HISTORY

the portuguese in brazil. brazil was discovered in february 1499 (o.s.) by vicente yanez pinzon, a companion of columbus. he descried the land near cape st augustine, and sailed along the coast as far as the river amazon, whence he proceeded to the mouth of the orinoco. he made no settlement, but took possession of the country in the name of the spanish government, and carried home, as specimens of its natural productions, some drugs, gems and brazil-wood. next year the portuguese commander, pedro alvares cabral, appointed by his monarch to follow the course of vasco da gama in the east, was driven by adverse winds so far from his track, that he reached the brazilian coast, april 24, and anchored in porto seguro (16 deg. s. lat.) on good friday. on easter day an altar was erected, mass celebrated in presence of the natives, the country declared an apanage of portugal, and a stone cross erected in commemoration of the event. cabral despatched a small vessel to lisbon to announce his discovery, and, without forming any settlement, proceeded to india on the 3rd of may. on the arrival of the news in portugal, emanuel invited amerigo vespucci to enter his service, and despatched him with three vessels to explore the country. the navigator's first voyage was unsuccessful; but, according to his own account, in a second he discovered a safe port, to which he gave the name of all-saints and where he erected a small fort. vespucci's narrative is, however, suspected of being apocryphal (see vespucci, amerigo). the poor and barbarous tribes of brazil, and their country, the mineral riches of which were not immediately discovered, offered but few attractions to a government into the coffers of which the wealth of india and africa was flowing. for nearly thirty years the kings of portugal paid no further attention to their newly-acquired territory than what consisted, in combating the attempts of the spaniards to occupy it, and dispersing the private adventurers from france who sought its shores for the purposes of commerce. the colonization of brazil was prosecuted, however, by subjects of the portuguese monarchy, who traded thither chiefly for brazil-wood. the government also sought to make criminals of some use to the state, by placing them in a situation where they could do little harm to society, and might help to uphold the dominion of their nation. first organization in brazil. the first attempt on the part of a portuguese monarch to introduce an organized government into his dominions was made by john iii. he adopted a plan which had been found to succeed well in madeira and the azores,--dividing the country into hereditary captaincies, and granting them to such persons as were willing to undertake their settlement, with unlimited powers of jurisdiction, both civil and criminal. each captaincy extended along fifty leagues of coast. the boundaries in the interior were undefined. the first settlement made under this new system was that of sao vicente piratininga, in the present province of sao paulo. martim affonso de sousa, having obtained a grant, fitted out a considerable armament and proceeded to explore the country in person. he began to survey the coast about rio de janeiro, to which he gave that name, because he discovered it on the 1st of january 1531. he proceeded south as far as la plata, naming the places he surveyed on the way from the days on which the respective discoveries were made. he fixed upon an island in 24-1/2 deg. s. lat., called by the natives guaibe, for his settlement. the goagnazes, or prevailing tribe of indians in that neighbourhood, as soon as they discovered the intentions of the new-comers to fix themselves permanently there, collected for the purpose of expelling them. fortunately, however, a shipwrecked portuguese, who had lived many years under the protection of the principal chief, was successful in concluding a treaty of perpetual alliance between his countrymen and the natives. finding the spot chosen for the new town inconvenient, the colonists removed to the adjoining island of sao vicente, from which the captaincy derived its name. cattle and the sugar-cane were at an early period introduced from madeira, and here the other captaincies supplied themselves with both. pero lopes de sousa received the grant of a captaincy, and set sail from portugal at the same time as his brother, the founder of sao vicente. he chose to have his fifty leagues in two allotments. that to which he gave the name of santo amaro adjoined sao vicente, the two towns being only three leagues asunder. the other division lay much nearer to the line between parahyba and pernambuco. he experienced considerable difficulty in founding this second colony, from the strenuous opposition of a neighbouring tribe, the petiguares; at length he succeeded in clearing his lands of them, but not long afterwards he perished by shipwreck. rio de janeiro was not settled till a later period; and for a considerable time the nearest captaincy to santo amaro, sailing along