This article is part of the Brazilian History series.

Indigenous peoples

Colonial Brazil

Empire of Brazil

1889-1930

1930-1945

1945-1964

1964-present

Contents

1 The Age of Exploration 2 Discovery 3 Inland expansion 4 Origin of the name 5 Portuguese Settlement 6 United Reign Period

The Age of Exploration

The discovery of Brazil was preceded by a series of treaties between the kings of Spain and Portugal, the last of them is the Treaty of Tordesilhas, signed in 1494, creating the Tordesilhas Meridian, that divided the world between that two kingdoms. Every land discovered or to be discovered at east of that meridian was property of Portugal, and the land discovered or to be discovered at west of that meridian was property of Spain.

The treaty of Tordesilhas was arguably the most decisive event in all Brazilian history, since it alone determined that the country was settled by Portugal instead of Spain. Indeed, the present extent of Brazil's coastline is almost exactly that defined by the treaty.

Discovery

Brazil's discovery is officially dated at April 22 of 1500, by Pedro Álvares Cabral, who was trying to discover a new route to India, around Africa. However, his pioneerism is still debated. He was in fact preceded by Vicente Yáñez Pinzón who discovered the Amazon river months earlier on January 26, but if the Amazon is now part of Brazil it was then west of the Tordesilhas Line, therefore actually Spanish.

The place where Cabral has arrived to Brazil is now known as Porto Seguro ("safe harbor"), and is located in the state of Bahia.

In 1503, a expedition from Gonçalo Coelho discovered that the French were making incursions to the land and looting it. In 1530 there was a new expedition from Martim Afonso de Souza to patrol the entire coast, banish the French, and to create the first colonial towns: São Vicente at the coast, and São Paulo on the border of the altiplane.

Inland expansion

In the 16th century, the territory of Brazil was officially limited on the west side by the Tordesilhas meridian. Its subsequent expansion beyond that line was a natural consequence of the geography: from the part of the South American coast allotted to them by the treaty, the spaniards found their way inland blocked by the Andes, the mountains of Northern Brazil, and the mighty Parana River, and could not oppose the Portuguese expansion west of the treaty line.

Origin of the name

There is still some confusion about the origin of the name. The official story, which used to be given in school textbooks, is that the land was named after the "brazil wood" (pau-brasil), a tree which was the source of a prized red dye. The tree supposedly had been given that name because the dye's color was like that of a burning coal, brasa in Portuguese.

The name was originally spelled "Brazil" (hence the English spelling), and was changed to "Brasil" in the 1940s, as part of an extensive spelling reform. Actually both "Brazil" and "Brasil" would be valid spellings under the new rules; the change to "Brasil" may have been motivated by the presumed etymology above (brasa was spelled with "s").

However, "Brazil" had been in use as a placename for several centuries before Cabral. The legend of Saint Brendan tells how an Irish monk of that name crossed the ocean in a leather boat and reached the island of Hy Brazil — said to mean "blessed land" in Gaelic — where they saw many wonders. While it is disputed whether the legend is pure fiction or is based on a real trip (perhaps to Iceland or North America), the name apparently became part of European maritime folklore, to designate an hypothetical land located somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean. According to this theory, when Cabral found a new land in those parts, it was naturally identified with Brendan's Brazil. As for the tree, it may have been named after the land, rather than the other way around.

Portuguese Settlement

The only Portuguese-speaking nation in the Americas, Brazil was claimed for Portugal in 1500 by Pedro Alvares Cabral. It was ruled from Lisbon as a colony until 1808, when the royal family, having fled from Napoleon's army, established the seat of Portuguese Government in Rio de Janeiro. Brazil became a kingdom under Dom João VI, who returned to Portugal in 1821. His son declared Brazil's independence on September 7, 1822, and became emperor with the title of Dom Pedro I. His son, Dom Pedro II, ruled from 1831 to 1889, when a federal republic was established in a coup by Deodoro da Fonseca, Marshal of the army. Slavery had been abolished a year earlier by the Regent Princess Isabel while Dom Pedro II was in Europe.

Having established some cities, Portugal started the colonization of Brazil. Having no means to administer the new colony, the king of Portugal divided the land in 15 "Capitanias Hereditárias" ("heritage captainships"), that were given to anyone who wanted to administer and explore them. From the 15 original Capitanias, only two, Pernambuco and São Vicente, prospered.

In 1789, there was the Inconfidência Mineira, a rebel movement that failed, and the leader of which, Tiradentes, was hanged.

United Reign Period

In 1808, the French troops of Napoleon Bonaparte invaded Portugal, and Dom João, governor in place of his mother, Dona Maria I, ordered the transfer of the royal court to Brazil. Brazil was elevated to the condition of a Reino Unido de Portugal e Algarve (1815). There was also the election of Brazilian representatives to the Cortes Constitucionais Portuguesas (Portuguese Constitutional Courts).

The King of Portugal, fleeing before Napoleon's army, moved the seat of government to Brazil in 1808. Brazil thereupon became a kingdom under Dom João VI. Although the royal family returned to Portugal in 1821, the interlude led to a growing desire for independence amongst Brazilians, In 1822, the son of Dom João VI, then prince-regent Dom Pedro I, proclaimed the independence, September 7, 1822, and was crowned emperor.

History of Brazil: Timeline & Topics Indians | Colonial | Empire | 1889–1930 | 1930–1945 | 1945–1964 | 1964–present Military | Diplomatic | Religious