Rebirth of an Empire "O Renascimento de um Império" v2.0

[Lusitania]

I read a passage referring to Indian refugees in Goa. Does that means that Portuguese India will become the better option the Subcontinent? It certainly seems to be moving in that direction financially.

Yes there were several major issues that brought refugees into Goa in the 18th century.
1) border wars and resettlement requirements after said wars produced a large number of refugees.
2) the imposition of Portuguese laws including taxation and land confiscation of certain groups would result in revolts and once the revolts were put down it resulted in substantial number of migrants helped by PRP officials to new parts of empire.
3) the religious attacks on Portuguese catholic Indians living outside Portuguese borders. We have to thanks the Portuguese catholic Indians who spread the true religion and at same time condemn the attacks by non believers against both the missionaries as well as the converted. Due to através against them many of these people became refugees in Portuguese India and some accepted PRP assistance in finding safe and prosperous areas to settle outside Indian subcontinent.

All of this of course would not be possible if economic conditions in Portuguese India did not provide both the resources and funds for the defending and resettlement of refugees. We will see a different Portuguese India arrise that will encompass both Portuguese and Indian aspects into a new and distinct part of empire. One that over time would differentiate itself from both British and Indian parts of Indian subcontinent.

 

[The Merovingian]

All this makes me wonder if the Portuguese empire will have to go head to head with either/both India and China once they achieve independence, or in China's case greater sovereignty and military power. Will there be nationalistic calls for both Gao and Macao to be released? Both India and China are set to one day economically rival portugal with or without brazil if you look at OTL. I'm just interested thats all, for all I know this TL may not even go so far. Great Job by the way, nice update.

 

[Johannes Parisiensis]

It all started by pitting the lower and middle classes of Brazil against the upper ones and in favor of the Portuguese authorities; Brazilian townsfolk and aspiring capitalists soon realized that they received more aid from the Portuguese, indirect as it may be, than their upper class citizens when it came to defending their rights and ambitions. In Northern and Central Brazil, the executive part Portuguese soldiers, guards and institutions played in the fight against crime and corruption allowed them to play heroic roles while the figures of Brazilian powers, increasingly behind the injustices of the colonial system the more the Portuguese put it in their hands, started seeming like villains.

It look like a good idea, to use the middle and lower classes as the cornerstone of the metropolitan authority against the secessionist tendencies of the upper classes of planters and miners.

The increasing lack of Portuguese presence in lawmaking and drafting, combined with its renewed contribution to further the goals of the lower classes, led to a loyalist rise in some sectors of Brazil against the interests of private landowners. Combined with the Slavery Abolishment situation, Brazilians who advocated liberation of Africans began perceiving the Kingdom of Portugal as their primary ally. Many of the few Brazilians who at the time willingly accepted the new state church of Saint Verney did so out of loyalty to the abolition cause, as the Portuguese Catholic Church, despite its unpopularity in Brazil, advocated African freedom and Jewish emancipation as some of its primary political points.

Jewish emancipation would do wonders to attract some of the Sepharadic Jews who established themselves in the Netherlands and Britain, gaining wealth and education there which could be useful to Portugal.

Goa was a well-developed colony inhabited by Hindu Konkani Indians, harboring the majority of India’s Christians and administered by the Portuguese, having once even been considered the ‘Rome of the East’. In terms of pure production, the region of Goa was rich with unexplored mining and quarry which could provide iron and limestone. Lack of investment and industrialization in the area, however, would lead to tropical agriculture and fishing forming the majority of the employment. All of this contributed to a situation of simultaneously high potential and limitations that was overlooked by the Portuguese state.

Given the rediced size of the Portuguese India, does any plan to expand it exists?

This in turn incentivized the establishment of new schools to prepare applicants for the Portuguese India Company. The Panjim Business School established in the Goan capital in 1772 began giving lessons of Portuguese to Konkani speakers together with courses on commerce and production to prepare applicants to work in the India and East Africa Companies. This lead to a flood of new native applicants seeking to escape lives of poverty and exclusion for lives of education under the duress of having to learn Portuguese.

In the end, what's the language used in the region: is it Portuguese, Konkani or a creole of all the languages used by the populations sent there?

Finally, the religious upheaval in Portugal renounced the use of Latin in catholic rituals under the Verneyist reformations and established Portuguese as the official church tongue. The ensuing effort to suppress the Old Catholic entities throughout the empire lead to authentic exoduses of new missionaries which sought to create more comprehensible and attractive church entities. In Goa, Portuguese was already the main tongue of Indian Catholics, but finally the official sponsoring of the central state allowed for wider conversion sweeps and the creation of friendlier images of the Christian church in a time when the Hindu Marathas sought to suppress their Konkani counterparts.

How did Rome accepted the use of vernacular in a Latin Church? And will religious tolerence be enacted for "pagans" (i.e. Hindus, given the Jews are already stated to be protected)? Finally, how many non-christians (Hinduists, Jews, Buddhists) will remain in Portugal?

This meant that the CPD process, while sudden and widespread in Brazil, was gradual and slowly established in Portuguese India due to a lack of an established lusophile identity. The Portuguese India Company only slowly allowed natives and colonists to assume its posts as they came out the new schools and assumed cultural identities closer to the white Catholics. In terms of its relationship with the state, the CPD established tax reforms based on market profits rather than land owning or production itself, with the exception of the iron industry which, much like Brazil, underwent a fixed operational tax.

Goa’s value based itself on its role in East-to-West commerce, rather than pure mineral extraction and territory like Brazil, so the profit part of the CPD focused on developing conditions for Goa to act as Portugal’s representative in the East. Goa was then allowed to take complete control over its own products and sell its metal and crop raw materials anywhere it wanted, including British markets, so long as it paid the fixed tax to Lisbon as an integral part of the empire. In some cases, such as cotton, a minimum amount was initially required to be sent to Portugal to feed the growing textile industry. Overtime, though, as industry grew both in Portugal and Goa, the need to establish a colony-to-capital export minimum was supplanted by the sheer profit of demand, as the CPD was designed to want, so said minimums were gradually eliminated.

By 1777, the CPD was operating in full force and promoting the growth of profitable crops and metal extractions in the territory through pure profit incentive.

Given the similarties with Macao (a small place whose main source of wealth is trade), will this process be used in Portuguese China?

I could see both Goa and Macao end like centers of trade with favourable tax regime, Delaware-style.

 

[Johannes Parisiensis]

It all started by pitting the lower and middle classes of Brazil against the upper ones and in favor of the Portuguese authorities; Brazilian townsfolk and aspiring capitalists soon realized that they received more aid from the Portuguese, indirect as it may be, than their upper class citizens when it came to defending their rights and ambitions. In Northern and Central Brazil, the executive part Portuguese soldiers, guards and institutions played in the fight against crime and corruption allowed them to play heroic roles while the figures of Brazilian powers, increasingly behind the injustices of the colonial system the more the Portuguese put it in their hands, started seeming like villains.

It look like a good idea, to use the middle and lower classes as the cornerstone of the metropolitan authority against the secessionist tendencies of the upper classes of planters and miners.