the coast northwards, was that of espirito santo. it was founded by vasco fernandes coutinho, who having acquired a large fortune in india, sank it in this scheme of colonization. he carried with him no less than sixty fidalgos. they named their town by anticipation, our lady of the victory (victoria); but it cost them some hard fighting with the goagnazes to justify the title. pedro de campo tourinho, a nobleman and excellent navigator, received a grant of the adjoining captaincy of porto seguro. this, it will be remembered, is the spot where cabral first took possession of brazil. the tupinoquins at first offered some opposition; but having made peace, they observed it faithfully, notwithstanding that the oppression of the portuguese obliged them to forsake the country. sugar-works were established, and considerable quantities of the produce exported to the mother country. jorge de figueiredo, _escrivam da fazenda_, was the first donatory of the captaincy ilheos, 140 m. south of bahia. his office preventing him from taking possession in person, he deputed the task to francisco romeiro, a castilian. the tupinoquins, the most tractable of the brazilian tribes, made peace with the settlers, and the colony was founded without a struggle. the coast from the rio sao francisco to bahia was granted to francisco pereira coutinho; the bay itself, with all its creeks, was afterwards added to the grant. when coutinho formed his establishment, where villa velha now stands, he found a noble portuguese living in the neighbourhood who, having been shipwrecked, had, by means of his fire-arms, raised himself to the rank of chief among the natives. he was surrounded by a patriarchal establishment of wives and children; and to him most of the distinguished families of bahia still trace their lineage. the regard entertained by the natives for caramuru (signifying _man of fire_) induced them to extend a hospitable welcome to his countrymen, and for a time everything went on well. coutinho had, however, learned in india to be an oppressor, and the tupinambas were the fiercest and most powerful of the native tribes. the portuguese were obliged to abandon their settlement; but several of them returned at a later period, with caramuru, and thus a european community was established in the district. some time before the period at which these captaincies were established, a factory had been planted at pernambuco. a ship from marseilles took it, and left seventy men in it as a garrison; but she was captured on her return, and carried into lisbon, and immediate measures were taken for reoccupying the place. the captaincy of pernambuco was granted to don duarte coelho pereira as the reward of his services in india. it extended along the coast from the rio sao francisco, northward to the rio de juraza. duarte sailed with his wife and children, and many of his kinsmen, to take possession, of his new colony, and landed in the port of pernambuco. to the town which was there founded he gave the name of olinda. the cabetes, who possessed the soil, were fierce and pertinacious; and, assisted by the french, who traded to that coast, coelho had to gain by inches what was granted him by leagues. the portuguese managed, however, to beat off their enemies; and, having entered into an alliance with the tobayanes, followed up their success. attempts were made about this time to establish two other captaincies, but without success. pedro de goes obtained a grant of the captaincy of parahyba between those of sao vicente and espirito santo; but his means were too feeble to enable him to make head against the aborigines, and the colony was broken up after a painful struggle of seven years. joao de barros, the historian, obtained the captaincy of maranhao. for the sake of increasing his capital, he divided his grant with fernao alvares de andrade and aires da cunha. they projected a scheme of conquest and colonization upon a large scale. nine hundred men, of whom one hundred and thirteen were horsemen, embarked in ten ships under the command of aires da cunha. but the vessels were wrecked upon some shoals about one hundred leagues to the south of maranhao; the few survivors, after suffering immense hardships, escaped to the nearest settlements, and the undertaking was abandoned. by these adventures the whole line of brazilian coast, from the mouth of la plata to the mouth of the amazon, had become studded at intervals with portuguese settlements, in all of which law and justice were administered, however inadequately. it is worthy of observation, that brazil was the first colony founded in america upon an agricultural principle, for until then the precious metals were the exclusive attraction. sufficient capital was attracted between the year 1531 (in which de sousa founded the first captaincy) and the year 1548 to render these colonies an object of importance to the mother country. their organization, however, in regard to their means of defence against both external aggression and internal violence, was