Agricultural Investment and Internal Market: Campos dos Goitacases (1850-1920)

Abstract

At the beginning of the eighteenth century, the county of Campos dos Goitacases became a major producer of a traditional export procuct: sugar and its derivatles. But this county's produce was peculiar in that it was consumed largely by the intemal market for as long as the sugar economy lasted. This article relates the evolution of this internal consumer market with the local market for land. Its hypothesis is that investment in land and improvements was closely linked to expectations regarding the sale of sugar as well as credit availability.