The increasing lack of Portuguese presence in lawmaking and drafting, combined with its renewed contribution to further the goals of the lower classes, led to a loyalist rise in some sectors of Brazil against the interests of private landowners. Combined with the Slavery Abolishment situation, Brazilians who advocated liberation of Africans began perceiving the Kingdom of Portugal as their primary ally. Many of the few Brazilians who at the time willingly accepted the new state church of Saint Verney did so out of loyalty to the abolition cause, as the Portuguese Catholic Church, despite its unpopularity in Brazil, advocated African freedom and Jewish emancipation as some of its primary political points.

Jewish emancipation would do wonders to attract some of the Sepharadic Jews who established themselves in the Netherlands and Britain, gaining wealth and education there which could be useful to Portugal.

Goa was a well-developed colony inhabited by Hindu Konkani Indians, harboring the majority of India’s Christians and administered by the Portuguese, having once even been considered the ‘Rome of the East’. In terms of pure production, the region of Goa was rich with unexplored mining and quarry which could provide iron and limestone. Lack of investment and industrialization in the area, however, would lead to tropical agriculture and fishing forming the majority of the employment. All of this contributed to a situation of simultaneously high potential and limitations that was overlooked by the Portuguese state.

Given the rediced size of the Portuguese India, does any plan to expand it exists?

This in turn incentivized the establishment of new schools to prepare applicants for the Portuguese India Company. The Panjim Business School established in the Goan capital in 1772 began giving lessons of Portuguese to Konkani speakers together with courses on commerce and production to prepare applicants to work in the India and East Africa Companies. This lead to a flood of new native applicants seeking to escape lives of poverty and exclusion for lives of education under the duress of having to learn Portuguese.

In the end, what's the language used in the region: is it Portuguese, Konkani or a creole of all the languages used by the populations sent there?

Finally, the religious upheaval in Portugal renounced the use of Latin in catholic rituals under the Verneyist reformations and established Portuguese as the official church tongue. The ensuing effort to suppress the Old Catholic entities throughout the empire lead to authentic exoduses of new missionaries which sought to create more comprehensible and attractive church entities. In Goa, Portuguese was already the main tongue of Indian Catholics, but finally the official sponsoring of the central state allowed for wider conversion sweeps and the creation of friendlier images of the Christian church in a time when the Hindu Marathas sought to suppress their Konkani counterparts.

How did Rome accepted the use of vernacular in a Latin Church? And will religious tolerence be enacted for "pagans" (i.e. Hindus, given the Jews are already stated to be protected)? Finally, how many non-christians (Hinduists, Jews, Buddhists) will remain in Portugal?

This meant that the CPD process, while sudden and widespread in Brazil, was gradual and slowly established in Portuguese India due to a lack of an established lusophile identity. The Portuguese India Company only slowly allowed natives and colonists to assume its posts as they came out the new schools and assumed cultural identities closer to the white Catholics. In terms of its relationship with the state, the CPD established tax reforms based on market profits rather than land owning or production itself, with the exception of the iron industry which, much like Brazil, underwent a fixed operational tax.

Goa’s value based itself on its role in East-to-West commerce, rather than pure mineral extraction and territory like Brazil, so the profit part of the CPD focused on developing conditions for Goa to act as Portugal’s representative in the East. Goa was then allowed to take complete control over its own products and sell its metal and crop raw materials anywhere it wanted, including British markets, so long as it paid the fixed tax to Lisbon as an integral part of the empire. In some cases, such as cotton, a minimum amount was initially required to be sent to Portugal to feed the growing textile industry. Overtime, though, as industry grew both in Portugal and Goa, the need to establish a colony-to-capital export minimum was supplanted by the sheer profit of demand, as the CPD was designed to want, so said minimums were gradually eliminated.

By 1777, the CPD was operating in full force and promoting the growth of profitable crops and metal extractions in the territory through pure profit incentive.

Given the similarties with Macao (a small place whose main source of wealth is trade), will this process be used in Portuguese China?

I could see both Goa and Macao end like centers of trade with favourable tax regime, Delaware-style.

 

[Lusitania]

All this makes me wonder if the Portuguese empire will have to go head to head with either/both India and China once they achieve independence, or in China's case greater sovereignty and military power. Will there be nationalistic calls for both Gao and Macao to be released? Both India and China are set to one day economically rival portugal with or without brazil if you look at OTL. I'm just interested thats all, for all I know this TL may not even go so far. Great Job by the way, nice update.

we have to remember that both Portuguese India (Goa, Daman and Diu) and Macau of the 18th century served as the nucleus of the Portuguese territory expansion of that century and the following centuries. The Interaction of Portuguese India with the various Indian states of that time and following decades and centuries as well as GB was complex by that I mean as Portuguese India evolved and grew in both size and economic power it become more and more distinct from those countries around it. An independent India(s) would be economic and military adversaries to Portuguese India similarly to France and Germany but distinct. So while there has been several clashes it was never an attempt to conquer it similar to IOTL. iOTL we need to remember that in 1950s Portugal refused to hand over Portuguese India to India preferring that if Portugal could not control it then it should be independent. Thus the India invasion of 1962. Here there power and economic dynamics are different and in many ways on the side of Portuguese India.

Now for Macau, Portuguese East Asia provinces have sufficient strength and influence in the region. While the Portuguese neighbors the Republic Of China, Republic of Vietnam and Kingdom of Siam accept Portuguese sovereignty over Portuguese provinces there are those in the region who still consider our rule as Imperialistic and continue to work for our destruction (namely PDRC).

 

[Lusitania]

It look like a good idea, to use the middle and lower classes as the cornerstone of the metropolitan authority against the secessionist tendencies of the upper classes of planters and miners.

While Mine and Plantation owners would form the basis of opposition to Portuguese rule in Brazil they also received huge benefits to the industrialization of both Portugal and Brazil. They in turn would use that wealth to invest in the empire but with all that benefit many still viewed Lisbon and even Rio as interlopers in their affairs and saw independence as a means to greater power. While the average person and businessmen did become more sympathetic to Portuguese law and rules that protected them. We will see this in the 1772 revolt.

Jewish emancipation would do wonders to attract some of the Sephardic Jews who established themselves in the Netherlands and Britain, gaining wealth and education there which could be useful to Portugal.

Yes there is a new relationship with non Catholics coming and many who at one time were condemned and ostracized become some of the countries greatest citizens. Any emancipation will be gradual and provide clear results. We also need to understand that in the 18th century Jewish people lived at mercy of the majority Christian majority and that anti Jewish feelings and attitudes were just below the surface. So Portuguese will move in that general direction but in small and steady steps with support from government, business and even church.

Given the reduced size of the Portuguese India, does any plan to expand it exists?

Yes and Yes please see my previous response regarding Portuguese India. while I cannot explain the extent of Portuguese India expansion at this time the first opportunity will arrive ant the end of King Joseph I reign.

In the end, what's the language used in the region: is it Portuguese, Konkani or a creole of all the languages used by the populations sent there?

Portuguese language will continue to be the primary language of commerce and government. There will be several variances similarly to English spoken in various part of world but education and common dictionary will provide a standard. The difference will be that many Indian, Creole and even native languages will over time change the language so that it will be distinct and different from Portuguese spoken today in Portugal or Brazil.

How did Rome accepted the use of vernacular in a Latin Church? And will religious tolerance be enacted for "pagans" (i.e. Hindus, given the Jews are already stated to be protected)? Finally, how many non-Christians (Hindus, Jews, Buddhists) will remain in Portugal?

