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2. Indigenous Brazil 

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• The Indigenous Peoples in Brazil A massive and very lush site. Look at the Encyclopaedia section for individual tribal histories, especially concerning first contact with the Europeans.
• Guarani indians Good use of images (In Portuguese but can be googled) Courtesy of the Wayback Machine
• The Indigenous Population Introductory article, from US Library of Congress. Outlines meeting with the Portuguese.
• Brazil Indians, Yanomamis,and Indian life. Three concise and clear articles from the Swedish Original life site. Outline the key events in the history of the Brazilian indians with the Europeans
• Indigenous People in Latin America Links page of Lanic. many links in Spanish and English. Includes a comprehensive list of country by country links.
• NativeWeb This site presents information on Indigenous peoples in Mexico, Central, and South America. Good links to native groups.
• Racial Classifications in Latin America Interesting examination of racial classification after immigration, using original Spanish colonial classification.

• Amazon Alliance for Indigenous and Traditional Peoples of the Amazon Basin which works to defend the rights, territories and environment of indigenous and traditional peoples of the Amazon Basin.
• Survival Updates from the Survival NGO site on the following tribes inside modern Brazil today: Awa, Brazilian Indians, Guarani,  Makuxi,  Yanomami
• Terra: Brazil's Landless Movement Go to the "context" section for current information 
• Brazil's Awa struggling to survive BBC report from 2002. Includes a link to an audio report by the BBC's Mike Donkin See the more optimistic 2003 report: Land victory for Amazon Indians
• Brazil's treatment of Indigenous Peoples by left wing Hartford Web Pbrublishing. Links to recent items in the news
• FUNAI Official Brazilian ministry of Justice site for the indigenious peoples. Links to the History of Brazilian Indians. In Portuguese.

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3. Colonial Brazil I 

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• Brazil  Country Study: Introductory series of concise articles, from US Library of Congress. Good place to start for an overview in English. Links to key sections:
  • The Colonial Era, 1500-1815
    • Frontier Expansion That Shaped Brazil
    • Early Colonization
    • French and Dutch Incursions
    • Gold Mining Displaces Cane Farming
    • The Transition to Kingdom Status
• Brazil Travel. Despite its name, this site provides a thorough history chronology & outline in detail complete with useful cross links to other sites.
• A Country Is Born Brazil 1500-1750 Detailed account from the first chapter of Brazil: Five Centuries of Change by Thomas E. Skidmore, Oxford University Press, 1999. Focus is on the link between the crown and overseas exploration.
• Portugal in America Brief outline of the Portuguese colonisation from fsmith.com
• Early History (Source Brazilian Embassy, Washington) Courtesy of the Wayback Machine

• Pedro Alvares Cabral brief bio of Brazils "discoverer"
• The Letter of Caminha Dedicated to Pero Vaz de Caminha, believed to have lived between 1450 and 1500 was the scribe of the fleet of Pedro Alvares Cabral and author of what is called the "birth certificate" of Brazil. This is  a brief study of Caminha's Letter to the King of Portugal and it is basically a description of the encounter between the conquerors and the native peoples, and their reactions. Includes an analysis of the letter, & letter itself in Portuguese and English
• Navigation and Discovery Clear essays from the (bilingual) The United States and Brazil: Expanding Frontiers, Comparing Cultures site of the US Library of Congress. Well presented with links to themes and documents. Includes sections on: The Portuguese Cartographic School & The Mapping of Brazil
• Hereditary Capitanies describes the system adopted in 1534, when Portugal divided Brazil in Hereditary Capitanies, adopting a system they had already used when colonizing the African colonies.
• Bandeirantes Item from Travel Brazil about the  Bandeirantes (bandeira is the Portuguese for "flag"; the bandeiras used to carry a flag to identify them), who led private expeditions which explored the interior lands of Brazil during the 17th & 18th centuries
• Portuguese Colonial World Visual introduction to the Portuguese Empire, placing its South  American expansion in a global context. (5,180K) (The Portuguese Colonial World  Smaller version(1,456K). By R H Jackson. Powerpoint pdf file, requiring Adobe Reader.
• Portuguese settlements: Useful, illustrated, pages from Marco Ramerini's Dutch & Portuguese Colonialism site:
  • colonial Parati (Rio de Janeiro)    
  • colonial Salvador (Bahia)
  • forts of Salvador (Bahia)
  • colonial Recife (Pernambuco)  
  • forts of Recife (Pernambuco)  
  • colonial Olinda (Pernambuco) 
  • colonial Igarassu (Pernambuco) 
  • forts of Fernando de Noronha
  • Governors and Viceroy of Portuguese Brazil, 1549-1760
• Tiradentes bio of the independence leader
• The Colonial Period Clear essays from the (bilingual) The United States and Brazil: Expanding Frontiers, Comparing Cultures site of the US Library of Congress. Well presented with links to themes and documents. Includes sections on:
  • Slavery in Brazil
  • Palmares and Slave Resistance
  • The Dutch in Brazil
  • The Defeat of the Dutch

