Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Abbreviations
- List of maps
- Preface
- Maps
- 15 North Africa
- 16 Exploring the Coasts of Atlantic Africa
- 17 Engaging with Atlantic Africa
- 18 The Atlantic Islands and Fisheries
- 19 Breakthrough to Maritime Asia
- 20 Empire in the East
- 21 Informal Presence in the East
- 22 Brazil: Seizing and Keeping Possession
- 23 Formation of Colonial Brazil
- 24 Late Colonial Brazil
- 25 Holding on in India: The Late Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries
- 26 Eastern Empire in the Late Colonial Era: Peripheries
- Glossary
- Bibliography
- Index
23 - Formation of Colonial Brazil
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Abbreviations
- List of maps
- Preface
- Maps
- 15 North Africa
- 16 Exploring the Coasts of Atlantic Africa
- 17 Engaging with Atlantic Africa
- 18 The Atlantic Islands and Fisheries
- 19 Breakthrough to Maritime Asia
- 20 Empire in the East
- 21 Informal Presence in the East
- 22 Brazil: Seizing and Keeping Possession
- 23 Formation of Colonial Brazil
- 24 Late Colonial Brazil
- 25 Holding on in India: The Late Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries
- 26 Eastern Empire in the Late Colonial Era: Peripheries
- Glossary
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
TREES AND TRADERS
When Cabral's men made their first Brazilian landfall on 22 April 1500 they were confronted by a seemingly endless profusion of forest. Just how awesomely tree-rich the ‘new’ land appeared to be is made abundantly clear, both in Caminha's letter and on the famous Cantino Map. The latter shows the entire coast of Brazil from the equator southwards covered in great arboreal stands. Such an overwhelming image is understandable, for Brazil possessed the largest forests in the world with a far more extensive range of species than Europeans had ever imagined possible. Not surprisingly it was Brazilian forests that were soon providing the Portuguese with their first commercial exports from the New World.
To the Portuguese, Brazil's trees were a most welcome discovery. At the start of the sixteenth century Portugal itself was chronically short of timber, while accessible woodlands in Madeira and the Azores, which had been much exploited during the previous century, were now heavily depleted. Potential demand in Portugal for Brazilian timber and timber products – especially for ship-building, house-construction and cabinet-making – was therefore considerable. However, it was brazilwood (caesalpina echinata), the source of a deep red or purple dye much sought after in the textile industry, that became the early focus of attention. Probably it was this association that gave to ‘Brazil’ its name.
The Portuguese began extracting brazilwood from coastal forests shortly after Cabral's voyage of discovery, and the French were soon doing likewise.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- A History of Portugal and the Portuguese EmpireFrom Beginnings to 1807, pp. 232 - 262Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2009