History of Brasil
Brief history of Brazil summarized
A brief tour of the summary of the history of Brazil, a South American country, in the form of a historical review.
Indigenous peoples in brazil
The history of Brazil begins when the first human beings came from the north after 10,000 BC They were hunter-gatherers. Among other animals they hunted manatees. They also fished in the rivers and near the coasts they gathered shellfish. The first Brazilians also collected plants.
After 1000 BC, some people in Brazil were changing to an agricultural lifestyle. Agriculture practiced slash and burn. In other words, they cut down the vegetation and then burn it.
The ash was used as fertilizer. The indigenous people grew cassava, corn, and sweet potatoes. Some indigenous people also grew cotton and tobacco. However, after a few years, the soil was depleted, so they moved into the rainforest and grew back.
Farmers made baskets and pottery. They lived in simple wooden huts with thatched roofs and slept in hammocks. However, some people in Brazil continued to live a hunter-gatherer lifestyle.
Brazil in the 16th and 17th centuries
The Portuguese discovered Brazil by accident, a fact that would revolutionize the history of the place. Pedro Alvares Cabral landed on April 23, 1500. Then, in 1501, Amerigo Vespucci led another expedition to the new land. However, at first the Portuguese showed little interest in Brazil, although merchants established coastal trading stations and exported Brazilian timber.
However, the French also began to trade with the indigenous Brazilians. Alarmed by French interest, the Portuguese founded a colony to strengthen their claim to the area.
In 1530 the men were led by Martim Alfonso de Sousa. They made the first settlement in Sao Vicente. Then, in 1532, the king divided the coast of Brazil into 15 areas. He granted them to Portuguese nobles and merchants on the condition that they encourage settlers to Brazil.
However, there were few settlers in Brazil for the next few years. Thus, in 1549 the king united Brazil and made Salvador his capital. A governor general named Tome de Sousa was appointed.
Brazil began to grow when sugar was introduced at the end of the 16th century. Sugar plantations were created. They were worked by African slaves. At the beginning of the 17th century, the Brazilian sugar industry experienced a great boom. Brazil became Europe’s main supplier of sugar.
However, contact with Europeans was disastrous for the Indians. They had no resistance to European diseases and a large number of them died in epidemics. Some indigenous people were also enslaved by the settlers.
However, at the beginning of the 17th century, the Dutch decided to take part of Brazil for themselves. They attacked the capital, Salvador, in 1624 and 1627, but were repulsed both times. In 1630 they landed further north and occupied part of the Brazilian territory until 1654.
Meanwhile, the French also wanted a piece of Brazil. They landed in Guanabara Bay in 1555. However, they were expelled in 1657. The Portuguese then founded Rio de Janeiro to strengthen their claim to the area. The French took territory further north in 1612, but were expelled from Brazil in 1615.
Brazil in the eighteenth century
At the end of the 17th century, the sugar industry in Brazil lost importance, but in 1695 gold was discovered. Another source was discovered in 1719. The discovery of gold led many people to settle in the interior of Brazil and the population changed. As a result, the capital was moved to Rio de Janeiro in 1763.
However, after 1760 the gold boom fizzled out. Meanwhile, one man, the Marquis of Pombal, ruled Brazil from 1750 to 1777. He introduced new crops such as cotton, cocoa, and rice. Sugar also regained some of its former prosperity under his rule.
Then, in 1807, a momentous event occurred. At the end of the year Napoleon invaded Portugal. In 1808 the king and his court fled to Brazil and Rio de Janeiro became the capital of the Portuguese Empire. Its population grew rapidly. New public buildings and new theaters and libraries were built.
The king also tried to stimulate the Brazilian economy. In 1808 he lifted the ban on manufacturing in Brazil. He also allowed Brazilians to trade freely with all friendly nations, not just Portugal. As a result, many European artisans and artists came to Brazil.
Then, in 1820, the king returned to Portugal. He left his son Dom Pedro as regent in Brazil. In October 1821 Dom Pedro was recalled to Portugal, but the Brazilians convinced him to stay. On September 7, 1822, he broke with Portugal and declared the independence of Brazil. Portugal finally recognized Brazil’s independence in 1825, ending its only colonial period in history.
Brazil in the 19th century
However, Dom Pedro’s reign as Emperor of Brazil was short. Dom Pedro alienated the plantation owners by signing a treaty with the British in 1826. Britain agreed to recognize Brazil as an independent country, but demanded that the slave trade be ended within three years. (The slave trade was outlawed in 1831, but continued “unofficially” until 1854. Slavery itself lasted much longer. It was not abolished in Brazil until 1888.)
