If we were to carry out a survey today on which is the best region to live in, we would have a large portion of the Brazilian population preferring the city to the countryside. After all, our recent history of industrialization has transformed urban centers into places linked to the idea of development, comfort and turmoil in the political and cultural spheres. On the other hand, the few opportunities and lack of other attractions would be placed by many, especially young people, as elements that would place rural life in an inferior condition.
However, if we go back to the beginnings of our colonial history, we could see a situation quite different from this one. Having an economy based on agro-export, Brazil at that time had few cities. In addition to being scarce, these cities did not have an efficient integration, which prevented a large number of people and goods from circulating effectively.
The houses built in these spaces were quite fragile and, at best, fulfilled their role of protecting the population from the phenomena violent weather or give a privileged position in the event of an attack (whether by foreign invaders or native population) happen. However, external threats could be considered minor when such villages were space. conducive to the development of terrible epidemics such as yellow fever, smallpox, tuberculosis and measles.
The spread of these diseases was often enhanced by very precarious hygiene conditions. Excrement was thrown from the windows of the houses and, so that the urine and feces would not reach any unnoticed resident, a cry of "Water go!" preceded the act of “unloading”. In larger places, such excrement was collected by slaves responsible for directing them to some river or beach where everything was finally eliminated.
At various times, aware of so many difficulties, the colonial government sought to adopt measures to overcome so many ills. One of the biggest difficulties of the time involved the supply of the city, considering that the export-oriented economy and the prohibition of the constitution of manufactures made the lack of food, clothing and tools a very routine ordinary.
Looking at all these difficulties, we can see that life in cities was quite different from what we are currently used to. In the 18th century, we can observe that this situation changed in some urban centers with the development of the mining economy, responsible for a better articulation of the internal market. Even so, today, we observe that serious problems make life in cities an eternal horizon of problems to be overcome.
By Rainer Gonçalves Sousa
Brazil School Collaborator
Graduated in History from the Federal University of Goiás - UFG
Master in History from the Federal University of Goiás - UFG
Source: Brazil School - https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/historiab/o-cotidiano-nas-cidades-coloniais.htm