Portuguese Catholicism will remain the primary religion but not be in the 80-90% of current Portugal. Over time other religions will be accepted including non-Christin religions including Portuguese Islamic based religion and they will encompass a large portion of the population (20-40%) depending on regions. But in modern times religion is less important to the average Portuguese and since the start of the Portuguese religious Council religion has not been imposed on any individuals.

As for the Portuguese Catholic Church and Roman Catholic Church Chism was well publicized and existed for over 100 years till the 1st and 2nd Vatican councils. We will have more on the religion in its own extended section.

Given the similarities with Macao (a small place whose main source of wealth is trade), will this process be used in Portuguese China?

I could see both Goa and Macao end like centers of trade with favorable tax regime, Delaware-style.

Trade and control of trade will be major components of Portuguese policies in both Portuguese India and Portuguese China. The constant battle with British East India company to prevent it from excluding Portuguese India from the local and lucrative trade in India will form the basis of many diplomatic and military actions during the 18th and 19th century.

As for Macau iOTL trade was the primary purpose of its existence but in early 19th century it was sidelined with emergence of Hong Kong. So Portugal witnessed the same issues in trade with China it had witnessed in both India and East Indies. The Portuguese possession due to size and economic backwardness became stagnant and stronger European posesions of other Europeans came to dominate their respective region.
In the TL the Portuguese strategy will be to maintain Macau place as major trade steering center and If and when opportunities arrise expand them.

 

[Thrudgelmir2333]

Given the rediced size of the Portuguese India, does any plan to expand it exists?

The current Portuguese government is highly competitive and it has a decently sized baby industry, but it is not looking for new markets because most of its productivity is being currently traded with growing positive flow, so wars with the intent of creating new colonies are nonsensical at the moment. However, its expanding diplomatic and bureaucratic influence do arguably fuel sparks with native powers and rival colonies, so conditions are set for colonial wars to occur as a result of border friction.

In other words, Portugal is still too content and cautious for war, but it's hand might be forced.

In Macau trade was the primary purpose of its existence. The Portuguese strategy will be to maintain Macau place as major trade steering center and not become sidelined as happen iOTL with the arrival of the British in Hong Kong.

Please do not answer questions about the future of the plot so directly. You're the head of the thread but stating outright outcomes whether they are true or false is prejudicial to my part of the work. It's alright to debate ideas but I don't want my writing decisions revealed before release time. If they are hinted at in previous sections it's because we pre-agree on the writing, but this is direct 'leaking' in the public.

Trade and control of trade will be major components of Portuguese policies in both Portuguese India and Portuguese China. The constant battle with British East India company to prevent it from excluding Portuguese India from the local and lucrative trade in India will form the basis of many diplomatic and military actions during the 18th and 19th century.

This more indirect answer is more along the kind that would not be prejudicial. Sorry for calling you out, but it was really bothering me.

Given the similarities with Macao (a small place whose main source of wealth is trade), will this process be used in Portuguese China?

I could see both Goa and Macao end like centers of trade with favourable tax regime, Delaware-style.

This is actually a bit too soon to talk about those colonies in those terms. As it stands the differences in colonial policy from IOTL to TTL have not reverberated far enough to touch Macau. Moreover, Goa is only beginning to see the first few touches with a new CPD strategy, so benefits for now are only certain in terms of administration and implementation power.

All this makes me wonder if the Portuguese empire will have to go head to head with either/both India and China once they achieve independence, or in China's case greater sovereignty and military power. Will there be nationalistic calls for both Gao and Macao to be released? Both India and China are set to one day economically rival portugal with or without brazil if you look at OTL. I'm just interested thats all, for all I know this TL may not even go so far. Great Job by the way, nice update.

Again, a bit too ambitious for what has been posted so far , but the more ambitious mercantile and political society already established does try to make use of its newfound reach to touch those places.

 

[Sceonn]

Please do not answer questions about the future of the plot so directly. You're the head of the thread but stating outright outcomes whether they are true or false is prejudicial to my part of the work.

Perhaps privacy might better serve in this case?

 

[Lusitania]

Rebirth of the Empire (Part 1 of 2) (cont)

Pombaline Cabinet (1762 - 1777) (Cont)

Ministry of Navy & Colonial Affairs (6 of 6)​

Colonial African Strategy​

For centuries, since Portugal’s arrival on Africa’s shores, Africa had been used exclusively as a source of slaves and as supply stop for ships traveling between the much more lucrative India/Asia and Lisbon. The Portuguese colonies in Africa were some of the least developed and with the abolishment of slavery their primary commodity had been removed. The Colonial Profit Doctrine being implemented first in Brazil and later in India was not even contemplated for Africa.

Instead, the Portuguese government took a different approach, one of consolidating and expanding Portuguese possessions using the Atlantic and Indic Armies. Military action against local African tribes was used as training exercises by the Portuguese forces, while investment in the Portuguese colonies was for most part left to the three colonial companies[1]. To accomplish this, the last Captaincies in the empire were abolished in 1765. The Portuguese colonies were consolidated into three new Portuguese African provinces: Cape Verde & Guinea in the Northwest, Angola in the West and Mozambique in the East.

In addition to the Cape Verde Islands and Guinea, the “Company of Bissau” was also given control over the Portuguese islands of São Tome, Principe, Fernando Pó and Anabón in the Gulf of Guinea along with the commercial interest on the Gulf coast between the Niger and Ogooué Rivers. These territories were integrated into the province Cape Verde & Guinea. On the African west coast, the Portuguese territory was limited to the Portuguese forts of Cacheu, Bissau, Ajuda and Zinguinchor along with the Cape Verde archipelago. The capital of the province was in Praia on the islands of Cape Verde. In 1765, António de Vasconcelos, the former governor of Angola, was appointed as the first governor of the Province of Cape Verde & Guinea.

António de Vasconcelos
Governor of Cape Verde & Guinea 1765 - 1771​

From 1769 to 1774 the Portuguese fought a series of wars with the local tribes around the Portuguese forts in Cacheu, Bissau, and Zinguinchor resulting in expansion of Portuguese territory along the Casamence and Cacheu Rivers. In 1776, the area around Bissau was finally subjugated and, by 1777, all area between Bissau and Zinguinchor had been placed under Portuguese control. New forts were built along the two rivers and along the coast. As part of the Archipelago Act and the re-development of Cape Verde Islands part of the islands population were moved to this area to settle and expand Portuguese control. New products were exported: Timber was sent to Portugal to supply the shipbuilding industry. Large scale rice cultivation along the Casamence and Cacheu Rivers was started along with increased peanuts cultivation to be exported to Portugal.

In 1771 António de Vasconcelos passed away and Manuel António de Sousa e Meneses the second son of the Conde de Vila Flor was appointed as governor.

Manuel António de Sousa e Meneses
Governor of Cape Verde & Guinea 1772 - 1779​

The Portuguese sent a large force to the Gulf islands and by 1767 had subjugated the islands. The sugar plantations were restarted and cocoa as well as coffee cultivation was started. Starting in 1776 Indian and Asian migrants were brought to these islands to work on the plantations.

