THE DEVELOPMENT OF FAMILY NETWORKS IN MARANHÃO IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY

Abstract

This work aims to explore the factors and processes that contributed to the formation of wealthy families in Maranhão in the 18th century. From bibliographic reviews in books, theses and articles that address topics such as the seventeenth century Maranhão, family relations, power, oligarchical contracts and networks of family connections, contributed to outline a panorama on the evolution of family structure throughout the eighteenth century. From this century, the family sphere is modified and becomes more complex and corporate, beyond affective relations. This modification of the family scenario helps to build a new elite, born from the agro-export trade, as well as starts the extensive networks of family intersections. Families become the center of economic, political and social power in the Brazilian colony, especially in the Maranhão Captaincy. This centralization of economic, political and social power in the hands of these families directly to the turbulent political scenario of the nineteenth century.