Beyond the Horizon: Regulated Emigration of Madeiran Islanders in the 19th century

This article aims to trace the growing influence of the British and American Empires in the archipelago of Madeira, as well as the enduring ties with the Portuguese Atlantic World, by comparing the flows of Madeiran migrants to Guiana, North America, Hawaii, and Brazil in the mid-19??th?? century. It is based on an original research on the Brazilian part of the article, and compares the existing bibliography on the other destinations of Madeiran migrations. Located midway along the Atlantic trading route, the Portuguese island of Madeira has been closely linked both to Portuguese territories and more broadly to the world since the beginning of its colonization. These ties can be explained largely by the permanent migratory flows responding to an unfavourable internal context, to opportunities arising from aboard and to a trans-oceanic culture of mobility that was inherent to the island. In the 19??th?? century, emigration escalated as the colonial and imperial powers abolished slavery and the need for workers increased on the other side of the Atlantic, first and foremost in regions based on a plantation economy (sugar and coffee).