O declínio da mineração nas minas gerais: a administração do ouro na instrução de Jose João Teixeira Coelho (1750-1782)

Abstract

This dissertation aims to analyze the decline of mining activity as well as the actions of the crown and its agents to overcome the reduction in gold extraction and the drop in the collection of the mineral tax, known as "the fifth." To achieve this, we will base our analysis on the work of the Superintendent of the Casa de Fundição of Vila Rica, José João Teixeira Coelho, entitled Instruction for the Governance of the Captaincy of Minas Gerais (1782). Drawing from his experience serving the crown in the Captaincy of Minas Gerais, Teixeira Coelho conducted a meticulous analysis of mining, considering, from his perspective, the reasons behind the decline of mining and the paths to overcome this crisis. He outlined actions and reforms the crown should undertake to revive the mining economy. Beyond this, we will examine how the measures proposed by Teixeira Coelho conflicted with the customary practices of mining in Minas Gerais, tracing a relationship between the plane of ideas, structured from a typical European worldview of the Old Regime, and the practical plane, mediated by customary regulations and plurality.