Chapter 1 Brazil
Discovery
If I were to say:
"In fourteen hundred and ninety two. . ."
Most of you could probably finish the poem correctly with:
". . .Columbus sailed the ocean blue."
Just eight years later in 1500 a Portuguese explorer by the name of Pedro Alves
Cabral set sail on a similar voyage and ended up in what is today Brasil. But we're
already getting a little bit ahead of ourselves. Let's back up and set the stage
for this part of our history lesson.
Remember what Columbus was trying to do? At least one objective of his voyage was
to find a new trade route to India. He was at least mostly convinced that the world
was round and that he could find a new route by sailing around the world to the
west rather than heading around the African continent. And, at least at first, he
thought he had done it. Remember that's why for centuries Native Americans were
referred to as Indians? But why would he take such a risk?
At the time there was some pretty fierce competition between Spain, under who's
flag Columbus sailed, and Portugal, another superpower of the time. Portugal had
a strongly established claim on the trade routes to India around Africa to the west.
Spain, a larger country in many respects, was losing the race. Partially out of
a fear that Portugal would become disproportionally powerful Pope Alexander VI drew
a line in 1493 (hmm, just one year after Columbus), mostly arbitrarily, that divided
the world in half. Everything to the east belonged to Portugal, and to the west
would be for Spain. Fair, right? Well, that's where Pedro Alves Cabral comes in.
A couple of folks had realized by now that the South American continent jutted out
a little farther than was originally believed. Pedro Alves Cabral sails to the new
world, lands in what is now Porto Seguro, Bahia realizes that it really is part
of the world that belongs to Portugal, still west of the demarcation line, and that's
why Brazil is today the only country in the Americas that speaks Portuguese.(Okay,
okay, the line was moved again a year later so it's not all the Pope's fault.)
The Monarchy
Throughout most of its history Brazil has been under the direction of one form of
monarchy or another. Obviously, at the time Pedro Alves Cabral landed on the Bahian
coast it was ruled by the king of Portugal from Portugal. This was the case until
Napoleon began his invasions which prompted the entire Portuguese royal family to
flee to Brazil (1808). They ruled the kingdom from the Americas for several years
until King João VI returned to Portugal (1821). When he did so he left his son,
Dom Pedro I to rule as "prince regent" of Brazil.
Much to the disappointment of his parents he later refused to return to Portugal,
and began to side with the Brazilian nationals. This caused his parents and several
other important royal figures to start writing him letters, chastising him, and
calling him names, like "adolescent" and "Brazilian." Dom Pedro I is angered by
this, he crumples the letters, throws them on the ground, stomps on them, then draws
his sword and declares independence from his parents. September 7th 1822 is today
still considered Brazilian independence day.
Pedro I rules as emperor of Brazil for only about four years until his father (still
the king of Portugal) dies without a clear heir to the throne. Pedro I returns to
Portugal (is thrown out of Brazil) to briefly declare himself the rightful heir
and king, leaving his five year old son, Pedro II as emperor of Brazil. (By the
way, Pedro II's full name for those who are keeping track, was Pedro de Alcântara
João Carlos Leopoldo Salvador Bibiano Francisco Xavier de Paula Leocádio Miguel
Gabriel Rafael Gonzaga de Bragança, By the Grace of God and Unanimous Acclamation
of the People, Constitutional Emperor and Perpetual Defender of Brazil.)
Pedro II ruled until he was ousted by a military coup in 1889. He had gained disfavor
with the population of Brazil, especially the upper class partially because of his
perceived role in the abolition of slavery. The law finally ending slavery was actually
signed into effect by his daughter while he was "out of town" in 1888. In many ways,
this was the final blow to the monarchy.
The Republic
Throwing out the king in the "bloodless" revolution did little to change the conditions
of Brazilian politics. It was still dominated by a small number of wealthy elite.
The country saw some economic growth due to the export of rubber, and coffee until
the great depression made it obvious that the economy could no longer rely so heavily
on foreign trade.
In 1930 Getúlio Vargas overthrew the government by military coup after having lost
the election earlier that same year. GetúlioVargas plays a significant role in the
history of capoeira. Vargas recognized that the longevity of his reign was directly
linked to his popularity not just with the ruling elite, but also the common man.
While on a train tour of the country trying to increase this popularity he attended
a presentation of capoeira by Mestre Bimba and his students in Salvador, Bahia.
Vargas was later quoted as having said that capoeira was the only truly Brazilian
sport and an important manifestation of Brazilian culture. He also did some work
to relax laws that had been prohibiting its practice and persecuting its practitioners.
Vargas himself was eventually removed from office by force only later to win the
popular vote and be reinstated. With looming threats of yet another coup he commited
suicide in 1954. The modern history of the republic has been a reminder that order
and progress take time.
Conclusion
In so many ways the history of Brazil is a bit of an oddity. It just didn't follow
the same path as so many other countries that were being colonized at about the
same time. Part of this is due to the fact that for many many decades Brazil was
seen only as a source of exported products like coffee, sugarcane, and Brazil wood
(the wood from the tree that the country takes its name). It wasn't intentionally
being colonized like much of the rest of the new world. Also, there are very few
rivers that run east to west. This made the colonization of the interior of the
country more difficult. A gold rush didn't aid the exploration and development of
the interior of the country like it did in many other parts of the Americas. The
mining industry did eventually become a huge factor in the development of the country.
But, once again because of the lack of exploration of the interior, and a focus
on the export of agricultural products, it didn't begin for almost two centuries.
Brazil is the fifth largest country in the world (by area), behind only China, Russia,
Canada, and the United States. The country takes up almost half of all of the continent
of South America. Sao Paulo is the third largest city in the world behind Tokyo
and Mexico City. Just the actual city itself, not including the hundreds of sprawling
suburbs, is 62 miles across, very densely populated, and continuously growing as
immigrants from the north and interior of Brasil seek a better financial situation.
The general population of Brazil has more people of African descent than any other
country except Nigeria. As North and South America are so often lumped in the same
group we forget how far east the South American continent sits. Much of Brazil actually
physically sits as close to Africa as it sits to the US. It will be important to
keep this in mind as we continue our study of the history of this fascinating country.
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workbook section for Chapter 1 "Brazil."