The French were successfully expelled two years later but continued to battle for dominance for the following fifty years. The coast around Rio de Janeiro attracted Portuguese and French colonists because of the profitable trade of Brazil Wood and sugar, that could be conducted through the port.

In the 17th Century the city was still densely populated by indigenous índios. In fact, by 1660, it was home to an impressive 6,000 indigenous índios, in comparison to only 750 Portuguese and 100 Africans. In the late 17th and early 18th Century, the city became the principal trade point for slaves, as well as gold and precious stones mined in the neighbouring state of Minas Gerais, and for this reason in 1763 the general government was transferred from the city of Salvador in the north-east of Brazil to Rio de Janeiro, making the city the capital of the State.