The new province of Angola was comprised of three original provinces on the African west coast: Congo, Angola and Benguela. The Portuguese had been present in this area for over 200 years but had mostly been restricted to the coast as the colony's primary uses were to act as ship stopping points and slave trade. The capital of the province was in Luanda. The “Company of Angola” was given control of the expanded province and like the other companies it was hoped that it would be able to develop and prosper a much-neglected area. In 1765 Francisco Inocéncio de Sousa Coutinho, was appointed as the governor of the Province of Angola.

Francisco Inocéncio de Sousa Coutinho
Governor of Angola 1765 – 1776​

The arrival of the colonial forces starting in the 1770s allowed the company to conquer several of the local tribes along the coast and secure colonial settlement safety. By 1775 the company started expanding inland along the major rivers: Congo in the North, Kwanza and Cuvo in the center and Cunene in the south. The southern border of Angola (Benguela) was established along the Cunene River.

The company started several coffee, cocoa and cotton plantations. The export of timber to Portugal was also started. The arrival of Indians and Asians to work these plantations made several tribes angry and in 1773 the natives of Mussolo revolted. The colonial forces brutally put down the revolt and all males captured including the leaders were executed. The remaining Mussolo natives were sent as indentured servants by the government to Portugal and Goa.

In 1776 António de Lencastre, the younger brother of the Duke of Aveiro, was appointed governor of Angola

António de Lencastre
Governor of Angola 1777 – 1783​

The new province of Mozambique comprised of the original six Portuguese provinces on the African east coast: Cape Delgado, Sofala, Mozambique, Zambezea, Tete and Inhanbane. The main ports were Mozambique in the north and Sofala in the center coast. The capital of the province was established on the Island of Mozambique. The “Company of Mozambique” was given control over the entire province in order to develop it. In 1765 João Baptista Vaz Pereira, was appointed as the 1st governor of the Province of Mozambique.

João Baptista Vaz Pereira
1st governor of the Province of Mozambique 1765-1769​

The governor’s control and the company’s development of Portuguese East Africa was the slowest of the three provinces in Africa. This was due to the refusal of many of the current colonial people to recognize its authority. In 1769 Governor General Melo of Goa appointed Baltasar Manuel do Lago as the new governor.

Baltasar Manuel Pereira do Lago
Governor of Mozambique 1769 - 1784​

Baltasar Manuel Pereira do Lago requested additional colonial troops and by 1774 the colonial troops from Goa and subsequently other parts of the Portuguese Empire enabled the governor to establish full control over the province and the company to establish economic control in all six original provinces.

Following the establishment of the companies control along the coast and along the Zambezi River, several economic projects to develop the area were started. The first were Tea and Cotton plantations in the Zambezi and Mozambique provinces. To feed the growing Portuguese country the Company of Mozambique began planning for extensive rice cultivation along the Zambezi River.

Colonial East Asia & Far East Strategy​

The Portuguese were the first European country to arrive in the East Indies in the early 16th century and soon established control over the “Spice Islands” from Sumatra to Timor. The “Spice Islands” provided the Portuguese with great wealth but that wealth soon attracted competition. Other rival European countries began challenging Portugal for control of the “Spice Islands”. For over 200 years the Portuguese had fought a losing battle with both the English and the Dutch for control of the “Spice Islands” and India. By 1750 Portugal’s possessions in Asia were mere shadows of its once vast empire.

The Dutch and the Dutch East Indies Company had reduced Portugal’s possessions in the Spice Islands to just the northern portion of the island of Timor and the island of Flores. These possessions like all of Portugal’s remaining Asian enclaves had been neglected and poorly managed over the previous 100 years.

In 1762 to reverse Portuguese fortunes in the East Indies the Portuguese government created the Company of Timor & Macao to manage and develop the Portuguese possessions in the East Indies and Macao. The Portuguese East Asia was part of the Portuguese India/Asia province, governed from Goa but with its own governor. The arrival of the Company of Timor & Macao upset the governor in Dili, Vicente Ferreira de Carvalho, who was at odds with the company over many issues. In 1765, Viceroy Castro changed the administration of the province as well as way governors were appointed[2]. He appointed António José Teles de Meneses as the new governor of East Asia for a term of 10 years. Before being appointed he had met with the Viceroy and together they had agreed need to develop Timor. Governor Meneses became an advocate of the new policies and reforms being enacted by the Viceroy in Goa.

António José Teles de Meneses
Governor of Portuguese East Asia 1765 – 1776​

From 1765 onward, as a result of the ongoing Verneyist movement in Lisbon, several hundred Portuguese missionaries started arriving in East Asia to spread the Portuguese Catholicism amongst the natives. With the help of the secularized orders of Christ and other rivals of the Jesuits, they took over from the original Jesuit and Dominicans missionaries that had been expelled from Portugal and its overseas provinces. The sudden large influx of new missionaries, combined with the relaxation of its laws and the birth of Patriarchy of Goa, helped solidify Portuguese influence in these islands and the surrounding territories.

The gradual expansion of Portuguese influence on the islands Timor (northern) and Flores and the surrounding smaller islands started to translate into more profits for the company as greater amounts of population became pacified and culturally distanced from their remaining East Asian Hindu and Sunni counterparts, but the actual scope of this new influence was still limited. The primary export from these islands was sandalwood and spices. As the sandalwood forests were cleared, coffee and sugar were introduced and several large plantations were created. Several forts including the major fort of Dili were built to protect Portuguese interest and extend Portugal’s control.

The lack of mineral resources or fluvial characteristics made developing Flores-Timor’s market a hard task for Governor Meneses. Cash crops became a reluctant alternative, as it gave him virtually no edge over his Dutch and British counterparts in the region. He thus focused profits in developing the region’s bureaucracy and administration, bringing in PRP offices to conduct censuses and process population as well as founding the Dili Post Office to keep communications organized and flowing. The objective was to keep a track on the degree of Portuguese influence in the population.

In 1776 Caetano de Lemos Telo de Meneses was named as the new governor. The Portuguese government sent colonial soldiers from India and Africa to strengthen the garrisons in the province. Using the information gathered on the population, the colonial forces gradually moved inland and brought those parts of the islands Timor and Flores under complete Portuguese control, preventing native resistance to European policies.

Caetano de Lemos Telo de Meneses
Governor of Portuguese East Asia 1776 – 1788

Far East (Macau)​

The Portuguese Government of Macao on the edge of the Pearl River was, by far, both the smallest and most distant possession in the empire. Even Portugal's sovereignty over it was in cause; to all effects, Joseph I was allowed to rule Macao because the Chinese Empire let him. Portugal only had taxing, trade and naval rights over Macao while China still held sovereignty over it. Moreover, the territory relied mostly on fishing and commerce since it was too small for any land-based production of any kind. Strategic interest in this colony relied mostly on trade route monopoly with the Far East as Macao was the sole port to Western trade in China and, at times, the man in the middle of Sino-Japanese commerce.

However, even this interest was at stake during this time. After the loss of Portuguese Nagasaki, the Dutch obtained privileged rights to trade with the Japanese as well as colonies in Taiwan, ending Macao's privileged position. Macao's strength now relied mostly on commercial relations with China, as it still served as a better and closer port to Canton for the Europeans.

