Portugal EmpireBased on Colonial Brazil

• Colonial History

• Geography

Colonial History

• Colonia Brazil settlement started from 1500, with the arrival of the Portuguese, until 1815 when Brazil was appointed to United Kingdom with Portugal. For 300 years of Brazilian colonial history, the economic exploitation was first based on brazil wood extraction, sugar productions, and gold mining in the 18th century. Most of the labor was done by slaves shipped from Africa. The Portuguese colony kept its territorial and linguistic integrity after the independence, making it the largest country in the region. In 1500 navigator Pedro Alvares Cabral landed in Brazil and claimed it to the King Manuel I in Portugal.

Geography

• The Treaty of Tordesillas, signed in 1494, divided the world between the 2 kingdoms of Portugal and Castile. All land discovered east of the meridian was property of Portugal, west of Spain. When Cabral landed in Brazil, he named the land to his king, but it is debated if previous Portuguese explorers had already been there. Cabral led a fleet of 13 ships and more than 1000 men.

• Since the search of gold and silver failed, the Portuguese adopted to the production of agriculture goods that were to be exported to Europe. Some items were Tobacco, cotton, cachaca, and the most important product was sugar. The first sugarcane farms were created in the mid 16th century and were the main successful product in Brazil. The Portuguese relied on slaves to work on the farms, and were part of the cruel treatment of African slaves when they were imported in ships.