History 

Discovery and Settlement 

Portuguese  Discoveries (1487-1497)

In the 15th and 16th centuries Portugal, an Iberian Kingdom with barely a million inhabitants, was squeezed by the Atlantic on one side and a hostile Castile on the other.
After years of struggle against the Moorish occupation, the Portuguese turned their attention and energy to the sea and what lay beyond. While the Spaniards set out in search of a route to the Orient by voyaging to the West, the Portuguese opted for the so-called ‘Southern Cycle’ down the African coast. Reaching the Cape of Good Hope in 1487, they were led by the navigator Vasco da Gama across the Indian Ocean to discover the sea route to the Far East in 1497. They knew of the existence of lands across the Atlantic and they had made several expeditions to the West before Columbus discovered the Antilles in 1492. However, they kept the knowledge to themselves in order to forestall the ambitions of Spain, England, and France. For a small nation, secrecy was the only available method of safeguarding the rewards of bold and successful exploration against its more powerful maritime rivals.  

The Treaty of Tordesillas (1494) settled the question of possession of the new lands between Spain and Portugal. It was agreed that territories lying east of a line at about longitude 46° 30’ W should belong to Portugal and the lands to the west to Spain. This imaginary line, from pole to pole, cut through the easternmost part of the South American continent and constituted Brazil’s first frontier, although the formal discovery by Pedro Álvares Cabral did not take place until six years later in 1500.

First  Settlements (1530-1549)

Cabral’s voyage was soon followed by other Portuguese expeditions. The most exploitable wealth they found was a wood that produced red and purple dyes, called pau-brasil (brazilwood, from which the country derived its name). Organized occupation only began after 1530, when Portugal sent out the first colonizers with domestic animals, plants, and seeds to establish permanent settlements. The existing small enclaves in the northeast were consolidated, and new cities were founded: São Vicente, on the coast of the modern State of São Paulo, was founded in 1532, and Salvador, later chosen as the seat of the Governor General, followed in 1549. The land was sparsely inhabited by Indian tribes, some peaceful and others, especially in the interior, fierce and warlike. As more of the land was occupied, a system of administration became necessary. Initially, the Portuguese Crown created a number of hereditary fiefs, or captaincies. Fourteen of these captaincies, most of which larger than Portugal itself, were established in the mid 16th century, and the beneficiaries, called donatários, were responsible for their defense and development. The captaincy system lasted long enough to influence the basic territorial and political pattern of modern Brazil. 

Colonial Period 

The moist and fertile soil of what is now the coast of the State of Pernambuco was very suitable for growing sugar and also conveniently located as a port of call for sailing ships traveling from Portugal to West Africa and the Orient. The technique of its cultivation had reached Brazil from Madeira. A flourishing triangular trade soon developed, based on the importation of slave labor from West Africa to work on the sugar plantations. The sugar was then exported to markets in Europe where rising demand was beginning to outrun supplies from traditional sources. 

The Union of Spain and Portugal (1580-1640)

This development was interrupted by events in Europe. When King Sebastian of Portugal died in 1578, Philip II of Spain succeeded in his claim to the vacant throne in Lisbon. From 1580 to 1640, the two peninsular kingdoms were linked together under the Spanish crown. Thus, by the union of the two countries, South America became in its entirety, for that time span, a Hispanic world. Paradoxically, Portugal’s 60 years of union with Spain were to confer unexpected advantages on its transatlantic colony. In the absence of boundaries, both the Portuguese and the Brazilians started penetrating deeper into the vast hinterlands. 

The main starting point for this penetration of the territory was the captaincy of São Vicente, and it was from their base in São Paulo that the pioneers pushed the frontier westward. Expeditions (known as Bandeiras) in search of Indian slaves and gold cut their way through forest, climbed the difficult escarpments, and marched across the inland plateau. The expeditionaries (Bandeirantes) are known to have brought back with them Indians captured from Jesuit missions scattered in the interior of the country. Thus, without realizing it, the Bandeirantes expanded the boundaries of the future independent Brazil. 

