Those who supported the Empire: The banking houses of the Court and the financing of the Brazilian State (1850-1864)

• Grant number: 23/10764-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: February 01, 2024
• End date: January 31, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - History - History of Brazil
• Principal Investigator: Rodrigo Goyena da Silveira Soares
• Grantee: Pedro Soares Oliveira
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (FFLCH). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The present project proposes an analysis of the investment portfolios of banking houses in Rio de Janeiro during the 1850s and 1860s, with a particular focus on the role of government bonds contained therein and the reflection of these investments on state financing. The Law of Impediments of 1860 and the Souto Crisis of 1864 will also be considered in order to clarify to what extent the promulgation of the law and the liquidation of banking houses due to the crisis impacted the financing of the Empire.The initial hypothesis is that the banking houses in the Court were a vital part of the State's creditors, as they facilitated the purchase of government bonds through deposits in their vaults. Thus, these houses constituted relevant institutions for financing the desired State project at the time. In this context, although the Law significantly reduced liquidity in the economy, it did not directly affect the mentioned houses, as some of them operated irregularly. Therefore, the promulgation of the 1860 law may have only indirectly contributed to the 1864 crisis.To address the historiographical scarcity regarding the role of banking houses in state financing, the project will primarily rely on primary sources such as balance sheets and reports, although secondary sources on the Souto Crisis will also play an important role in interpreting this material. At the end of the research, in addition to confirming or refuting the aforementioned hypothesis, it is expected that the primary information on the financial assets of the banking houses will be organized in the form of tables.