ABSTRACT
The Brazilian sugar economy had begun to flourish in the mid-sixteenth century and by the 1580s Brazil had become the principal sugar producer in the Atlantic world. The model applied to the management of sugar estates was the same as that applied to noble properties in Portugal. The estate was viewed within an aristocratic ethos as a means of maintaining the luster and well-being of the family. Part of the problem for historical analysis of planter strategies and their performance as managers lies in the lack of records from secular estates. Influenced by European physiocratic ideas and new market opportunities, a number of religious and lay authors, including some planters, began to write about the problems confronting the sugar industry and the Brazilian economy in general. In these works the management of sugar estates and other agricultural enterprises was not seen as simply an extension of control of the household, but as a distinct activity with goals of profit maximization.
