Family and Frontier in Colonial Brazil: Santana de Parnaíba, 1580–1822

by Alida C. Metcalf

Family and Frontier in Colonial Brazil was originally published by the University of California Press in 1992. Alida Metcalf has written a new preface for this first paperback edition.

304 pages, Paperback

First published March 23, 1992

Reviews

[Tia Malkin-fontecchio · Rating 3 out of 5]

A classic social history that explores the intersections of race, class and gender in colonial São Paulo. The author explores family strategies for survival as the sugar economy expanded and the frontier receded in the late 18th century. Relying mainly on census records, wills and other official documents, Metcalf reconstructs the world of planter, peasant and slave families in this transitional period. The chapter on peasant families was the strongest section of the book.