After arriving in January 1808 the Portuguese crown pursued policies stimulating economic expansion throughout Brazil. The dismantling of trade restrictions through the opening of Brazilian ports to ships of all nations not at war with Portugal or Great Britain, and the lifting of nearly all colonial prohibitions on manufacturing, signaled the beginning of a new officially sanctioned era of relative economic freedom. Tariffs were also reduced on imported machinery, and government economic aid was offered to stimulate various industries. British merchants and firms from other countries seeking to take advantage of new commercial opportunities arrived in Rio de Janeiro in the aftermath of 1808. They not only facilitated commercial connections with foreign markets through their international commercial networks and shipping capacity, but injected some (undetermined) quantity of investment capital into the Brazilian economy. Although European markets were disrupted by nearly continual warfare until 1815, the export trade recovered after peace was established; although it was not until the 1830s that the value of Brazilian exports increased significantly.

The doubling of the population of Rio de Janeiro between 1808 and 1822, from 50,000 to 100,000 inhabitants, meant that market opportunities for Minas farmers and ranchers increased and that the already wellestablished commercial orientation toward the city of Rio de Janeiro intensified – both to satisfy the dynamically growing urban market and to supply merchants with export products such as cotton, tobacco, and increasingly after 1820, coffee. Von Eschwege traveled through Minas in 1814 and recorded some distinct impressions.