Pirai's granjas leiteirasrequired many fewerhands

This content downloaded from 62.122.76.60 on Wed, 18 Jun 2014 00:43:23 AM

BrazilCentralRailroad'sSantanade Barrastation. To thewest,Fazenda

This content downloaded from 62.122.76.60 on Wed, 18 Jun 2014 00:43:23 AM

colonos, and squatterson ruggedmountaintopscultivatedcorn,beans,

This content downloaded from 62.122.76.60 on Wed, 18 Jun 2014 00:43:23 AM

impliedthatelectrical appliancesandlighting remained a luxury evenfor

This content downloaded from 62.122.76.60 on Wed, 18 Jun 2014 00:43:23 AM

Not only did many of Barra do Pirafs "industrial"workerslive on

This content downloaded from 62.122.76.60 on Wed, 18 Jun 2014 00:43:23 AM

processing operations wereidle,theseworkers commonly cultivatedthe

This content downloaded from 62.122.76.60 on Wed, 18 Jun 2014 00:43:23 AM

Olarias were not the only rural manufacturingenterprises.The

This content downloaded from 62.122.76.60 on Wed, 18 Jun 2014 00:43:23 AM

This content downloaded from 62.122.76.60 on Wed, 18 Jun 2014 00:43:23 AM

relativeto thepre-abolitionyears,coupled withcoffeebarons' bitterness

This content downloaded from 62.122.76.60 on Wed, 18 Jun 2014 00:43:23 AM

Migration couldbe difficult

This content downloaded from 62.122.76.60 on Wed, 18 Jun 2014 00:43:23 AM

those threats,eitherindependentlyor througha paramilitaryorganiza-

This content downloaded from 62.122.76.60 on Wed, 18 Jun 2014 00:43:23 AM

refused theconcession, colonosarmedwithshotguns andsicklesmarched

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Perhaps more importantly, the power retained by landowners lost

This content downloaded from 62.122.76.60 on Wed, 18 Jun 2014 00:43:23 AM

thecourseof a halfcentury, alreadytakenthefirststepsawayfroma

1. I wouldliketothankalloftheanonymous reviewers fortheirtimeandeffortsonthis

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3. Hebe MariaMattosde Castro, "BeyondMastersandSlaves:Subsistence Agriculture

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"Os UrusJáNão MaisCantam,"72-73,119,123,136-37.On production andconsumption