Territorial Expansion (1600s)

In 1640, when the Portuguese under John VI recovered their independence, they refused to abandon the lands they had occupied and colonized west of the original Tordesillas line. Claiming what has since becomes recognized in international law as the right of uti possidetis – the right derived not only from title but also from useful possession – the Portuguese succeeded in establishing themselves as the rightful owners. The second half of the 17th century saw Portugal freed from Spanish rule, the northeast of Brazil liberated from a 24-year occupation by Dutch forces, and the weakening of Brazil’s sugar economy. The decline of sugar production and the discovery of gold elsewhere led to a movement outward from the sugar growing regions to unexplored territories. 

Gold Discovery (1690-1800)

While the gold rush, which followed, drained thousands of people away from the coastal plantations, it also attracted fresh immigration from Portugal. This movement also determined the growth of cattle farming in the interior to provide meat and leather for the mining centers and the emergence of new cities in what is now the state of Minas Gerais. Altogether, it is estimated that nearly 1,000 tons of gold and 3 million carats of diamonds were taken from the region between 1700 and 1800. The growth of gold mining in Brazil was an important development that influenced the course of events not only in the colony but also in Europe. Although the gold was controlled by Portugal and shipped to Lisbon, it did not remain there. Under the Methuen Treaty of 1703, England supplied textile products to Portugal, and these were paid for with gold from the Brazilian mines. The Brazilian gold, which ended up in London, helped to finance the Industrial Revolution. 

Coffee

But the boom in gold and diamond mining, like that of sugar, was destined to be followed by the rise of an even more important source of wealth: coffee. Just as mining caused a migration of people from Pernambuco and Bahia southwards to Minas Gerais, so the spread of coffee-growing advanced the occupation of empty land still further to the south east of the country. Coffee first reached Brazil via French Guiana in the 18th century. The combination of abundant labor (slaves until the abolition of slavery and after that, European immigrants) and adequate soil conditions and climate made coffee Brazil`s most important exportation product after the 1830s and well into the 20th century. 

Another important event in the second half of the 18th century was the transfer of the seat of colonial government. After more than 200 years in Salvador, the capital was moved to Rio de Janeiro, where it dominated the main access route to Minas Gerais and was closer to the growing population centers in the southern regions of the colony. 

Brazil from Colony to Independence  

The Feeling of Nationhood

The role of Portugal during the period it ruled Brazil was essentially that of intermediary between the colony as producer and the European economic centers as consumers. Monopolizing all trade with Brazil, Portugal retained a substantial part of the profits, and this led to growing discontent among the settlers. Furthermore, the fight to expel French and Dutch invaders from the northeast at the beginning of the 17th century produced a growing feeling of nationalism in the Brazilian colonists. 

The stirrings of unrest stemming from the urge to secure political freedom began in earnest in the second half of the 18th century. Although the concept of independence was generally shared, some movements against the Portuguese authorities were clearly regional in scope. The Inconfidência Mineira (Minas Conspiracy), the most significant of these isolated movements, took place in the center of what was then the gold mining region. Among its leaders was a cavalry officer, Joaquim José da Silva Xavier, nicknamed Tiradentes (‘Tooth puller’) because he was also a dentist. Together with intellectuals who shared the same libertarian ideals that had inspired the French Encyclopedists and the leaders of the American Revolution, they organized a rebellion against Portuguese rule. However, the conspiracy was uncovered and its leaders were severely punished. Tiradentes was sentenced to death and hanged in a public square in Rio de Janeiro, becoming a national martyr. Other incidents, some of which had wide support, occurred in Pernambuco and Bahia, where the decline of the sugar economy aggravated the problems created by the country’s subordination to Portugal. None of them, however, was important enough to seriously undermine the Portuguese domination at the time. 

