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2 unusual facts about Colonial Brazil


Colonial Brazil

In an attempt to expand the borders of colonial Brazil and profit from the silver mines of Potosí, the Portuguese Overseas Council (the Conselho Ultramarino) ordered colonial governor Manuel Lobo to establish a settlement on the shore of the River Plate, in a region that legally belonged to Spain.

Since the 16th century the exploration of the Brazilian inland was attempted several times, mostly to try to find mineral riches like the silver mines found in 1546 by the Spanish in Potosí (now in Bolivia).


Asiento

Following the establishment of the Portuguese colony of Angola in 1575, and the gradual replacement of São Tomé by Brazil as the primary producers of sugar, Angolan interests came to dominate the trade, and it was Portuguese financiers and merchants who obtained the larger scale, comprehensive asiento that was established in 1595.

José Vicente Barbosa du Bocage

In 1860 he succeeded in getting back some collections which were removed from the Museum during the Napoleonic invasion of Portugal, by the French naturalist Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire (1772–1844), which included precious specimens collected by Alexandre Rodrigues Ferreira (1756–1815) in Brazil.

Portuguese Marine Corps

In 1808, when Napoleon's army attacked Portugal, the Portuguese Royal Family relocated themselves to the Portuguese colony of Brazil, accompanied by the majority of the Royal Brigade of the Navy.


see also

Lapa, Rio de Janeiro

The neighborhood of Lapa, Rio de Janeiro, known as the cradle of bohemian Rio is also famous for its architecture, starting with the Arcos - known as the Arcos da Lapa, constructed to act as conduit in the days of colonial Brazil and now serve as a signal for the cable cars that climb the hill of Santa Teresa.

Sarará

The second most common non-Portuguese European group in Colonial Brazil were the French, with its cultural influence, represented by things such as the French artistic mission, that can be seen up to this day, with the greater number loanwords into Brazilian Portuguese coming from the French language.