Diogo Fernandes Salema e Saldanha
Governor of Macao 1767 - 1778​

In 1767 Diogo Fernandes Salema e Saldanha was appointed as the governor of Macao. He would stay at his post for over 12 years. Till then Macao usual governor terms was about 2 years like Timor. In 1770 Governor Saldanha travelled to Goa where he met with the returned Viceroy Castro and received specific government policies and instructions on the colony’s development. The longevity of Governor Saldanha’s term allowed for a continued policy implementation.

The arrival of the “Company of Timor & Macao” and the large influx of Portuguese Catholic Missionaries caused much turmoil in the city due to its strong mercantilist practices and land reforms. In 1774, following the victory over the Marathas in India and the seizure of ten of their warships, Viceroy Castro sent Indic Army reinforcements along with five Goan battleships under the command of Captain of Sea and War Francisco Xavier Lobo da Gama e Almada to Macao to assert the Portuguese administration and right of the company to manage and develop trade in Macao.

Macao’s port was expanded and a program to remove the buildup of silt was begun. A major land reclamation project was also started to increase the size of Macao, but progress would be halted due to lack of funds.[3] Macao’s defenses were increased and the size of the garrison doubled.

In 1773 the Portuguese Catholic Missionaries from the Patriarchy of Goa sent an emissary, Frei António do Rosário Baptista, to the Chinese Emperor Qianlong to try to persuade the Chinese to allow the new Portuguese Catholic Church to preach in China, citing the relaxation of its laws in comparison to the Old Roman Church as their case. The Emperor refused and reinstated the ban on Christian missionaries is China. The Portuguese Catholics missionaries refused to abandon Macau and several hundred continued covertly preaching in the Canton province.

Chinese Emperor Qianlong 1736 -1795​

In 1774 the Chinese began a program of suppression against all Christians in the Canton province. Over one hundred Portuguese missionaries were killed along with over 1,000 Chinese Catholics. Macao became inundated with thousands of refugees fearing their own soldiers. The Chinese government demanded that Portugal turn over all Chinese citizens living in Macao. When the Portuguese refused the Chinese closed their ports to Portugal.

In 1775 the Chinese reinforced army presence in Canton to intimidate the Europeans, but Indic Army reinforcements arrived from Goa and Timor to complete the Macau Brigade and solidify Macau’s protection. Dialogue was re-opened and the Portuguese agreed to keep its missionaries out of China. While the issue was resolved without conflict, relations remained tense well into the end of the century[4].

The ‘Revolta Esclavagista’ a.k.a ‘The Slavery Revolt’

“I have found my Brazilian subjects to be the most loyal to me when disloyal to each other, and most disloyal to each other when loyal to me.”
-King Joseph II the Great​

In August 1772, Rio Grande do Sul’s gesture of abolishment lead to pressure being made by Brazilian politicians tied to the plantations up north against the passing of said law. Eventually, the ‘Slaved Revolt’ took place, consisting of a large mob calling by a number of plantation investors and other powerful anti-abolitionists to attack the Rio de Janeiro and Rio Grande do Sul’s government offices. Fearing that the abolishment in southern states would lead to further legislation against slavery, more slaves trying to flee and a general decrease in their political power and status quo, these leaders rallied farm owners, devout Christians and dispossessed ‘garimpeiros’ to act against the increasing Lisboan intervention in Brazilian matters.

The objective was to intimidate southern politicians into rolling back their anti-slavery campaigns and disguise it all as a protest against their Portuguese supporters. Said southern politicians were put under attack, some of their homes and businesses even raided, and forced to call the new police forces and settled RVR troops for aid.

The ‘Slavery Revolt’ mob held back by the RVR regiment in ‘Rio Grande do Sul’​

The present military and Royal National Guard heads, following a new set of order policies laid out by the Navy Minister upon their recruitment following the Undeclared War, adopted a fully defensive position and prevented the mobs from storming the magistracies and governor quarters so as to prevent the reputation of Portuguese troops from being associated with unnecessary brutality. Instead, the mobs soon found themselves unable to breach through the strong garrisons and police forces and the impetus of their revolt dying out.

Initially claiming to be acting against a supposedly increased metropolitan interference in Brazil, the revolt eventually found its own cause turned over its head; the focus of the organized attacks in Rio de Janeiro and Rio Grande resulted in large amounts of skepticism from the general Brazilian population regarding the true intentions of the mob leaders, as most state interference was arguably in the north where plantation methods and labor sources were constantly under scrutiny by Colonial Companies (which thanks to the CPD were now manned by politically-unaligned Brazilians at that).

The involved peasants, farmers and miners were eventually rounded up, captured by the Portuguese agents and publicly sent to local Brazilian forces to be interrogated, this separation of responsibilities once again part of a sly gesture to show Brazilians that, order and protection aside, the Portuguese were cleaning their hands off Brazilian matters.

By the end of the month, a list of names denounced by the revolting peasants implicating a number of large plantations owners known for their extensive use of slave labor was made available to all those who could read the city hall posters. Much like in the Távora Affair, no detail was spared regarding the investigation and suspects from the population, but unlike the Távora Affair no action was made by Portuguese law enforcers against said figures. The state preferred to let the people make their own conclusions about the violence inciters.

Despite the best, albeit misguided, intentions of the mob, their anti-tyranny revolt went down in history as an attempt to subvert southern states’ right to pass its own legislation, as guaranteed by the MAD, and preserve the gritting status quo of slavery in Brazil. Feeling under attack by their northern cousins, the territories of Rio de Janeiro and Rio Grande do Sul sought protection from the Atlantic Army and were ensured military defense by Portugal, leading to a rise of loyalist popularity in the non-slave states.

[1] “Company of Bissau” was given exclusive economic control of the province of Cape Verde e Guinea, the “Company of Angola” controlled all lands around the River Congo and all lands south, and the “Company of Mozambique” was given control of all African lands in the Indian Ocean.

[2] Till 1765 Governors of Timor were appointed for a 2 year term, which due to the colony’s remoteness and lack of development did not always attract the most competent and experienced administrators.

[3] In the later part of the 18th century as the Empire’s monetary position improved the reclamation project was re-started and city defenses greatly increased to increase the city’s ability to project Portuguese influence in the Far East, resulting in Macao being called the Far East Citadel. (see Far East Citadel in Rebirth of Empire 1777-1799)

[4] The sudden abundance of hundreds of missionaries in Macao unable to return to China worried Archbishop Alexandre da Silva Pedrosa Guimarães, but Frei António do Rosário Baptista who had been in Northern Vietnam the previous year suggested that it would be an opportune time to expand God’s word there. For next several decades Portuguese missionaries converted thousands of Vietnamese to Catholicism almost independent of any Portuguese economic and political influence.


Note:
As stated before the Ministry of Navy and Colonial Affairs section deals with several important topics that were fundamental to the modernization of the Portuguese Navy and development of the Portuguese colonies or as they became developed overseas provinces, to that effect we are posting its chapters in six separate posts. This post gives us a snapshot of the changes affecting the africa, East Indies and Far East Portuguese possessions. As can be seen we finally have renewed interest and investment in these areas after decades of neglect. While small these areas under Portuguese control will serve as springboard for renewed trade and if possible expansion. Comments / questions???.

Please return Thursday June 1 as we post the introduce the last of Pombal Ministers, the Minister of Health and Agriculture as well as post first chapter.

