Fire, broadax and fever relieve: southeastern Brazil and the boost toward the agrarian frontiers in early 19^th century¹

Hierro, fuego y alivio de las fiebres: el sureste de Brasil y el empuje hacia la frontera a principios del siglo XIX

Le fer, le feu et le soulagement de la fièvre: le Sud-Est du Brésil et l'élan vers la frontière agraire au début du XIXe siècle

Abstract

In the beginning of the 19^th century, discussions about malaria by some physicians and authorities who had acted in many Atlantic regions showed the idea that deforestation would impact positively on sanitation in Brazil. This was related to a boost - unknown until then - toward the agrarian frontiers at the expense of traditional forests and strongly marked by the rural endemics. It all happened in a time marked by the growth of the Brazilian free population, by the internalization of sugarcane farms - especially in São Paulo - by the coffee expansion, by the increase of agrarian frontier as a survival strategy for poverty, by the suppression of regulations for the settlements on vacant slots in 1822, and by the Atlantic recession in the second quarter of the 19^th century. The dissemination of this conception can be evaluated based on data about migration to the agrarian frontier and the impact of malaria among free people.

malaria in southeastern Brazil; agrarian history; environmental history