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The Discovery of Brazil
On April 22, 1500, Pedro Álvares Cabral “found” the land of Vera Cruz, later renamed Brazil.
Year: 1500
There are several highly controversial indications that the Portuguese already had vague information about the existence of land west of the Azores before 1492. Unquestionable, however, is the fact that, on April 22, 1500, as Pêro Vaz de Caminha records, the fleet under Pedro Álvares Cabral “found” the land of Vera Cruz.
This designation would later be replaced by “Brasil” due to the importance – evident from an early date – of the exploitation of brazilwood, the color of red-hot coals, used in dyeing. It is important to emphasize that the first contacts with the natives were of a friendly nature and that the primitivism which marked their manner of living strongly amazed the Portuguese.
In 1500, a reconnoiter of Newfoundland also took place, though Portuguese travels to that region, where cod fishing developed, are thought to have already occurred before that date.
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