In 1789, the plans of a conspiracy to create an independent nation - known as Inconfidência Mineira - were disclosed and shook the Captaincy of Minas Gerais, which was the center of gold mining activity under the Portuguese Empire. José Joaquim da Rocha, a cartographer and member of the Portuguese armed forces, was suspected of taking part in the plot following accusations by some of the defendants that he had supplied maps of his own authorship to support the uprising. Notwithstanding his pleas of innocence, our analysis of five of his maps of that captaincy revealed that the geographic conformation of the colonial territory threatened the relationship of dependency between the colony and the metropolis.
Cartography; José Joaquim da Rocha; Minas Gerais; History of cartography; Brazil as a colony; Inconfidência Mineira
