ABSTRACT
This chapter identifies the major societal changes that occurred in the Iberian peninsula and Brazil during the eighteenth century through a comparative approach, with the end goal of analysing what these changes meant to these respective societies organised by privilege and inequality. It addresses the social dynamics, rather than the ideas proposed by the reformists and critics of the period. The Brazilian population grew considerably during the eighteenth century—it probably multiplied tenfold. The settlement, the foundation of city councils and even of churches/parishes and other structures rapidly unfolded in the central-southern region of Brazil. The individual and private spheres began to differentiate themselves from the public sphere. Notwithstanding censorship, more people gave their opinion about political and social changes. The departure to Brazil happened after they gathered some savings and underwent a brief initiation in commercial routines, which most often happened spontaneously while working at the counter of a store or as a merchant assistant.