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4. Colonial Brazil II 

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• Missions on the Fringes of Spanish America: A Comparison  This is a compendium of the materials from most of R H Jacksons presentations on the Spanish, Portuguese and Jesuits. A large download, but a mass of visual evidence. Brief textual introductions place the developments in a context, then they are presented by geographical area. North America first, then South America (page 76) By R H Jackson. Powerpoint pdf file.
• Spanish Missions in the Lowlands Regions of South America Thorough visual and graphical presentation of the Jesuit missions of the Uruguay/ Brazil/ Argentina/ Paraguay region. Very clear. By R H Jackson. Powerpoint pdf file.
• The Jesuits Missions (Reducciones) in Paraguay, Bolivia, Argentina, Brazil  Mainly outline but give an overview. See also  From Marco Ramerini's Dutch & Portuguese Colonialism site
• Photos and history of San Ignacio Mini reducción jesuítica (Jesuitic reduction), Misiones, Argentina Mainly outline but give an overview.  From Marco Ramerini's Dutch & Portuguese Colonialism site.
• The Jesuit Missions of Paraguay, Argentina, and Brazil Plans, pictures, population data, brief textual outlines. Very thorough,  set out by modern country. By R H Jackson. Powerpoint pdf file.
• San Lorenzo Martir: A Jesuit Mission in the Service of Spanish Policy This essay examines the development of a Jesuit mission established in the western part of the modern Brazilian State of Rio Grande do Sul in 1690 as set against the backdrop of Spanish geopolitical concerns in the larger region. Essay by RH Jackson.

see also casahistoria Catholic Missions in Latin America

• Slavery in Brazil: The World of the Sugar plantation The Jesuit priest Joao Antonio Andreoni (1650-1715), who came to Brazil in 1667 and spent the rest of his life there, wrote a valuable account of the agricultural and mineral resources of the colony. His book, published in Lisbon in 1711, was promptly suppressed by the Portuguese government on the ground that the information it contained might prove helpful to Portugal's European rivals.
• Slave Trade to Rio de Janeiro, 1795-1811 Provides access to the raw data and documentation which contains information on: records of slave ship movement to Rio de Janeiro. (Slow to load)
• A Third World in the New: African Slaves in Portuguese America by Richard Graham, University of Texas at Austin (Also in Spanish: Un Tercer Mundo en el Nuevo Mundo: los Esclavos Africanos en la América Portuguesa)
• Brazilian Slavery and Emancipation Straightforward account from Historical Text Archive 

Dutch & French

• The Dutch in Brazil detailed look at Dutch settlements of the Dutch West-India Company (in Dutch: “Geoctroyeerde West-Indische Compagnie” or WIC). Part of a huge site focussed on Dutch trading companies, worldwide. Includes history of fort Oranje (Orange), Itamaracá: a Dutch fortress in Brazil.
• The French in Brazil: Saint-Alexis, Rio de Janeiro and Sao Luis do Maranhao. Well presented from from Marco Ramerini's Dutch & Portuguese Colonialism site

• Kingdom of Portugal & Brazil, 1815-21 Outline from US Library of Congress
• The Movement for Independence Clear essays from the (bilingual) The United States and Brazil: Expanding Frontiers, Comparing Cultures site of the US Library of Congress. Well presented with links to themes and documents. Includes sections on:
  • The National Identity;
  • The Minas Conspiracy for Independence;
  • Sciences and the Arts;
  • Dom João; VI;
  • "Independence or Death";
  • Dom Pedro I ;
  • Development of the Middle Class;
  • Jefferson's Letters on Brazilian Independence
• Independence Straightforward account from Historical Text Archive 
• from Armed Conflict Events Data site:
  • Pernambuccan Revolution 1817
  • Portugese Liberal Agitation 1817
  • Annexation of the Banda Oriental 1819
  • Brazilian Liberal Revolt 1821
  • Brazilian Independence 1821-25

Patrick Wilcken: Empire Adrift, The Portuguese Court in Rio de Janeiro, 1808-1821 Did you know the Portuguese Royal Court all up-sticked and headed for Rio during the Napoleonic Wars? This explains the why's and how's. A good read, describing the growth of Rio - as well as the duplicitous role of Britain. This may have been where Britain first began to influence latin American internal politics through the back door. Jan'06 (***)

 

 

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5. Independence & Empire, 1821-1889 

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Political narrative and overview

• Brazil  Country Study: US Library of Congress. Links to key sections:
  • The Empire, 1822-89
  • Emperor Pedro I, 1822-31
  • The Regency Era, 1831-40
  • The Second Empire, 1840-89
• 1821-1889 by Donald J. Mabry Straightforward account from Historical Text Archive 
• History of Brazil - Century XVIII and XIX from Brazil travel Despite its name, this site provides a thorough history chronology & outline in detail complete with useful cross links to other sites.
• 19th Century by Sarwat Shafiq Mahmood  Straightforward account from Historical Text Archive 
• The Imperial Period Clear essays from the (bilingual) The United States and Brazil: Expanding Frontiers, Comparing Cultures site of the US Library of Congress. Well presented with links to themes and documents. Includes sections on:
  • Dom Pedro II
  • Dom Pedro II and America
  • Princess Isabel
  • Coffee and Rubber
• The Triple Alliance War and the Positivist Tide