Dom Pedro abdicated in 1831, in favor of his 5-year-old son, Dom Pedro II. Since his son was just a boy, he left a power vacuum in Brazil and a period of instability followed. In 1835 the poor of Pará began the Cabanagem rebellion. It continued until 1840. Meanwhile, another rebellion began in Bahia in 1838.
In the face of unrest, Dom Pedro II was crowned in 1840, although he was only 14 years old. He soon proved to be a capable ruler and restored order.
Then, in 1864-1870, Brazil and its allies Argentina and Uruguay waged a bloody war with Paraguay. It was called the War of the Triple Alliance and it started when Paraguay invaded Uruguay. The war ended in victory for Brazil and its allies, but at a terrible price.
Meanwhile, Brazil experienced a coffee boom. Coffee was cultivated for the first time in the Amazon in 1727. At the end of the 18th century it spread throughout Brazil and from the mid-19th century it expanded.
Between 1830 and 1964, coffee was Brazil’s main export product. In the 1870s and 1880s, a network of railways was built throughout Brazil, facilitating the transport of coffee to ports for export.
Beginning in the mid-19th century, the rubber industry in Brazil grew rapidly. Cocoa farming was also an important industry. However, in the 1870s republicanism began to grow in Brazil. Finally in 1889 the army overthrew the monarchy and Brazil became a republic.
Early 20th century
Beginning in the 1870s, many Europeans emigrated to Brazil. From the 1890s to the 1920s there was a huge increase in immigrants. Among them were many Italians, Germans and Portuguese. There were also many Japanese immigrants.
Brazil remained prosperous in the early 20th century, but after 1929 the world was hit by depression. The demand for Brazilian coffee collapsed. The government tried to help the plantation owners by buying the coffee they couldn’t sell.
However, popular discontent led to a revolution. After months of violence, the army stepped in and installed Getulio Vargas as president. Vargas became the dictator of Brazil in 1937.
Vargas called his regime Estado Novo. He nationalized industries like oil, steel, and electricity. He also created a welfare state. Vargas also promoted industrial growth in Brazil. In 1942 Brazil joined the war against Germany and in 1944 a force of Brazilian soldiers was sent to Italy to fight the Germans.
Then, in 1945, the army forced Vargas to resign. Presidential elections were held which were won by Eurico Dutra.
However, Vargas won the next election in 1950. This time his government was affected by inflation and the increase in the national debt. In August 1954 the army demanded Vargas’ resignation. Instead, he shot himself.
Other elections were held and Juscelino Kubitschek won. In 1960 he created a new capital in Brasilia. He was followed by Janio Quadros, who resigned after 7 months. In turn, Joao Goulart succeeded him. However, by the early 1960s, Brazil was facing mounting economic problems, and in 1964 the military staged a coup.
The military government in Brazil
All but two political parties were banned and trade unions were suppressed. The media was strictly controlled. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the military regime became even more repressive. The crackdown coincided with a wave of urban guerrilla warfare.
However, it also coincided with a period of rapid economic growth known as the “Brazilian economic miracle.” The economy grew at more than 10% annually during that period. However, not everyone benefited. Many people were very poor. Worse yet, in the 1970s, inflation began to rise sharply. Unemployment also increased in Brazil.
In the late 1970s, the military government in Brazil became slightly less repressive. After workers went on strike in Sao Paulo in 1977, unions were admitted again.
Then, in the early 1980s, the military ended censorship in Brazil and allowed the formation of political parties. However, they decided that the next president of Brazil, who was to take power in 1985, would not be directly elected by the people. Instead, he would be chosen by an “electoral college” made up of congressmen and senators.
The army hoped that the electoral college would choose a president favorable to them. However, it did not turn out that way. In his place, the university chose a man named Tancredo Neves. In 1985 he announced the new republic.
Brazil today
However, Neves died soon after and José Samey became president. Samey failed to solve Brazil’s economic problems and inflation skyrocketed. In 1990 Fernando Collor de Melo replaced him as president. Collor de Melo was accused of corruption and resigned in 1992. His vice president, Itamar Franco, replaced him.
His finance minister, Fernando Henrique Cardoso, presented the real plan to curb inflation and achieve economic stability. In October 1994 Cardoso was elected president. He was reelected in 1998.
Then, in 2002, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, known as Lula, was elected President of Brazil. In 2011, Dilma Rousseff became the first female president of Brazil. She was re-elected in 2014. However, she was impeached and removed from office in 2016.
In the early years of the 21st century, Brazil was developing rapidly. However, in 2015 and 2016, Brazil experienced a contraction of its economy. However, starting in 2017 the economy began to grow again. Automobile manufacturing is a major industry. Other industries in Brazil include iron and chemicals.
Meanwhile, at the beginning of the 21st century, the population of Brazil grew rapidly. The current population of Brazil is 207 million inhabitants.
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