Abstract
This research proposal aims to explore the role of slavery in shaping Luso-Brazilian policy towards the Río de la Plata, from 1777 to 1828. The Río de la Plata region was, since the seventeenth century, a major source of rivalry between the Portuguese and Spanish crowns, and later between the Empire of Brazil and the United Provinces of Río de la Plata. Traditionally, historiography exami…