The tithe of Bahia's Customs

Establishment, form and conflicts (1711-1720)

Abstract

This article shows how the functions of the customs in the Bahia Capitania changed since the first attempt to establish the Bahia Tithe in 1711, when the proposal to charge ten percent on merchandise entering the Port of Salvador led to the popular uprising known as the Maneta Mutiny. The article looks at this in the context of a deepening administrative and fiscal centralization, especially under the government of the Marquis of Angeja, proclaimed Vice-Roy of Brazil in 1714. This figure not only established the Bahian Customs Tithe, he regulated and collected it; he settled the question of the outdated, cheap customs tariffs and introduced new tariffs leading the Portuguese Crown to introduce the Bahia Customs Tithe at the Ultramarino Council of 1720. The article shows how levying the tithe was instrumental in reorganizing the State of Brazil’s accounts and in accelerating the process of administrative and fiscal centralization. Examining this topic reveals that the Bahia Customs Tithe of 1714 was a key step in the fiscal centralization of the colony by Portugal (the metropolis); and that because of the tithe, Portugal enjoyed a new source of revenue, greater control over merchandise entering the colony and closed any gaps in Portugal’s restrictive and exclusive commerce.