extremely defective. their territories were surrounded and partly occupied by large tribes of savages. behind them the spaniards, who had an establishment at asuncion, had penetrated almost to the sources of the waters of paraguay, and had succeeded in establishing communication with peru. orellana, on the other hand, setting out from peru, had crossed the mountains and sailed down the amazon. nor had the french abandoned their hopes of effecting an establishment on the coast. the obvious remedy for these evils was to concentrate the executive power, to render the petty chiefs amenable to one tribunal, and to confide the management of the defensive force to one hand. in order to this the powers of the several captains were revoked, whilst their property in their grants was reserved to them. a governor-general was appointed, with full powers, civil and criminal. the judicial and financial functions in each province were vested in the _ouvidor_, whose authority in the college of finance was second only to that of the governor. every colonist was enrolled either in the _milicias_ or _ordenanzas_. the former were obliged to serve beyond the boundaries of the province, the latter only at home. the chief cities received municipal constitutions, as in portugal. thome de sousa was the first person nominated to the important post of governor-general. he was instructed to build a strong city in bahia and to establish there the seat of his government. in pursuance of his commission he arrived at bahia in april 1549, with a fleet of six vessels, on board of which were three hundred and twenty persons in the king's pay, four hundred convicts and about three hundred free colonists. care had been taken for the spiritual wants of the provinces by associating six jesuits with the expedition. first jesuit missions. old caramuru, who still survived, rendered the governor essential service by gaining for his countrymen the goodwill of the natives. the new city, to which the name of sao salvador was given, was established on the heights above the bay of all saints (todos os santos), from which its later name of bahia is taken. within four months one hundred houses were built, and surrounded by a mud wall. sugar plantations were laid out in the vicinity. during the four years of sousa's government there were sent out at different times supplies of all kinds. female orphans of noble families were given in marriage to the officers, and portioned from the royal estates, and orphan boys were sent to be educated by the jesuits. the capital rose rapidly in importance, and the captaincies learned to regard it as a common head and centre of wealth. meanwhile the jesuits undertook the moral and religious culture of the natives, and of the scarcely less savage colonists. strong opposition was at first experienced from the gross ignorance of the indians, and the depravity of the portuguese, fostered by the licentious encouragement of some abandoned priests who had found their way to brazil. over these persons the jesuits had no authority; and it was not until the arrival of the first bishop of brazil in 1552, that anything like an efficient check was imposed upon them. next year sousa was succeeded by duarte da costa, who brought with him a reinforcement of jesuits, at the head of whom was luis de gran, appointed, with nobrega the chief of the first mission, joint provincial of brazil. nobrega's first act was one which has exercised the most beneficial influence over the social system of brazil, namely, the establishment of a college on the then unreclaimed plains of piratininga. it was named sao paulo, and has been at once the source whence knowledge and civilization have been diffused through brazil, and the nucleus of a colony of its manliest and hardiest citizens, which sent out successive swarms of hardy adventurers to people the interior. the good intentions of the jesuits were in part frustrated by the opposition of costa the governor; and it was not until 1558, when mem de sa was sent out to supersede him, that their projects were allowed free scope. settlement of rio de janeiro. rio de janeiro was first occupied by french settlers. nicholas durand de villegagnon, a bold and skilful seaman, having visited brazil, saw at once the advantages which might accrue his country from a settlement there. in order to secure the interest of coligny, he gave out that his projected colony was intended to serve as a place of refuge for the persecuted huguenots. under the patronage of that admiral, he arrived at rio de janeiro in 1558 with a train of numerous and respectable colonists. as soon, however, as he thought his power secure, he threw off the mask, and began to harass and oppress the huguenots by every means he could devise. many of them were forced by his tyranny to return to france; and ten thousand protestants, ready to embark for the new colony, were deterred by their representations. villegagnon, finding his force much diminished in consequence of his treachery, sailed for france in quest