Do café à policultura: Fazendeiros, lavradores foreiros e as transformações na estrutura fundiária de São Francisco Xavier de Itaguaí. (1850- 1900)

Abstract

This dissertation analysis the land composition of São Francisco Xavier de Itaguaí municipality in the mid-19th century , to understand how landowners, farmers and their properties, in most cases tenant from Fazenda Imperial de Santa Cruz, suited to unstable and dynamic reality of the period. Believed the coffee, at the time was the main way of farming in the region, declined creating an opportunity for polyculture become one of attempts to maintain the production units during the crisis period. The lowlands were submitted to seasonal floods and the epidemics also appear as strong elements that hindered the routine of residents.