 

[Unknown]

Good update. I like how you're building up to the latter half of the 18th century and the hints you drop about the future here...

Waiting for more...

 

[Archangel]

Keep it up, Lusitania!

 

[Lusitania]

Good update. I like how you're building up to the latter half of the 18th century and the hints you drop about the future here...

Waiting for more...

Keep it up, Lusitania!

Thank you both.

While Portugal did witness several military engagements during the reign of King Joseph I, it is important to realize the precarious situation our country and especially our armed forces were in during this time. 1762 and the Fantastic War had just happened and shown just how unprepared and ill-equipped we were. The reign of King Joseph II is prime example of how the cumulative reforms discussed till now be it economic, political and military had a profound affect the nation's ability to deal with diplomatic and military situations that presented themselves.

On Thursday we start discussing the next set of reforms and changes that occurred in Portugal and Empire at that time. Agriculture and Health are not subjects that many people recognize as fundamental for the expansion and power projection but we now can state that the reforms started under Aaron Lopez proved to be as important as any of the previous mentioned reforms be they economic, military or political. As a famous quote stated "Army marches on its stomach" the work started by the Ministry provided a huge component to the Portuguese armed forces ability to field and engage multiple adversaries in the decades to come. We also need to recognize the important medical discoveries and policies started under his leadership for they had an unprecedented political and social impact to the country and empire for centuries to come.

 

[Unknown]

Some of the colonial actions (such as the handling of the native rebellion) were bad, but they were standard operation procedure for the colonial powers in this era, sadly...

Like how you're expanding on certain areas ITTL...

 

[Lusitania]

Some of the colonial actions (such as the handling of the native rebellion) were bad, but they were standard operation procedure for the colonial powers in this era, sadly...

Like how you're expanding on certain areas ITTL...

You are right in that Portugal acted and behaved along prevailing attitudes of the time. While in some circumstances things will improve for several groups within the empire it will only be for those it sees as loyal and benefiting the empire. We cannot stop it from behaving in a way that we today would consider bad. What we can do as opportunity arises is to provide new ideas to come forward and over time make the country and people more enlightened.

Expansion be it in Africa, India or Asia was all based on existing Portuguese territory. For the expansion provided an opportunity to enhance a territory economic and political strength.

 

[Johannes Parisiensis]

If the African holdings are better invested in than OTL, will search on tropical diseases such as the yellow fever and malaria be stimulated in Portugal, to further ensure the manpower and the settlers sent in by the PRP desn't die too soon?

Would the effect of more Catholics sensibilisated to Portuguese culture open Vietnam to expansion from Lisbon?

And the tactic about employing Brazilian forces to suppress the rebellion remonds me about how Machiavel said a ruler should assign someone to repress a place and then, when the "work" was finished, the underboss should became the fall guy for the cruelties done and become the fall guy for the exactions.

 

[Lusitania]

If the African holdings are better invested in than OTL, will search on tropical diseases such as the yellow fever and malaria be stimulated in Portugal, to further ensure the manpower and the settlers sent in by the PRP desn't die too soon?

The simple answer is yes, medical and other health advancements in the 18th century will move Portuguese scientists and medical professionals to start looking at these diseases in new light and their causes. This will over time look at ways that diseases can be controlled and prevented. But all this will take time. What we can state with certainty is that with such great percentage of country located in tropics the diseases affecting those areas will be priority. IOTL malaria and yellow fever were a problem even southern USA.

Would the effect of more Catholics sensibilisated to Portuguese culture open Vietnam to expansion from Lisbon?

It might while it is too early to stipulate exact areas of expansion especially in places like Vietnam. The expansion of Catholicism will at least provide Portuguese with trade and influence opportunities (if they don't screw it up)

And the tactic about employing Brazilian forces to suppress the rebellion reminds me about how Machiavel said a ruler should assign someone to repress a place and then, when the "work" was finished, the underboss should became the fall guy for the cruelties done and become the fall guy for the exactions.

In some ways that makes sense but here it was simply following existing agreements. Although not sure if in future will work out so much in lisbon's favor. But the idea was to show that Lisbon was not going to interfere in local affairs and that it respected the people.

Note: Brazil is such a huge area and as it develops the development will occur differently in the various provinces. Like USA where industrialization occurred in north while southern states remained more dependent on trade and agricultural production since that was what the people in power depended on. In Brazil the same issues are bound to arise. We already saw different values and development model being used and that will also start diferenciating the various provinces over time so that they will have less uncommon with each other.

 

[Unknown]

Looking forward to seeing what the Guinean Flu is (my guess is that's its OTL Marburg or Ebola, even)...

 

[Lusitania]

Rebirth of the Empire (Part 1 of 2) (cont)

Pombaline Cabinet (1762 - 1777) (Cont)

Ministry of Health & Agriculture (1 of 3)

“Let he who’s charged with this responsibility look after our land, for even the hearts most turned to the sea are born on the soil, and turn the ground blackened by war and salt into fields of life and hope. Let he also watch over the lot of the peasant, who suffered as much from the Tremor as the lord, and enlighten our path through the horrors of God’s plagues.”
-King Joseph I, proclaiming the new reformed Ministry of Agriculture & Health​

Following the Fantastic War and Pombal’s Solitary Phase, Portugal faced serious agricultural and land law challenges; the invasion of the Spanish had uprooted a great deal of southerners, forcing them to take refuge in Lisbon and the colonies, and Lippe’s scorched earth tactics had burned to the ground large stretches of land that once fed the regions south of the Tagus. Lisbon’s reconstruction and the formation of the PRP had enabled the nation to bring a great deal of oversea populace to inhabit the lost farms and cattle fields and the rise of modern manufactory sectors in the major urban centers was bringing about a turn to Portugal’s economic and productive capacity that could support larger populations and plantation programs, but the scars of the war still pained.

On macro-political terms, Portugal also faced serious limitations when it came to competing with other nations, the biggest being by far its relatively low population and underwhelming prospects for growth. The technological backwardness extended itself to more than just industry and war; Portugal’s agricultural methods and hospitals were very limited for the time.

The health problem was not directly due to a lack of qualified personnel; at times the Portuguese could brag that every King in Europe had a Portuguese doctor, such was the prestige of the Lusitanian surgeons. Portugal did, however, lack development when it came to widespread hospital infrastructure with most capable surgeons and health knowledge depositories focused in the richest cities. Most health problems in Portugal could be traced to contemporary living conditions; urban population lived tightly, dirtily and poorly, with entire families confined to single rooms with no sanitation or fresh air.

Conditions in Portugal hit a terrible low after the Earthquake; though construction methods were improving and the reconstruction itself nearly over by 1762, people in Lisbon and other areas affected by the 1755 palpitation still lived in situations of semi-ruin or even complete homelessness, greatly contributing to what was already a seedy situation.

Infant mortality was also very high; even most advanced cities in Europe at the time reported a 20% death rate amongst children below the 2 year old mark, with some districts reaching as high as 75%.

Lack of proper food, poor disposal methods and cheap alcohol did horrors to aggravate the matter. Many problems of health at the time were, in fact, tied to 18th Century’s diet both in solids and liquids, with the ‘Madame Geneva’ gin problem in London, for example, being considered responsible for a huge social and health crisis well into the 1750s. The lack of understanding over nutrients, on the other hand, led to many inadequate diets with the most famous problem by far being the scurvy epidemics in ships due to lack of quality citrus and fresh food supplies.

