I took a trip to the historical cities of Minas Gerais this weekend. It is a region to the north of Rio that contains all the old mining cities of the colonial period. The Portuguese Crown extracted unimaginable sums of gold, silver, and other minerals from the region to feed its lifestyle and empire, and in the process built some of the most magnificent churches in the world. Large cities sprang from nothing as investment and laborers poured into the region, all of them either seeking fortune deep in the interior, or following their enslavers into the ground.
(SKIP TO END IF YOU HATE HISTORY)
This was one of the few places in the Americas where slaves were able to escape some of the brutality that was the custom of the age. Unlike the huge plantations of the Brazilian northeast or the American South, where armed guards could keep watch on horseback and escape was difficult, the mountains of Minas provided protection from the authorities. The rough terrain made it difficult to capture escaped slaves, and as a result various "kilombos" - permanent settlements of escaped slaves - were established in the region.
Also, mining operations tended to be small and decentralized, which reflected the lack of centralization in the Portuguese Empire as a whole. Many times a slave owner would be by himself with his slaves, and there are reports of slaves being openly abusive and rebellious in light of such freedom. Often the owner would refuse to report the incident for fear of losing his "possession" to imprisonment, since slaves were very expensive and difficult to obtain.
What's truly incredible though is how important a place Minas was in the course of world history.
At first glance it seems like the most insignificant, backward place in the world. To this day, cows roam the pastures and time seems to creep by at a snail's pace. But Minas rose to prominence at the perfect time to impact events half a world away.
First of all, it contributed to the prosperity of Brazil at a crucial time. The small, family-managed sugar plantations that had been the dominant economic engine for more than a century began to sputter in the 17th century and by the 18th century were dying, as competition from the French and Dutch in the Caribbean caused sugar prices to fall dramatically.
As prices and therefore profits fell, the sugar plantations began to consolidate, with large corporate-style plantations buying up smaller operations. Many families and laborers suddenly found that they had no place in the new economy. Luckily, it was just at this moment that gold was discovered in Minas, and the ensuing massive population shift not only provided a place for them to live and work, but also strengthened the territorial integrity of the Portuguese colonies, causing them to stick together as one nation while the Spanish colonies splintered into numerous republics, dictatorships, and oligarchies.
Who knows how history would have been different if Brazil had become 3 or 4 (or more) nations instead of one.
Would Napoleon have invaded South America instead of Mexico if there wasn't a large, strong, coherent bulwark on the continent's eastern coast? Would the Monroe Doctrine have forced the U.S. to intervene constantly on behalf of numerous states thousands of miles away, thus weakening it during the Spanish-American War, First World War, or Second World War? Would smaller, weaker states have been more susceptible to Communism, causing the U.S. to ignore developments in Korea, Vietnam, and the Middle East in favor of the dominos falling in its own backyard? We will never know.
The other major way in which Minas influenced world history has to do with the gold itself. Specifically, it has to do with the path this gold took once it left the ground. Nearly all of it went to Portugal, since the Crown taxed every ounce at 20% and what was left could only be traded with Portuguese ships. But from there, it went north. Portugal simply didn't have the manufacturing capacity to deliver the processed goods that the colonies needed. What is more, most of the original funding for mining operations in Minas came from England and other Northern European countries, since they had the capital and expertise to make them happen. These loans had to be paid back.
The final effect of all this was the following: the gold of Minas (along with Spanish gold) largely financed the Industrial Revolution in England, Holland, and the German states. While the Spanish and Portuguese Crowns lived in luxury and lorded over their empires, the northern countries began building the foundation for a new epoch. The century following the exhaustion of the mineral wealth of Minas Gerais saw the rise of a new empire, the British Empire, while the Iberian countries which had owned half the world saw their economies slide back into the Middle Ages.
(HISTORY PART OVER)
We rented a car in Rio and visited 5 cities over the course of 3 days: São João Del Rei, Tiradentes, Congonhas, Mariana, and Ouro Preto. The group consisted of 2 Germans (Julia and Simon), a Colombian (Philipp), an Ecuadorean-American (Mateo) and the ethnic smorgasborg that is me.
The main attraction was churches. In brand new cities flush with mineral wealth, churches were one of the primary investments of both the rich and the poor. The local aristocracy competed with each other to see who could build the biggest, most grand church, while the slaves hid gold dust in their hair, to later sell and contribute to the construction of their own church (ok, I know I said the history part was over).
Gold was everywhere. One church had half a ton of gold just in the main chapel. Saints representing different working groups and social classes adorned the sides, depending on who had built the church. Symbolism was everywhere, from the shape of the church square to the curve of the altar to the direction the church faced.
Everywhere we went, it seemed, we found the works of Aleijadinho, the greatest sculptor of the period. He was apparently extremely prolific, as it seemed every church we visited had something of his. The amazing thing is that he was a leper, and his greatest works were created when he had no hands, with his tools strapped to his deteriorating arms. And this was work of extreme detail. Some say his suffering allowed him insight into the suffering of the saints.
We also visited a mine, the Mina da Passagem, that is one of the largest publicly-accessible mines in the world. It goes down 2 km (over a mile) and has thousands of km of passageways. We took a ride in one of the railcars and swam in an underground pool, which is why we will probably die of lead poisoning in a few years.
I think the rest is self-explanatory. See pictures on the right. I also put up 2 other albums, of the last week with the fam and my first month in Rocinha in Rio.
our ivory tower window, and then expect these kids, these kids who have never seen a role-model of what a student should be, to be excited about learning just for the sake of learning. Hypercrisy anyone?
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