Brazil History

INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES (BEFORE 1500)
Human inhabitation of the North American continent can be reliably established as far back as 50,000 BC, but the figures are less certain for South America in general and the Amazonian region in particular. The established view places the first inhabitants of modern-day Brazil at approximately 10,000 BC, although there is some evidence for an earlier occupation. Brazil’s indigenous population initially settled in the Amazon River Basin, where they apparently stayed until climate change induced large migrations to the coasts. Those tribes that made the migration mostly adopted agricultural lifestyles and settled either in permanent villages or in semi-permanent encampments that they relocated every few years, while those who remained inland mostly retained their nomadic, hunting-and-gathering lifestyles. In both locations ample food supplies and a hospitable climate supported an estimated five million inhabitants; agriculture here was a relatively late development and never heavily employed. Brazil’s two major indigenous linguistic groups divide roughly along the same lines—the Tupi-Gurani were mostly sedentary, the Tapuia mostly nomadic. However, these broad generaliza¬tions mask the heterogeneity of Brazil’s indigenous cultures, as they differed nearly as much between themselves as they did with the Europeans colonists. All of them, however, remained well within the Stone Age, and Brazil produced no counterpart to the Mayan, Incan, or Aztec civilizations. No sprawling metropolises rose to greet Europeans in Brazil, much to the disappointment of later Portuguese adventurers.

• The Portuguese

Portugal was perhaps the foremost maritime nation of Europe at the end of the 15th century; the terms of the 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas Portugal negotiated with Spain indicate that Portugal was at least ...more

• Colonialism

COLONIALISM (1500-1822)The colonial period established the demographic structure and economic system that still exist in Brazil today. Portugal did not immediately recognize that Cabral had claimed ...more

• Imperialism

Less expansive but longer-lived than the Spanish Empire, Portugal also had imperial ambitions and at one point had an empire stretching from South America to southern China. As the largest single component ...more

• The First Republic

The positivist French philosophy of Auguste Comte provided the ideological underpinnings not only for the armed forces but also for most Brazilian thought at that time. Comte stressed rationality over ...more

• The Vargas State

The 1930 revolution brought to power Getúlio Vargas, who quickly became a near-dictator and ruled Brazil until his resignation in 1945, in the process setting Brazil’s path into the 20th ...more

• The First Democracy

Brazil actually hadn’t quite seen the last of Vargas: although he had alienated his original support base, he remained popular and was re-elected president in 1954, only to face charges of corruption ...more

• The Military Regime

Like Brazil’s earlier revolutions the 1964 military coup was short—lasting only from March 31 to April 2—and nearly bloodless. Most state governors and the economically powerful supported ...more

• The Return to Democracy

Poor health prevented Neves from assuming office, and the presidency fell to Vice President José Sarney, who would quickly disappoint all sides. Sarney relied too heavily upon former ARENA politicos ...more