Brazil history part 10 . Years 1530 -1549, Brazilian history

First settlements in Brazil

Cabral's voyage was soon followed by other Portuguese expeditions. The most exploitable wealth they found was a wood that produced red and purple dyes, pau-brasil (from which the country derived its name). Organised occupation only began in 1530, when Portugal sent out the first colonists with domestic animals, plants and seeds to establish permanent settlements.

The existing small enclaves in the brazilian north-east were consolidated.

São Vicente on the coast of the modern State of São Paulo was founded in 1532, and the city of Salvador, later chosen as the seat of the Governors General, followed in 1549.

The land was sparsely inhabited by indigenous tribes, some peaceful and others–especially in the interior–fierce and warlike.

As more of the land was settled, a system of administration became necessary.

As a first step, the Portuguese Crown created a number of hereditary fiefs, or captaincies. Fourteen of these captaincies, some larger than Portugal itself, were established in the mid-16th century, and the beneficiaries, called donatários, were responsible for their defence and development.

The captaincy system lasted long enough to influence the basic territorial and political pattern of modern Brazil.

The moist and fertile seaboard of what is now the State of Pernambuco was very suitable for growing sugar and was also conveniently located as a port of call for sailing ships travelling from Portugal to West Africa and the Orient. The sugar plant and the technique of its cultivation had reached Brazil from Madeira.

A trade in slaves to work on the sugar plantations was soon developed. During this period large numbers of slaves, mostly from West Africa, were sent to Brazil.

The sugar was exported to markets in Europe where rising demand was beginning to outrun supplies from traditional sources.