A administração do império português no coração da América

as instruções para o governo do Visconde de Barbacena e Capitania de Minas Gerais do apagar do setecentos

Abstract

This paper presents an analysis and discussion of the document entitled “Instructions for the Viscount of Barbacena Luiz Antônio Furtado de Mendonça, Governor and Captain General of the Captaincy of Minas Gerais”, written by Minister Martinho de Melo e Castro to guide the actions of the governor, who would later take over the administration of the region between 1788 and 1797. The document allows us to interpret the perspective of the Portuguese authorities on the region of Minas Gerais, in addition to expressing an idea of government that should apply to the various parts of the Empire. The document is composed of 123 paragraphs and approximately 23 explanatory annexes, and deals with various subjects, such as the administration of finances, religious and military matters, and the application of justice. For all the reasons set out above, it is a document that offers broad possibilities for analysis, with special attention to the perception of the metropolitan authorities regarding Minas Gerais at the end of the eighteenth century, which at that time was suffering from the mining crisis. Furthermore, the application of the Instruction's provisions had to deal with the Inconfidência Mineira, which would mark the government of Viscount de Barbacena. In these terms, the text allows us to glimpse the architecture of the arts of governing the Portuguese Empire at the end of the eighteenth century.