of recruits; and during his absence the portuguese governor, by order of his court, attacked and dispersed the settlement. for some years the french kept up a kind of bush warfare; but in 1567 the portuguese succeeded in establishing a settlement at rio. mem de sa continued to hold the reins of government in brazil upon terms of the best understanding with the clergy, and to the great advantage of the colonies, for fourteen years. on the expiration of his power, which was nearly contemporary with that of his life, an attempt was made to divide brazil into two governments; but this having failed, the territory was reunited in 1578, the year in which diego laurenco da veiga was appointed governor. at this time the colonies, although not yet independent of supplies from the mother country, were in a flourishing condition; but the usurpation of the crown of portugal by philip ii. changed the aspect of affairs. brazil, believed to be inferior to the spanish possessions in mines, was consequently abandoned in comparative neglect for the period intervening between 1578 and 1640, during which it continued an apanage of spain. english and french aggressions. no sooner had brazil passed under the spanish crown, than english adventurers directed their hostile enterprises against its shores. in 1586 witherington plundered bahia; in 1591 cavendish made an abortive attack on santos; in 1595 lancaster attacked olinda. these exploits, however, were transient in their effects. in 1612 the french attempted to found a permanent colony in the island of marajo, where they succeeded in maintaining themselves till 1618. this attempt led to the erection of maranhao and para into a separate _estado_. but it was on the part of the dutch that the most skilful and pertinacious efforts were made for securing a footing in brazil; and they alone of all the rivals of the portuguese have left traces of their presence in the national spirit and institutions of brazil. struggle with the dutch. the success of the dutch east india company led to the establishment of a similar one for the west indies, to which a monopoly of the trade to america and africa was granted. this body despatched in 1624 a fleet against bahia. the town yielded almost without a struggle. the fleet soon after sailed, a squadron being detached against angola, with the intention of taking possession of that colony, in order to secure a supply of slaves. the fall of bahia for once roused the spaniards and portuguese to joint action, and a great expedition speedily sailed from cadiz and lisbon for bahia. once more, though strongly garrisoned, the town was retaken without any serious fighting in may 1625. the honours bestowed upon the indian chiefs for their assistance in this war broke down in a great measure the barrier between the two races; and there is at this day a greater admixture of their blood among the better classes in bahia than is to be found elsewhere in brazil. dutch settlement in brazil. in 1630 the dutch attempted again to effect a settlement; and olinda, with its port, the recife-olinda, was destroyed, but the recife was fortified and held, reinforcements and supplies being sent by sea from holland. the dutch were unable, however, to extend their power beyond the limits of the town, until the arrival of count john maurice of nassau-siegen in 1636. his first step was to introduce a regular government among his countrymen; his second, to send to the african coast one of his officers, who took possession of a portuguese settlement, and thus secured a supply of slaves. in the course of eight years, the limited period of his government, he succeeded in asserting the dutch supremacy along the coast of brazil from the mouth of sao francisco to maranhao. the recife was rebuilt and adorned with splendid residences and gardens and received from its founder the name of mauritstad. he promoted the amalgamation of the different races, and sought to conciliate the portuguese by the confidence he reposed in them. his object was to found a great empire; but this was a project at variance with the wishes of his employers--an association of merchants, who were dissatisfied because the wealth which they expected to see flowing into their coffers was expended in promoting the permanent interests of a distant country. count maurice resigned his post in 1644. his successors possessed neither his political nor his military talents, and had to contend with more difficult circumstances. in 1640 the revolution which placed the house of braganza on the throne of portugal restored brazil to masters more inclined to promote its interests and assert its possession than the spaniards. it was indeed high time that some exertion should be made. the northern provinces had fallen into the power of holland; the southern, peopled in a great measure by the hardy descendants of the successive colonists who had issued on all sides from the central establishment of sao paulo, had learned from their habits of unaided and successful enterprise to court