ABSTRACT
Sugar had been introduced into Brazil early in the sixteenth century from Madeira and Sao Thome, and the development of the sugar industry in Brazil had prospered during the colony’s first 140 years. Nonetheless, from the early seventeenth century, any means of trading with Brazil was particularly valued by the English, Dutch and French, as it gave them access to the silver from Peru, which was essential for trading in the Far East. The amount of silver received in payment for British goods would also decline leading to a reduction in the balance of trade with Portugal which had hitherto been in England’s favour. The 1759 fleet contained forty-five ships, laden with sugars, hides, Brazil wood and gold. If the new company was unsuccessful, the Lisbon merchants forecast that there would be a very marked lessening in the amount of British goods exported.