Transfer of the Portuguese Court to Brazil (1808-1821)

In 1807, as Napoleon’s armies began the invasion of Portugal, the decision was made to transfer the monarch to Rio de Janeiro, where he would remain until 1821. The establishment of the royal administration in the colony for a period of 14 years would accelerate the march towards independence, but from now on with a unique undertone. The Portuguese Crown, consciously or not, took some measures that eased the transition toward independence. The elevation of Brazil, in 1815, from the status of a colony to that of a United Kingdom with Portugal may be seen as an example. Another example lies in the fact that, although Napoleon’s dominance ended in 1815, King João VI preferred to remain in Rio de Janeiro. Six years later, in 1821, King João VI had to yield to unrelenting pressures from the politicians back in Portugal. He returned to Lisbon, but left the Crown Prince in Rio with the title of Viceroy Regent. Furthermore, in the presence of members of colonial society, the King supposedly advised him: “Pedro, my son, when the time comes, place the crown on your head before an adventurer puts it on his.” 

Proclamation of Independence (1822)

The irritating opposition of Lisbon’s politicians to this state of affairs and the cajoling from close Brazilian advisers attracted the young prince to the cause of independence. Barely a year after the King’s return to Portugal, on September 7, 1822, the Crown Prince proclaimed the independence of Brazil as an Empire, and had himself solemnly crowned Emperor Pedro I on December 1, 1822. The mastermind behind Brazilian independence was José Bonifácio de Andrada e Silva, a distinguished Brazilian geologist and writer who had become the most important and trusted of the Prince’s advisers. While the Spanish viceroyalties in America had to fight fiercely for their independence (to end up as 18 different republics), Portugal and Brazil settled the matter by negotiation, with Great Britain acting as an intermediary. After a relatively short war of independence (1822-1824) Brazil became an Empire under Pedro I, who, nevertheless, continued to be the heir to the Portuguese throne. 

The Empire 

Pedro I (1822 - 1831)

The first ruler of independent Brazil was a striking personality. He made an important contribution to the acceleration of the social and political evolution of the 19th century by granting Brazil, in 1824, constitutional charters. These charters were extremely advanced for the time, breaking the taboos of the Divine Right of Kings, although strengthening the power of the Emperor. In 1826, João VI died and Dom Pedro I inherited his father’s kingdom. However, he abdicated the Portuguese throne soon after in favor of his infant daughter, Maria da Glória, who became Queen Maria II. In 1831, he also abdicated the throne of Brazil in favor of his son, Dom Pedro II, who was still a minor. This decision, prompted in part by differences with the Brazilian Parliament and by a growing opposition, took him back to Portugal. 

Pedro II (1840-1889)

After a period in which Brazil was ruled by regents acting in the name of the Emperor, in 1840, Pedro II, only fourteen years old, occupied the Brazilian throne. Unlike his father, Pedro II grew up to be a stern, temperate, scholarly monarch. During his rule of half a century, Brazil’s prestige and progress increased significantly, and the unity of the vast country was solidified. Political and social institutions developed peacefully and attained stability. A national administration was created; slavery was slowly but progressively eliminated until its complete abolition in 1888. European immigration was actively promoted, and health and welfare schemes were planned on a national scale. The influence exercised by the Emperor on the people and institutions of the country did much to ensure that the transition from Monarchy to Republic, when it eventually took place without bloodshed.  

Although peace and stability were maintained within the country under the Empire, Brazil was exposed to external threats along its southern frontier during this period that brought about the War of the Triple Alliance. This was a long and unpopular war (1865-70) in which Brazil united with Argentina and Uruguay against Paraguay. Under the peace treaty of 1872, Brazil guaranteed the territorial integrity of Paraguay and renounced all its claims to indemnities and payment of war debts. This was the last armed conflict Brazil has ever had with any of its ten neighbors.   

The Republic 

The End of the Empire: Abolition of Slavery (1888)

The abolition of slavery is usually regarded as the most immediate cause for the fall of the monarchy. With the Emperor away in Europe, his daughter, Princess Isabel, acted as Regent. On May 13, 1888, responding to the collapse of slavery as a workable system and yielding to pressures from the abolitionists, she signed the so-called Lei Áurea (Golden Law), which abolished slavery in Brazil. The Golden Law set off a reaction among slave owners, which contributed to the erosion of the political foundations of the monarchy. After a few months of parliamentary crises, the Emperor was deposed on November 15, 1889, by a military movement that proclaimed the abrogation of the monarchy and the establishment of the Republic. This institutional transformation, albeit profound, was carried out without bloodshed. The Emperor and his family were asked to leave the country and went into exile in France. Most of the leading figures of the country lent their support and collaboration to the new regime; among them was one of Brazil’s most outstanding statesmen, the Baron of Rio Branco. It was his wisdom and skillful diplomacy that enabled Brazil to end, by treaty or arbitration, nearly all its outstanding frontier disputes.

