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BRAZIL 231 board of foreign missions maintain a mission in Brazil, with ten ministers and three churches in each of the cities of Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, and some in Bahia. Their communi- cants number 347, nearly all native Brazilians. Pedro Alvares Cabral, having been appointed admiral of a fleet sent by King Emanuel of Por- tugal to follow up the brilliant discoveries of Vasco da Gama in the East Indies, set sail March 9, 1500 ; but the fleet having been car- ried by ocean currents and adverse winds far to the westward of the intended course, Cabral on April 22 unexpectedly found himself in sight of land; and on the 25th the squadron cast anchor in a commodious harbor which the admiral named Porto Seguro. Cabral imme- diately took possession of the country in the name of his sovereign, calling it Vera Cruz, a name afterward changed to Santa Cruz, which in turn gave place to the present one of Brazil. This formality concluded, he once more set out upon his voyage eastward, but not without having previously despatched to the king ti- dings of his discovery. On the arrival of the news, a squadron was fitted out under the command of Amerigo Vespucci to visit and explore the new country ; and that navigator on his return to Portugal published an account of his explorations with a map, to which publi- cation is due the name America given to the whole western continent. Vespucci on his return carried some specimens of Brazilian birds, and a cargo of dyewoods, whole forests of which he reported as existing in the newly found country. These dyewoods immediately became the object of an extensive and lucrative traffic on the part of numerous speculators. Merchants of other nations having engaged in the trade, King John III. determined to suppress what he regarded as a violation of his rights. Colonies were accordingly established under the auspices of the crown in 1531, towns sprang np rapidly along the coast, and fortune for a few years seemed to smile upon the new settle- ments. But the colonists had suffered much from the frequent incursions of the savages; the pecuniary resources of the Portuguese no- bles who had received land grants from the government, and full judicial powers, on condi- tion of establishing the colonies at their own expense, soon proved inadequate to the enter- prise ; and it was deemed advisable to form a permanent system of colonial rule, immediately dependent upon the home government. A governor was accordingly appointed in 1549, in the person of Thome de Souza, who was in- vested with unlimited powers of jurisdiction, both civil and criminal, and under whose wise administration the home government in a short time recovered possession of the early colonies, or capitanias. De Souza founded and took up his residence at Sao Salvador da Bahia, which was then constituted the capital of Brazil. A colony of French Protestants was founded in 1555 on an island in the bay of the present Rio de Janeiro ; but the perfidy of the founder, Vice Admiral Villegagnon, and consequent in- ternal dissensions, marred the success of the settlement; and the colonists were expelled from the island in 15G5. The Portuguese in 1567 built the city of Sao Sebastiao, since called Rio de Janeiro, the name given to the bay by Martim Aflbnso in 1531. After the annexation of Portugal to Spain under Philip II. in 1580, Brazil found numerous enemies among the na- tions then on hostile terms with the latter kingdom ; the coast towns suffered much from the successive inroads of the French, Eng- lish, and Dutch, by whom they were in turn occupied, pillaged, and abandoned. In 1612 the French took possession of Maranhao, and founded the city of Sao Luiz do Maranhao, from which they were driven by the Portuguese in 1615. But the Dutch were the most pertina- cious in their endeavors to secure a firm foot- hold in Brazil. A fleet from Holland in 1623 captured the city of Bahia; but in 1625, after the departure of their ships, the conquerors were forced to capitulate. In 1629 the Dutch took Pernambuco, and they extended their conquests with so much energy that in 1645 they ruled the whole territory N. of that city except Pard. The Portuguese, however, recap- tured province after province, and in 1654 had completely driven out the Dutch, who by the peace of 1660 renounced all claim to Brazilian territory. In the mean time the house of Bra- ganza had been restored to the throne of Por- tugal, in the person of John IV., Brazil erect- ed into a principality, and the title of prince of Brazil conferred upon the Portugues'e heir ap- parent (1 640). From the time of the evacuation of the Dutch, Portugal remained in peaceful possession ; but the exactions of the mother country drained the colony of its resources and retarded its development. Meanwhile the min- eral riches of Brazil had been discovered ; gold and diamond mining were in active operation, and poured a constant stream of wealth into the home treasury ; and the Lisbon government constituted Rio de Janeiro the capital instead of Bahia. In 1807, when Napoleon declared war against Portugal, John VI., its reigning sovereign, took refuge with his family in Bra- zil, followed by a large number of courtiers and other emigrants. This event was imme- diately attended by important modifications in the colonial administration ; restrictions upon commerce were removed ; the ports were thrown open to the shipping of all friendly na- tions ; and on the fall of Napoleon in 1815 Bra- zil was raised to the rank of a kingdom, John assuming the title of king of Portugal, Algarve, and Brazil. During his absence from Portugal a revolution had broken out there, and the con- stitution of Spain had been proclaimed, Sep- tember, 1820 ; and as that example had been followed in Para and Pernambuco, the king, fearing that the revolutionary movement might extend to Rio de Janeiro, took himself the ini- tiatory steps, and proclaimed the constitution of Feb. 26, 1821. Soon afterward he returned