Teoria e prática: uma análise comparativa entre a legislação ultramarina e a realidade do contrabando de tabaco em Pernambuco no século XVIII

Abstract

Recently, the study of Portuguese America based on illegal activities has gained ground in brazilian historiography. However, despite the growing trend of historiography on illegal practices in Pernambuco during the colonial period, when it comes to tobacco smuggling, it is difficult to find works on the subject. Therefore, this research aims to analyze the smuggling of this commodity in the Captaincy of Pernambuco in order to understand how this historical phenomenon fits into the social and economic context of Portuguese America. To achieve this goal, a comparative method was used between existing legislation on tobacco trade and administration and official documents that deal with cases of smuggling and/or embezzlement, moving from a global to a regional scale to obtain new perspectives. It was observed that the creation of a rigid legal apparatus that aimed to maintain the commercial monopoly of tobacco was not enough and consequently, alternative ways of trading the commodity were propitiated: smuggling and embezzlement.