Federation and Presidential System

The newborn republic adopted a federative system that has kept its same characteristics until today. Under federation the provinces of the Empire were transformed into States. The parliamentary system was replaced with a presidential one; a bicameral Congress (Chamber of Deputies and Senate) was created, as well as a completely independent Supreme Court. At the States' level the same structure was adopted. President after president, elected under the rules of the prevailing constitutional system, succeeded each other in office until 1930. 

The Vargas Era (1930-1945)

The so-called First Republic lasted until 1930 when, for the first time, the government was overthrown by force. The main aim of the victorious revolutionary movement headed by Getúlio Vargas was the reform of an electoral and political system which, in the absence of strong national parties, had led to the practice of electing presidents supported by the governors of the leading states of São Paulo and Minas Gerais. The governors, in turn, secured the election of congressional representatives that pledged to carry out the policies of the central government. Getúlio Vargas, who was to govern Brazil for the next 15 years, came to power at a troubled time. The country was feeling the effects of the world depression which drastically reduced the price of coffee. The domestic political scene was affected not only by the resulting financial crisis, but also, as the decade advanced, by clashes between militant minorities inspired by ideas reaching the country from Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy on one hand, and by the Communist ideology imported from the Soviet Union on the other.  

In 1934, after the Vargas regime had been consolidated, a new constitution was adopted which granted the central government greater authority and provided for universal suffrage. In late 1937, shortly before the presidential elections were due, the heated political atmosphere and disruptive activities led President Vargas to declare a state of emergency. Vargas followed up his declaration by dissolving Congress and assuming extraordinary powers to govern by decree under an authoritarian charter. However difficult the times, some important policies were adopted. These policies included the introduction of an advanced social welfare and labor rights legislation, a reform of the educational system, and substantial progress in industrialization, including the construction of Brazil's first big steel mill. 

When World War II started, the Vargas government initially adopted a position of neutrality. However, popular sentiment, further inflamed by the hostile actions of German U-boats off the Brazilian coast, forced the President to abandon a neutral stance. In August of 1942 Vargas declared war on the Axis powers. Brazil equipped an Expeditionary Force of more than 20 thousand men which, attached to the U.S. Fifth Army, fought in Italy. Brazil was the only American country, besides the U.S. and Canada, to send armed forces to the European war. 

Post War Brazil  

Modern Brazil

As the war in Europe drew to its close, Vargas was forced to resign and elections were held to appoint a successor. Going to the polls for the first time in l5 years, the electorate gave the majority of their votes to General Eurico Gaspar Dutra, who had been Vargas’ Minister of the Army during the war. A new democratic constitution was approved by a constituent assembly in 1946, which remained in force until 1967. Dutra’s term came to an end in 1951. Meanwhile, Vargas, who had sat out in exile at his ranch in Rio Grande do Sul, had prepared for the up coming elections. Vargas had come to reap some of the rewards of his progressive measures in the fields of social welfare and trade union legislation. At the conclusion of Dutra’s term, Vargas was constitutionally elected president of the republic. In 1954, in the middle of a bitter political crisis, Vargas put a pistol to his heart and pulled the trigger. 

In the five years to come, Brazil experienced accelerated economic expansion under President Juscelino Kubitschek (1956-1961), the founder of Brasília. He was followed by President Jânio Quadros, who resigned after less than a year in office. Quadros’ vice president was João Goulart. Goulart was sworn in as president only after Congress hastily voted in a parliamentary system which drastically curtailed presidential powers. In a plebiscite held four months later, however, President Goulart was able to persuade the voters to restore the old presidential system. Rampant inflation and political polarization between left and right led to two and a half tumultuous years of political and social unrest and economic crisis. Fearing increasing instability, the military overthrew him in a coup on March 31, 1964. 

