Bogs of Death: Slavery, the Brazilian Flour Trade, and the Mystery of the Vanishing Millpond in Antebellum Virginia.

GRAIN milling; PONDS; ELITE (Social sciences); CONSUMPTION (Economics); FLOUR; HISTORY of slavery -- 19th century; VIRGINIA state history, 1775-1865; ECONOMIC conditions in Brazil; INTERNATIONAL trade; NINETEENTH century

BRAZIL; VIRGINIA; UNITED States

The article discusses elite slaveholder attempts to drain millponds and the decline of the grain-milling industry in rural Virginia between 1840 and 1860. It discusses the significance of bread consumers in Rio de Janerio, Brazil, and São Paulo, Brazil, and coffee planters in Brazil in the decline of the industry, slavery, and the impact of railroads on rural mills. It examines brand loyalty in Brazil, the grain-mill industry in Richmond, Virginia, and the coffee and flour trade between Virginia and Brazil.