The link between food and hygiene was understood well enough by the Pombaline Cabinet in 1762 to argue for the instauration of the Agriculture and Health ministries as a single Government sector combating a myriad of connected problems from two separate areas’ issues, Medicine and Food that is.

The American ‘Converso’

Aaron Lopez
1731-1790[1]
Portuguese-American merchant and philanthropist​

Born as Duarte Lopez in Lisbon to a family of ‘Conversos’, the group of Portuguese Jews that declared themselves catholic in public for fear of persecution, Aaron made his career and fortune in the Thirteen Colonies as a businessman dealing with a wide range of products, including agricultural ones and, more infamously, the Atlantic slave trade. Having married to a woman named Anna and had a daughter named Catherine while still in Portugal, ‘Duarte’ departed for America to follow the footsteps of his old brother Joseph, who settled in Newport, Rhode Island as Moses and reclaimed his Jewish ancestry in the more favorable religious climate.

Once in Rhode Island Duarte adopted his new Abrahamic name Aaron and proceeded to establish himself as a shopkeeper. By the time of the Lisbon Earthquake he was selling wares all over Rhode Island and dealing with agents in Boston and New York. By taking advantage of rising whale oil prices as a result of spermaceti shortages, Lopez was able to form trust with eight other merchants to take control of the market.

His interests spread beyond the American coastline from 1757 onward, eventually sending ships to the West Indies, the Canary Islands and Europe. His wide range of product handling and contacts allowed him to build a stable fortune spreading from the commerce of candles to chocolate. It was in 1758 that he first reestablished major contact with his old country when the new Pombaline Companies in the Douro Valley allowed him to profit from the revitalized wine trade. The mercantilist nature of the Douro Wine Company, however, eventually drove him off when he found increasing difficulty in getting his hands on the wares due to a very stiff competition with local merchants.

The contacts he regained in the Porto area at the time, however, allowed him to take over the supply of goods to Northern Portugal during the Seven Years War. In 1760 and 1761, the oncoming threat of Spanish invasion pressed the Portuguese government to refill the stockpiles of food to accommodate the predicted situation of instability.

In 1762, Aaron applied for citizenship in the state of Rhode Island to become a naturalized citizen. At the time, British law excluded Catholics but provided exceptions for Quakers and Jews, but Aaron’s candidacy was denied nonetheless. While the General Assembly guaranteed him he would in time receive limited vote rights, the Superior Court denied his application a second time in March 1762, citing overpopulation as the main reason.

It was in April 1762, while he pondered the hypothesis of moving to Massachusetts for a new attempt at citizenship, that Aaron received a letter from Lisbon requesting his assistance in supplying the Portuguese capital with food supplies for Fantastic War refugees. Aaron agreed and spent the next few months filling warehouses in Lisbon with salt, bread, meat and gunpowder. The increased involvement in the Portuguese market allowed him to form new contacts through the southern countryside and islands which would prove determinant for his role as Minister.

A year later, with the Fantastic War resolved (in Europe at least), Joseph I reformed the Portuguese cabinet and extended a formal invitation to Aaron Lopez to take part in it to oversee the secretaries of Health and Rural Development.

It would be no understatement to say that Lopez had tremendous hesitations about this; despite being his birth nation Portugal meant little to him, especially with its traditional repression of anyone not obedient to the Roman Church. He had also been keen to return to the Thirteen Colonies to resume his businesses and candidacy to citizenship, not to mention he felt unprepared for the role of Minister, especially over areas that he had so little experience in.

The Prime Minister of Pombal attempted to persuade him by appealing to the experience he gained dealing with Portugal’s farmers and food suppliers, saying he need someone who could manage the rural economy rather than reform it, and that he could rely on an array of secretaries for the health departments.

It was Bishop Saldanha, the head of the recently formed Religious Council, who ended up convincing Aaron to stay in Portugal. In the meeting with the king, clergyman privately confided to the merchant his intentions to subvert Portugal’s inquisitor culture and bringing about change in the system that forced Aaron’s family into being ‘Conversos’ out of fear. Saldanha said he needed Aaron to provide an example of Jewish character and quality to the Catholic people so one day the religious reforms the Council dreamed of could be enacted.

Inspired by the personal requests of the King, Prime Minister and Bishop of Portugal and embittered by the difficulties he suffered in Rhode Island to obtain his citizenship, Aaron accept to serve a term in Ministry and was appointed in April 1763 as the Minister of Agriculture & Health.

As a cabinet member, Aaron was a peculiar figure. Though he felt fascinated by the variety of his co-ministers, his reluctance in his role surpassed that of the Duke of Lafões himself. He developed good relations with the Prime Minister and the other cabinet members, especially Navy Minister Castro and Finance Minister Rattan, both with whom he shared many resource development projects, but his strained bond with his homeland often made him insecure about his position and responsibilities. Most other members of the cabinet were more experienced and motivated in their respective fields, the Count of Lippe being an excellent example of popularity, talent, experience and drive, and Aaron enjoyed poor popularity with the people due to the strictness of many of the reforms he would apply and his Jewish ancestry.

Aaron quickly became an active member of the Lisbon Chamber of Commerce, where he established a new mercantile career as one of the lead figures and debaters of the chamber hearings. This caused him to quickly form a friendly alliance with fellow Minister Rattan, who not only headed the Chamber of Commerce but shared with him commercial inclinations. The Duke of Lafões became another close friend after the founding of the Academy of Sciences, which worked together with the Agriculture Department to develop new rural development and medical solutions.

The work of the Americanized merchant was therefore characterized not by a personal involvement in the department matters that was typical of the other ministers, but by a constant management of secretaries, advisors and allies far more interested and skilled in the fields of farming and healing than himself. He thus became one of the biggest recruiters of mind, making use of his contacts throughout the North Atlantic to gather capable thinkers to his flock, many of Jewish ancestry.

The Agriculture & Health Minister would play an unexpectedly important role not on his Ministry but on Portugal’s social progress when in 1769 Minister Aaron was victim of an attempt of assassination. A revolting land owner who lost his fortune in the land reforms passed by Aaron attempted to shoot the Minister on his way out of the Chamber of Commerce. The Minister survived and the event drew attention to the plight of Jewish people in Portugal, as most people believed the attack was based on religious beliefs due to the growing influence of the Portuguese Religious Council’s Pro-Semitic stance.

Agricultural Technology & Methodology​

Agriculture was a key sector of Portuguese economy. Even though it did not contribute visibly to the state’s wealth, it was still the main source of employment in Continental territory. Fishing communities that faced hard times tended to migrate deeper into Portugal to take up farming, for example, and the whole system was ideal to enforce social hierarchy through land owning and labor dependencies. The agrarian sector was this central to 18th Century Portuguese society and culture.

This did not mean, however, that said sector was free from technological and administrative neglect. Agricultural experimentation in Portugal was optimistic in regards to possibility of growth, but also erroneous and decadent in its methodology. There was an extensive collection of memorabilia on agriculture in Portugal amongst the social elite at the time but there was also a failure to progress and advance the practice itself. Minister Aaron was exposed to all these concerns as he made his deals with Portuguese land lords to supply the refugee effort in 1762.

