ABSTRACT
This article proposes an analysis of the tensions that characterized the defense of two projects related to the use of labor in Grão-Pará, emphasizing a context of high indigenous mortality caused by an epidemic, the effort of the administration of D. José I to regularly insert African captives in Grão-Pará, and the creation of Companhia de Comércio do Grão-Pará and Maranhão. Besides the effort to intensify indigenous slavery and ensure its use as the main labor force in the region, there was also an attempt to make African captives the basis of the local economy. The analysis is based on the scrutiny of specific episodes: publication of a papal bull, the dissimulation of the governor’s lie and resistance to the use of African labor.
Keywords:
Grão-Pará; work; indigenous; African; resident