Paper short abstract:

The aim of this paper is to provide an overview on the military appointment system for the Portuguese America from 1777 to 1808.

Paper long abstract:

One of the most defying issues for the Portuguese overseas empire was to defend their colonial possessions across the globe. Furthermore, it was crucial to maintain under rule its diverse populations, in order to guarantee their political domain and economic advantages. In the Portuguese America, in particular, many authors underlined the military appointment system as a major mechanism to make imperial government possible and to sustain the social order. Even more because the formation of militias commanded by local notables was one the strategies applied by the Portuguese crown to avoid the costs demanded by the professional army. Nevertheless, in the period from 1777 to 1808 the rates between the military appointments made by the local governors in America and their corresponding registrations in Lisbon are clearly contrasting. This fact points the practical limits imposed for the king and his councilors to control the system as well as for the need to measure in which extent this responsibility had to be delegated to the royal overseas representatives.