| << BACK TO PORTUGUESE TRAVELS AND THE MEETING OF CIVILIZATIONS | Tweet |
The Colonization of Brazil
At first, Portugal did not assign much importance to Brazil.
Years: 1530 — 1549
During the first three decades of the 16th century, Portugal did not assign much importance to Brazil. Only during the 1530s did a more accurate exploration of the coast occur and a project of colonization begun through the traditional system of land concessions. Several problems in the application of such a system led Dom João II to appoint Tomé de Sousa governor of Brazil. He arrived in the territory in 1549 and founded the city of São Salvador da Baía, Brazil’s first capital.
From the mid-16th century on, sugar production became the basis of development of the territory, attracting thousands of settlers and traders, apart from African slaves, the majority acquired through the slave trade with Angola.
Images (click on image to view full size)
| << BACK TO PORTUGUESE TRAVELS AND THE MEETING OF CIVILIZATIONS | Tweet |