Colonial Brazil , in the History of Brazil, is the period from 1530 to 1822.This period began when the Portuguese government sent the first colonizing expedition to Brazil, led by Martim Afonso de Souza.
In 1532, he founded the first settlement, Vila de São Vicente, on the coast of the current state of São Paulo.
Pre-Colonial Period
Soon after the Portuguese arrived in the new territory, the first economic activity revolved around the exploitation of brazilwood, which was found in large quantities on the Brazilian coast, mainly in the northeast of the country. This period became known as the Brazilwood Cycle or pre-colonial period.
The exploitation of brazilwood was merely extractive and did not give rise to effective occupation.
The work of felling trees and preparing the wood for shipment was done by the indigenous people and a few Europeans who remained in trading posts on the coast.
Exploited in a predatory manner, the trees near the coast disappeared in the 1520s.
The beginning of colonization
Map of Brazil in the Colonial Period
Several expeditions were sent by Portugal, aiming to reconnoitre the entire Brazilian coast and combat French pirates and traders.
The most important were those commanded by Cristóvão Jacques (1516 and 1526), who fought the French.
Martim Afonso de Sousa (1532) also fought against French piracy. He also established the first town in São Vicente with a sugar mill .
To colonize Brazil and secure land ownership, in 1534, the Crown divided the territory into 15 hereditary captaincies. These were immense plots of land that extended from the coast to the limit established by the Treaty of Tordesillas.
These lots were donated to captains (donataries), belonging to the minor Portuguese nobility who, on their own behalf, promoted local defense and colonization.
Sugar production was chosen because it was a highly sought-after product in Europe at that time.
It was in the northeast of the country that sugar production reached its highest level of development, mainly in the captaincies of Pernambuco and Bahia. In the 16th and 17th centuries, these regions became the dynamic center of social, political and economic life in Brazil.
The General Government
The General Government system was created in 1548 by the Crown with the aim of organizing colonial administration .
The first governor was Tomé de Souza (1549 to 1553), who received from the Portuguese government a set of laws to be applied in the colony. These determined the administrative, judicial, military and tax functions of the General Government.
The second governor-general was Duarte da Costa (1553 to 1558) and the third, Mem de Sá (1558 to 1572).
In 1572, after the death of Mem de Sá and his successor Dom Luís de Vasconcelos, the Portuguese government divided Brazil into two governments whose unification only returned in 1578:
- Government of the North, headquartered in Salvador
- Government of the South, headquartered in Rio de Janeiro
In 1580, Portugal and all its colonies, including Brazil, came under Spanish rule, a situation that lasted until 1640. This period is known as Iberian Unification .
In 1621, still under Spanish rule, Brazil was again divided into two states: the State of Maranhão and the State of Brazil. This division lasted until 1774, when the Marquis of Pombal decreed unification.
The social formation of colonial Brazil
Representation of a village in the colonial period
Basically, three large ethnic groups, indigenous, black African and white European, mainly Portuguese, were part of the formation of Brazilian colonial society.
The Portuguese who came to Brazil belonged to various social classes in Portugal. The majority were members of the lower nobility and the common people.
It is also important to take into account that the indigenous tribes had different languages and cultures. Some were enemies of each other and this was used by the Europeans when they wanted to wage war against the Portuguese.
Likewise, the blacks brought as slaves from Africa had distinct beliefs, languages and values and did not constitute a homogeneous people. However, all of this was absorbed by the Portuguese and indigenous people.
In colonial Brazil, the sugar mill was the dynamic center of all social life. This allowed the “lord of the big house” to gather a large number of individuals around him and to have maximum authority, prestige and local power.
Around the sugar mill lived the mulattos, generally the sons of the masters with enslaved black women, the priest, the enslaved blacks, the overseer, the sugar master, the free workers, etc.
Threats to Portuguese rule
In the first years after the discovery, the presence of pirates and French traders on the Brazilian coast was constant.
The French invasion took place in 1555, when they conquered Rio de Janeiro, founding “Antarctic France” there, and were expelled in 1567.
In 1612, the French invaded Maranhão, where they founded “Equinocial France” and the town of São Luís, where they remained until 1615, when they were expelled again.
English attacks in Brazil were limited to attacks by pirates and corsairs who plundered some ports. They invaded the cities of Santos and Recife and the coast of Espírito Santo.
The two Dutch invasions of Brazil occurred during the period when Portugal and Brazil were under Spanish rule. Bahia, the seat of the General Government of the state of Brazil, was invaded, but the Dutch presence lasted a short time (1624-1625).
In 1630, the captaincy of Pernambuco, the largest sugar center in the colony, was invaded by Dutch troops.
The conquest was consolidated in 1637, with the arrival of the Dutch ruler, Count Maurice of Nassau. He managed to establish Dutch rule in Pernambuco and extend it to almost the entire northeast of Brazil.
The city of Recife, the administrative center, was urbanized, sanitized, paved, and bridges, palaces and gardens were built. The government of Maurice of Nassau came to an end in 1644, but the Dutch were only expelled in 1654.
The century of gold and diamonds
The search for precious metals has always been a dream of colonizers. Discoveries began in the 1690s, in the region of Minas Gerais.
From there it spread to various parts of the country. In the 18th century, mining was the metropolis’s main source of wealth.
The Gold and Diamond Cycle were responsible for profound changes in the life of colonial Brazil, with urban growth and trade.
The crisis of the colonial system
In 1640, Brazil’s income from Brazilian trade was essential to Portugal. Therefore, it began to exercise stricter control over tax collection and economic activities, even prohibiting trade with foreigners.
Discontent with the metropolis’ economic policy led to some revolts, including:
- Beckman’s Revolt (1684), in Maranhão
- War of the Emboabas (1708-1709), in Minas Gerais
- War of the Peddlers (1710), in Pernambuco
At the end of the 18th century, movements began that aimed to free the colony from Portuguese rule, including:
- Minas Gerais Inconfidence (1789)
- Bahian Conspiracy (1798)
At the beginning of the 19th century, the situation created by the Napoleonic Wars led to the transfer of the seat of the Kingdom to Brazil. In 1815, with the elevation of Brazil to the status of United Kingdom, the territory ceased to be a colony and, later, Brazil’s independence was achieved in 1822