Military Rule (1964-1985)

The period between 1964 and 1985 was one of military dictatorship, with some relaxation of control after 1979. This period saw five presidents, all of them military generals. The first, Castello Branco, came to power on a wave of anti-communism. His main task was to stabilize the country’s political and economic situation. Extensive amendments were made to the Constitution to provide the government with the powers and mechanisms to achieve those goals. During the next 15 years, 1968-1983, the government issued several Institutional Acts which were, in effect, presidential decrees. Many individual and collective rights were suspended during this period. New austerity measures affected economic and political life. Collective bargaining was eliminated, strikes were virtually outlawed, and the working class movement was curtailed. 

By 1968, in the term of President Arthur da Costa e Silva, the economic strategies appeared to be working. Inflation was contained and foreign firms began to make new investments, assured of the regime's stability. Politically, however, this is the period in which the government became increasingly repressive. President Costa e Silva resigned in 1969 because of illness, and was succeeded by Emílio Garrastazu Médici. Between 1967 and 1974 Brazil enjoyed one of the greatest rates of economic growth in the world with Gross Domestic Product (GDP) real growth rates reaching 12.25 percent in 1973. By the mid-1970s Ernesto Geisel, who was then president, proposed a period of decompressing in gradual steps, which would lead to restoration of democratic rule. In 1979, João Baptista Figueiredo was inaugurated President. This was also the beginning of a gradual opening of the regime, the process of restoring the political rights which had been revoked. Many of the country’s exiles were allowed to return. The year also marked an acceleration of the public’s demand for re-democratization. Figueiredo, however, maintained a steady hand on the opening process. In 1982, the country held direct elections for State governors, the first such elections since 1965. 

Return to Democracy (1985)

In 1984 there were nationwide demonstrations demanding Diretas Já (“Elections now”) to choose a new president. In January 1985, Tancredo de Almeida Neves was chosen president by an Electoral College. His election was significant because he was not only the first civilian president to be elected in 21 years, but also because he was the candidate of an opposition coalition. On March 14, 1985, on the eve of his inauguration, Neves was rushed to a hospital due to a lingering illness he had endured for several months. When Neves died five weeks later, Vice President José Sarney was sworn in as president, and promised to maintain the course set by Tancredo Neves. The first priority of President Sarney was the calling of general elections in order to gather a National Constituent Assembly to draft a new constitution. Never in the history of Brazil was one able to observe such a high degree of popular participation in the drafting of a law. After 18 months of deliberations a new constitution was promulgated on October 15, 1988. 

In December of 1989 Brazil held its first direct presidential election since 1960, and Fernando Collor de Mello was elected President. Soon, however, his government was undermined by allegations of corruption, and Congress initiated a constitutional process of presidential impeachment. Collor was suspended by the Chamber of Deputies as President for 180 days during which time the Senate was to complete a trial and decide whether to remove him permanently. On December 29, 1992, minutes after the Senate began to try him on corruption charges, Collor resigned, but the Senate decided nonetheless to impeach him by a large majority. Three hours later, Itamar Franco, the Vice President, was sworn in as President to serve the remaining two years of Collor’s four-year term. Collor’s impeachment by the House of Deputies, his trial by the Senate, and his resignation marked a new chapter in the political history of Brazil. During Itamar Franco’s presidency a comprehensive plan for curbing inflation was implemented. 

On October 3, 1994, voters cast 78 million ballots for a new President. Fernando Henrique Cardoso, a sociologist and former Finance Minister responsible for President Franco’s economic plan, received the absolute majority needed to win the presidency in a first round election. He took office on January 1, 1995, for a four-year term. His first year in office saw a steady decline in the rate on inflation, opening the way for both sustained economic growth and for determined government action in social reform. Cardoso was elected to a second term by a wide margin on October 4, 1998.

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, from the oppositional Workers’ Party, was inaugurated as President of Brazil on January 1, 2003, after being elected in October of 2002 with over 61 percent of the valid votes cast, receiving the second largest number of votes in any free direct election for a presidential candidate in the history of the world (over 52 million votes, after Ronald Reagan, who received over 53 million votes in 1984). This was Brazil’s first transition between two presidents elected via a democratic direct vote in over 40 years.