This article provides an analysis of the ambivalent process of transforming a colonial capital into a royal court at the end of the colonial period in Brazil after the flight of the Portuguese royal family from Portugal to Rio de Janeiro. In "metropolitanizing" the city, royal officials sought to limit the public display of slavery and redefine physical and social boundaries for the African and African-Brazilian slaves who made up half of the population. These efforts were, however, themselves limited by an intensification of the use of slave labor and by officials' dedication to colonial ideals of how to ensure order.
D. João's Rio de Janeiro; Slavery; Metropolitanization