STATE AND AGRARIAN FRONTIER: EXTERNAL CAUSES OF DEATH IN SOUTH-CENTRAL BRAZIL AND IN THE RECÔNCAVO BAIANO (1820-1870)

ABSTRACT: This paper addresses the impact of external causes of death among adult men (free and enslaved), comparing municipalities and parishes in Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Paraná, and the Recôncavo Baiano, between ca. 1820 and ca. 1870. It briefly summarizes the historiography that emphasizes structural phenomena and related aspects, according to its spatial distribution and conjunctures of the period. Periods of greater political instability were also periods of enormous incidence of interpersonal violence. Similarly, the incidence of external causes was far greater in the agrarian frontier when compared with areas where the State was more active. The data respond satisfactorily to expectations created around the state-building model.