“This state so forgotten and so little heard”: The Problem of Governance and Slavery in the Lower Amazonian Borderlands, 1621-1720

Part of what I am interested in is how settlers and indigenous peoples alike reacted to Portuguese imperial policy, as well as trying to understand why there were so many rebellions in Amazonia during the colonial period. As such, my dissertation directly argues against the popular idea that the Amazon is a “virgin rainforest” outside of history by showing how Portuguese settlers and indigenous peoples repeatedly made demands to the Crown in a region neglected by the imperial administration.