the historic occupation
From the discovery, in 1500, until 1822, the Brazilian lands were controlled by the Portuguese Crown, which transferred the right to use the land according to trust, convenience and interest. The distribution of land was used as a means of occupying uninhabited areas and mainly for to facilitate the control of the territory, in addition to aiming at the production of tropical products appreciated in the Europe. It was during this period that the plantations (large rural properties that used slave labor and in which a single export crop was cultivated).
THE land distribution in the colonial period it produced vacant lands, which correspond to lands that the Crown ceded to the people, but which were not cultivated and, therefore, were returned. Today this expression is no longer used, as they are called unexplored lands.
From 1822 to 1850, free ownership of vacant lands occurred in Brazil, since there were no laws regulating the right to use the land. At that time there was no exchange value for the land, that is, purchase and sale, it was only used for cultivation.
The freedom to obtain the vacant lands did not favor the emergence of small and medium rural properties, as the newly freed slaves did not have access to the use of the land; nor the immigrants, whose entry into the country was limited to urban occupation.
With the expansion of coffee production, in the year 1850, and also with the Eusébio de Queiroz law, which vetoed the practice of slave trafficking, the Brazilian government encouraged entry of european immigrants to replace slave labor.
In 1850, the government created the land law, with the aim of offering labor to coffee-producing farmers. The law eliminated the possibilities of land acquisition by foreign immigrants, which led them to work with low wages. The land law ensured that vacant land became state property and could only be traded through auctions. However, only the large landowners were able to acquire such land, in addition to those who had the money to invest.
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THE land law, which guaranteed the sale of land in auctions, also reported that all resources derived from these auctions would be used to fund the arrival of new European and Asian immigrants to work in Brazil. Many immigrants came to Brazil with promises to acquire land, but this did not happen, when they arrived in the country they were taken to farms to work, the only places that offered employment.
From that moment on, the land was no longer used only for cultivation and became a bargaining chip (purchase and sale), and could be a private asset. In short, it became a symbol of power and accentuated land inequalities in Brazil.
At that time, the practice of debt slavery began in Brazil, which at that time affected foreign immigrants and, currently, low-income people. This practice dates back to the 19th century and continues today. In 1872, the German government vetoed immigration to Brazil.
It was only in 1988 that the Constitution began to provide for the expropriation of land and to carry out agrarian reform on farms that used slave labor, at which time slavery in the country was recognized.
Eduardo de Freitas
Graduated in Geography
Would you like to reference this text in a school or academic work? Look:
SCHOOL, Team Brazil. "Agrarian Question in Brazil"; Brazil School. Available in: https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/brasil/questao-agraria-no-brasil.htm. Accessed on June 27, 2021.