As a merchant, Aaron’s concerns lied in securing large quantities of quality products for an ever-growing market, rather than improving agriculture as a final purpose, so he first started working with the Pombaline Companies to more easily oversee the production numbers in Portugal. Stagnant land distribution, however, made the oversight and taxation tasks difficult and this entropy extended to Aaron’s intentions to reform agricultural productivity. He would have to work on land legislation throughout 1760s to free up the land but he still battled in the meantime to institute new reforms and technologies.

In 1768, the Duke of Lafões founded the Royal Academy of Sciences and began using it as a project workshop for improved agricultural practices. Between 1763 and 1770, a number of new tools, tricks and technologies were developed by the Royal Academy of Sciences or brought in from England, Netherlands and the Far East and introduced to the farmer to improve the very practice of farming:

Importations

• Rotherham Plough: A Dutch improvement on the Chinese plough, it was further advanced by England in the 1730s and began seeing widespread use in the Isles by 1760. It was the cheapest, strongest and easiest plough design of the time thanks to its iron cast, curved moldboard and adjustable depth that reduced the number of animals needed to pull it while improving its own capacity.
• Four-Course Crop Rotation: The use of fodder crops in land during restoration periods, particularly turnips and clover, reduced fallow significantly while contributing to a better nutrition recovery cycle.

Royal Academy Innovations

• Land Drainage: The use of deep or shallow collectors, drainage outlets and pumping to control the level of water in the soil for optimal agricultural growth.
• Seed Drill Machinery: The development of quality seed machines in the mid-18th Century allowed for the rentable institution of the new seed drill innovation.
• Selective Breeding: The scientific practice of reserving strong cattle for exclusive breeding for massively improved quality in animal husbandry.

Based on innovations made in Britain and the Netherlands, Lopez’ introductions were approved by the Production Companies as early in 1764 and began spreading to the whole continental territory by early 1765, depending on tool availability in the plough’s case, with the intention to bringing regional production levels to higher and more stable levels.

The Rotherham Plough was by far the best accepted introduction to Portuguese farmers, as it cut back the hard work of preparing the field for seeding significantly while liberating animal resources. Thanks to it, work was better, faster and cheaper, not to mention the plough could be built by local artisans relatively easily. It accelerated the farmer’s work cycle and lead to visible increases of production with reduced peasant lot. It was one of Lopez’ more popular early reforms. The Four-Course Crop rotation, on the other hand, met a little more initial skepticism due to a lack of understanding over nutrients and vitamins at the time. The methodology was mostly proven by British observation and had limited scientific backing to it. The farmers were quick to realize, though, that the fodder crops indeed allowed the ground to somehow rest more easily despite being in use and adopted the system by 1766.

Both these measures alone radically changed Portuguese agriculture into a more bearable and far more productive practice, rapidly leading to greater abundances of food. It did little, however, to solve the remaining problems of land distribution and productive disparities, merely increasing the scale of production in a general manner.

Between 1768 and 1777, agriculture saw yet mote advances thanks to the Royal Academy of Sciences. Taking advantage of the contemporary memorialist interest of nobles in the agrarian sector, it gathered documents, researches, thinkers and projects to come up with new ways to further agricultural science.

The most successful program by far was the practice of selective breeding instituted in 1769. Robert Bakewell, who travelled through Europe as a young man, shared with the Royal Academy his findings and helped create a selective breeding program for Portugal before returning to England with data from the Academy’s own early projects for British use. By making use of the Academy’s findings and documentation, Minister Aaron was able to pass legislation that determined for the first-time cattle used exclusively for beef, work or breeding.

Other improvements allowed by selective breeding lied in wool production in Beira and Braganza. Scientific picking for breeding allowed for the multiplication of sheep with longer and more lustrous wool while simultaneously reserving a second breeding meant for meat and milk, the latter which was popular in the making of cheese. All this, in turn, lead to further advances in genetic line separation in cattle that would gradually lead to massive improvements over animal use in Portugal.

Land Drainage, on the other hand, resulted as an answer to the agricultural disparities between North and south to due to different water availability and ground infiltration capacity. The North was of wetter climate, more numerous rivers and rockier ground while the South, particularly Alentejo, was of drier climate, more disparate rivers and flatter, smoother ground, all which obviously led to different agricultural characteristics. Even so, population had an easier time increasing in the north due to a stronger natural irrigation of fields that allowed for drought prevention and wine production.

By applying adapted systems of pumping, water reservation and outlets, it was possible to mildly compensate for natural factors that affected agricultural yield. Brick-based trenching allowed farmers to control the reach and movement of the available water, for example. This, however, was often only afforded by richer farmers. Land enclosure reforms would overtime allow for the spreading of drainage by concentrating wealth around less numerous but larger farms. Dutch and Belgian experts were hired to study Portuguese arability per region and design land drainage to balance out the levels. This allowed regions to overcome their particular agricultural problems, such as the harder ground of the north and the lack of water in the south, and reach more unified agricultural levels.

Finally seed drill machinery was made available for purchase to improve the plantation process. Birds and animals tended to attack crops when not grounded (which still left them vulnerable to moles) and seed spread by farmers was often random or inadequate, causing plants to grow to close together or too far apart. Seed drills had been in place in Italy since the early 1700s, but it was not possible to build a machine that could perform this task until the mid-1700s. Patents developed by the British and, later on, the Portuguese themselves in the Royal Academy of Sciences and workshops allowed the distribution of affordable seed machines that properly distributed seeds in the field.

Land drainage and seed machinery were less successful than their fellow reforms due to costs involved to the farmer, meaning they were significantly harder to implement. Land enclosure and improved economy, however, would overtime allow for a full implementation.

Even so, all these reforms allowed for much greater agricultural production and advancement. Crop production quality increased significantly and the practices eventually adapted and spread to cash crops overseas. Cattle, on the other, would see a rise in prominence in continental Portugal as meat, equines, dairy, leather and wool suffered a quasi-revolution of their own, greatly increasing in number and quality. Breeding practices suffered rapid developments throughout the late 18th Century and 19th Century, leading to higher standards of animal resources and authentic shifts in popular diets.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
[1] iOTL he died in 1782 in a drowning accident off the Rhode Island coast.


Note:
The Ministry of Ministry of Health and Agriculture section like the other ministry sections deals with several important topics that were fundamental to the modernization of Portuguese Agriculture as well the Health of the nations (people), to that effect we are posting its chapters in three separate posts. This post gives us an introduction to the Ministry, the unlikely man chosen to head it (the first openly Jewish person in Portuguese government since the expulsion of the Jews, plus we deal with the efforts to modernize Portuguese agriculture. Comments / questions???.

Please return Sunday June 4 as we post the next three chapters in the Ministry of Health and Agriculture. "Land Enclosure & Agricultural Market Liberation", "Land Reclamation & Irrigation Research" & "The Secretary of Health".

 

[Sceonn]

And to think these practices will spread to other Portuguese territories. Their population explosion will be spectacular when it comes.

 

[The Merovingian]

Nice update, I do wonder if this TL will include the life of Joseph II though. Or is 'Rebirth' strictly talking about Joseph I the reformer?