THE ARTICLE ANALYSES the making of the early seigniorial elite in Rio de Janeiro, as well as its main economic characteristics during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Both centuries were difficult times for Portugal and it's overseas lands. In this scenario the conquerors used the old, but efficient, strategies of the ancient Portuguese society, mainly the conquest (of men and lands), the control of the "senado da câmara" and of the "sistema de mercês". This process resulted in a social and economic hierarchy that excluded part of the colognes and gave birth to the plantation economy.