Brazil
Portuguese Brazil, from the first captaincies of 1534 to the arrival of the Portuguese court in Rio de Janeiro in 1808.
Category: States, Places
- 1534John III divides Brazil into hereditary captaincies
From 1534 the Crown grants the Brazilian coast as 15 hereditary captaincies to 12 donees. Only four, São Vicente, Pernambuco, Ilhéus and Porto Seguro, survive beyond 1549; the others are never settled or are overrun by Indigenous peoples.
- c. 1549Enslaved Africans are brought to Brazil's plantations
The first arrival of enslaved Africans cannot be dated; the earliest firm mark is 1549, and they become the preferred plantation labour from the 1570s. About 5.5 million Africans are brought to Brazil between 1540 and the 1860s, by one estimate.
- March 29, 1549Tomé de Sousa founds Salvador as seat of Brazil's first governor-general
In 1549 Tomé de Sousa, Brazil's first governor-general, arrives with six ships and the first six Jesuits and founds Salvador, which is dated to 29 March. The city is Brazil's capital until 1763 and a major port for sugar and the slave trade.
- 1555Villegaignon founds France Antarctique in Guanabara Bay
In 1555 the French naval officer Nicolas Durand de Villegaignon founds a colony near present-day Rio de Janeiro, in Guanabara Bay. The French hold it until the Portuguese expel them in 1567.
- March 1, 1565Estácio de Sá founds Rio de Janeiro
On 1 March 1565 Estácio de Sá, nephew of the governor-general Mem de Sá, founds São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro near Sugarloaf Mountain, as a base against the French and their Indigenous allies.
- January 20, 1567The Portuguese defeat the French and their allies in Guanabara Bay
On 20 January 1567 the Portuguese win the decisive battle against the French of France Antarctique and their Indigenous allies. Estácio de Sá dies of his wounds a month later; Mem de Sá then moves the city to Morro do Castelo.
- c. 1605Runaway slaves found the quilombo of Palmares
In 1605, by the article's dating, escaped enslaved Africans settle at Serra da Barriga in northeastern Brazil, though Portuguese complaints of flight into the area date from 1602. It grows into the largest fugitive community in colonial Brazil.
- May 8, 1624 – April 30, 1625The Dutch West India Company captures Salvador and loses it a year later
A Dutch fleet takes Salvador on 8 May 1624, and the Portuguese governor surrenders. A combined Spanish and Portuguese fleet retakes the city on 30 April 1625.
- 1628 – 1629Paulista bandeirantes raid and destroy the Jesuit missions of Guairá
In 1628-29 bandeirantes from São Paulo, led by Manuel Preto, destroy the Jesuit missions of Guairá and enslave their Guaraní. Estimates of captives range from about 5,000 to 100,000, and raids on other missions go on until 1632.
- February 1630 – 1654The Dutch take Olinda and Recife and begin their rule in northeastern Brazil
In February 1630 the Dutch West India Company takes Olinda, and Recife by 3 March. Dutch Brazil lasts until 1654, when the Portuguese regain the northeast.
- April 19, 1648 – February 19, 1649The Portuguese defeat the Dutch at the Battles of Guararapes
Two battles near Recife, on 19 April 1648 and 19 February 1649, turn the war in Portugal's favour. The Dutch are later besieged in Recife, which falls in 1654.
- January 1654The Dutch surrender Recife and leave Brazil
After a siege of about two years, the Dutch capitulate at Recife in January 1654 (26 or 28 January, depending on the source). The Dutch lose their Brazilian colony.
- c. 1695Gold is discovered in the interior of Brazil, starting the gold rush
In the 1690s, with 1695 given for the strike at Rio das Velhas by Manuel Borba Gato, gold is found in Minas Gerais. Vila Rica, now Ouro Preto, is founded in 1698; about 800 tonnes of gold go to Portugal in the 18th century.
- November 20, 1695Zumbi is captured and beheaded after the fall of Palmares
In January 1694 Portuguese forces take Palmares's main settlement, Cerca do Macaco; Zumbi escapes wounded and is betrayed and beheaded on 20 November 1695. Resistance in the region continues for decades.
- January 13, 1750Spain and Portugal sign the Treaty of Madrid, replacing Tordesillas
On 13 January 1750 the two crowns set the borders of their South American colonies by actual possession, accepting Brazil's westward expansion. Spain gets Colonia del Sacramento; Portugal the seven Jesuit missions; Spain annuls it in 1761.
- September 3, 1759Pombal expels the Jesuits from Portugal and its empire
On 3 September 1759 the Marquis of Pombal, chief minister of Joseph I, decrees the expulsion of the Jesuits from all Portuguese domains. Their temporal power in Brazil had already been curtailed in 1758.
- 1763Brazil's capital moves from Salvador to Rio de Janeiro
In 1763 the colonial administration moves from Salvador, the capital since 1549, to Rio de Janeiro.
- 1789The Inconfidência Mineira, a plot to free Minas Gerais from Portugal, is uncovered
In 1789 informers reveal a conspiracy in Minas Gerais, sparked by a planned derrama tax on the declining gold output and inspired by the thirteen colonies' independence. The conspirators are arrested; the plot has no clear leader or plan.
- April 21, 1792Tiradentes is hanged in Rio de Janeiro for the Inconfidência Mineira
On 21 April 1792 Joaquim José da Silva Xavier, known as Tiradentes, is hanged, and his body is quartered and displayed in Vila Rica. Queen Maria I commutes the other death sentences, but not his, since he took full responsibility.
- November 29, 1807 – March 7, 1808The Portuguese court flees Napoleon's invasion for Brazil
On 29 November 1807, as French troops advance on Lisbon, Prince Regent John and the court, perhaps 10,000-15,000 people, sail for Brazil. They reach Salvador on 22 January 1808 and Rio de Janeiro on 7 March, making it the seat of the empire.