Organize and Inform: secretaries of government and governance in Portuguese America (1688-1750)
Secretariat of Government; Government Secretaries; Colonial administration
The thesis is a systematic study of the Secretariats of Government of the State of Maranhão and the captaincies
of Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Minas Gerais, and Pernambuco, between 1688 and 1750. The work establishes how
the implantation of the institution took place, the activities carried out, the dynamics of functioning, conflicts of
jurisdiction, as well as the social profile of the secretaries and the relevance of the position. The research also
enabled the construction of short biographies of government secretaries. The study clarifies the importance of
the institution for consolidating the colonial bureaucracy, for the establishment of new administrative practices
in the period and for the formation of contemporary state historical archives.