Abstract

Between 1551 and 1608/1609, five groups of Portuguese female orphans were sent to Brazil as part the Crown’s efforts to populate the colony. The first group arrived in response to Father Manuel da Nóbrega’s initial petition and, as this practice developed into policy, his views were decisive in the conceptualization of this project. Through an analysis of Nóbrega’s letters, this essay traces the central presuppositions on which this colonial project was based, and theorizes its implications. It highlights the institutional mechanisms that made possible and helped shape this global traffic in women and argues that this specific case evinces an early and stark politicization of life.

Highlights

  • Between 1551 and 1608/1609, five groups of Portuguese female orphans were sent to Brazil as part the Crown’s efforts to populate the colony

  • In addition to specifying that these women would aid in the reproduction of a specific social group, what he refers to as the segment of the population at the service of God, Nóbrega alludes to the sins that could be prevented by having the orphans marry the colonists

  • It is presented as a plan to help expand the Christian population in the colony. His appeal is expressed as being consistent with the colonial imperative to populate, and it is founded on the assumption that women’s biological role in reproduction can be made instrumental to such an endeavor

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Summary

Introduction

Between 1551 and 1608/1609, five groups of Portuguese female orphans were sent to Brazil as part the Crown’s efforts to populate the colony.

Results
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