The Postal Reform of 1798 and the Failure of the Public Mule Trains Project in Portuguese AmericaABSTRACT
At the turn of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Portuguese postal reforms, initiated by D. Rodrigo de Sousa Coutinho, Secretary of the Navy and Overseas Domains, also included the Crown’s participation in the system for forwarding parcels and other cargo. This article, based on various printed and handwritten sources, investigates the genesis of this proposal and discusses its different fates in the Kingdom and Portuguese America, followings relevant developments through the mid-nineteenth century. In contrast to Portugal, in Portuguese America, the public mule trains that the secretary promoted were not implemented due to the resistance from governors. This article concludes that, in addition to circumstantial issues, different economic and infrastructural conditions were the main reasons for these different outcomes.
Keywords:
Postal Reforms; Communications; Transport; D; Rodrigo de Sousa Coutinho; Mule Trains