Brief History of Brazil

303 Pages·2008·3.37 MB·English

by  Meade, Teresa A.

A B H
RIEF ISTORY
B
OF RAZIL
ii
A B H
RIEF ISTORY
B
OF RAZIL
T A. M
ERESA EADE
Union College
A Brief History of Brazil
Copyright © 2004 Teresa A. Meade
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or
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information storage or retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Meade, Teresa A., 1948–
A brief history of Brazil / Teresa A. Meade.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8160-4672-7 (hardcover : alk. paper)
ISBN 0-8160-5718-4 (pbk)
1. Brazil—History. I. Title.
F2521 .M517 2002
981—dc21
2002003350
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Cover design by Semadar Megged
Printed in the United States of America
MP Hermitage 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
For my mother, Magdalen Meade, a great lover of history.
Contents
List of Illustrations ix
List of Maps x
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction xiii
1 Land and People Before and After Portuguese Exploration 1
(Prehistory to 1530)
2 The Portuguese Colony (1530–1800) 19
3 Society in Early Brazil: Slavery, Patriarchy, and the Church 47
(1530–1889)
4 From Colony to Republic (1800–1889) 73
5 Constructing a Nation of Free Laborers in the 19th and 95
Early 20th Centuries
6 Society and Politics in the First Republic (1890–1930) 119
7 From Getúlio Vargas to the Military Coup (1930–1964) 141
8 From Military Dictatorship to Democracy (1964–2002) 167
9 Popular Culture: Music, Sports, and Television in Today’s 193
Brazil
10 Brazil at the Beginning of the 21st Century 221
Appendixes
1 Basic Facts About Brazil 241
2 Chronology 247
3 Bibliographic Sources 255
4 Suggested Readings 261
Index 269
List of illustrations
Peasants farming the banks of the São Francisco River xvii
Indigenous river travelers on the Amazon 10
Mission on the Amazon River, near Pará 21
City of Ouro Prêto, c. 1880 40
Port city of Salvador da Bahia, c. 18th century 44
Peddler selling women’s clothing, c. early 1800s 47
Punishment for slaves, early 19th century 53
Store in contemporary Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro 56
Plantation, c. 1800s 63
Sedan chair with curtains, 1800s 67
Construction of a sedan chair 68
Salvador da Bahia 70
Portrait of Emperor Pedro II, c. 19th century 78
Slave men and women sorting and transporting coffee beans,
c. early 19th century 80
São Paulo in the 19th century 93
Rio de Janeiro street market and fair during the Old Republic 100
Arid backlands of northeast Brazil 104
Vista of Rio de Janeiro, c. 1890 109
Rua do Ouvidor (Ouvidor Street) c. 1885 111
São Paulo’s “Little Tokyo” today 115
Machado de Assis in Rio de Janeiro shortly before his death 121
Contemporary performance of capoeira 124
Promenade along Guanabara Bay 127
Avenida Central (later Rio Branco), c. 1908 129
Child laboring in a factory, c. 1910 132
Socialist working-class newspaper announcing a May Day
rally in 1913 137
Traditional baiana (Bahian) dress 149
Statue of Getúlio Vargas 160
House in the rural areas of the frequently drought-stricken
backlands 164
Document of the National Security Archives 170
The Itaipú Hydroelectric Project 176
ix
Shacks built into an automobile overpass in Recife 178
Street vendors selling outside Gloria Church on a Sunday
morning 184
Gas station in Rio de Janeiro 190
Carmen Miranda 195
Blocos, a loose network of street musicians and dancers 197
Baiana contingent of samba school in the Carnival parade 199
Allegorical float and samba school in the Carnival parade 202
Mangueira, one of the largest favelas in Rio de Janeiro 203
Members of the travesti, or cross-dressing contingent, in the
Carnival parade 205
Soccer on Copacabana beach, Rio de Janeiro 211
Street vendors make up a broad section of the national economy
of Brazil 222
Vendor selling herbs 223
Water buffalo herd on Marajó Island in Pará 229
Ipanema Beach, Rio de Janeiro 236
List of Maps
Regions of Brazil xiii
Brazil 15
Captaincies Established by the Portuguese Crown 27
The Atlantic Slave Trade 32–33
x
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
A
s always I am indebted to my husband and fellow historian, Andor
Skotnes, who supported me with his good cheer, wise advice, and
more than his share of child entertaining so that I could finish this
book. Our mutual interest in Brazil is documented in the many pho-
tographs we took during our travels there.
I am grateful to Jane Earley for typing parts of the manuscript and
to Emily Wood and Deanna Collins for their many trips to the library to
track down sources. The staff of Union College’s Schaffer Library ren-
dered professional, efficient, and gracious assistance at every turn. Many
thanks to Erich Goode, Barbara Weinstein and H.L. Hoffenberg for pho-
tographs and to my friend, Estelle Schade, who helped me out at a cru-
cial juncture.
Claudia Schaab at Facts On File has been an outstanding editor
from the beginning to the end of this process. I am thankful to Brazilian
historians Susan Besse and Barbara Weinstein for their suggestions, to
Bert Barickman for his perceptive and detailed comments on the entire
manuscript, and to Robert Conrad for use of his translated documents.
Paulo Venancio Filho and David Fleischer provided assistance from
Brazil, clarifying details and filling me in on recent events. Finally, I want
to thank the many historians, journalists, political theorists, travelers,
economists, anthropologists, and others from Brazil and other parts of
the world for their splendid books, articles, and web pages. Without
their many insights I would never have been able to write this book.
xi