independence. they had ascended the waters of the paraguay to their sources. they had extended their limits southwards till they reached the spanish settlements of la plata. they had reduced to slavery numerous tribes of the natives. they were rich in cattle, and had commenced the discovery of the mines. when, therefore, the inhabitants of sao paulo saw themselves about to be transferred, as a dependency of portugal, from one master to another, they conceived the idea of erecting their country into an independent state. their attempt, however, was frustrated by amador bueno, the person whom they had selected for their king. when the people shouted "long live king amador," he cried out "long live john iv.," and took refuge in a convent. the multitude, left without a leader, acquiesced, and this important province was secured to the house of braganza. revolt against the dutch. french expedition to brazil, 1710. rio and santos, although both evinced a desire of independence, followed the example of the paulistas. bahia, as capital of the brazilian states, felt that its ascendancy depended upon the union with portugal. the government, thus left in quiet possession of the rest of brazil, had time to concentrate its attention upon the dutch conquests. the crown of portugal was, however, much too weak to adopt energetic measures. but the brazilian colonists, now that the mother country had thrown off the spanish yoke, determined even without assistance from the homeland to rise in revolt against foreign domination. the departure of count maurice, moreover, had seriously weakened the position of the dutch, for his successors had neither his conciliatory manners nor his capacity. joao fernandes vieyra, a native of madeira, organized the insurrection which broke out in 1645. this insurrection gave birth to one of those wars in which a whole nation, destitute of pecuniary resources, military organization and skilful leaders, but familiar with the country, is opposed to a handful of soldiers advantageously posted and well officered. but home difficulties and financial necessities prevented the west india company from sending adequate reinforcements from holland. in 1649 a rival company was started in portugal known as the brazil company, which sent out a fleet to help the colonists in pernambuco. slowly the dutch lost ground and the outbreak of war with england sounded the knell of their dominion in brazil. in 1654 their capital and last stronghold fell into the hands of vieyra. it was not, however, till 1662 that holland signed a treaty with portugal, by which all territorial claims in brazil were abandoned in exchange for a cash indemnity and certain commercial privileges. after this, except some inroads on the frontiers, the only foreign invasion which brazil had to suffer was from france. in 1710 a squadron, commanded by duclerc, disembarked 1000 men, and attacked rio de janeiro. after having lost half of his men in a battle, duclerc and all his surviving companions were made prisoners. the governor treated them cruelly. a new squadron with 6000 troops was entrusted to the famous admiral duguay trouin to revenge this injury. they arrived at rio on the 12th of september 1711. after four days of hard fighting the town was taken. the governor retreated to a position out of it, and was only awaiting reinforcements from minas to retake it; but, duguay trouin threatening to burn it, he was obliged on the 10th of october to sign a capitulation, and pay to the french admiral 610,000 crusados, 500 cases of sugar, and provisions for the return of the fleet to europe. duguay trouin departed to bahia to obtain fresh spoils; but having lost in a storm two of his best ships, with an important part of the money received, he renounced this plan and returned directly to france. after this the portuguese governed their colony undisturbed. the approach of foreign traders was prohibited, while the regalities reserved by the crown drained the country of a great proportion of its wealth. the important part which the inhabitants of sao paulo have played in the history of brazil has been already adverted to. the establishment of the jesuit college had attracted settlers to its neighbourhood, and frequent marriages had taken place between the indians of the district and the colonists. a hardy and enterprising race of men had sprung from this mixture, who, first searching whether their new country were rich in metals, soon began adventurous raids into the interior, making excursions also against the remote indian tribes with a view to obtaining slaves, and from the year 1629 onwards repeatedly attacked the indian reductions of the jesuits in paraguay, although both provinces were then nominally subject to the crown of spain. other bands penetrated into minas and still farther north and westward, discovering mines there and in goyaz and cuyaba. new colonies were thus formed round those districts in which gold had been found, and in the beginning of the 18th century five principal settlements in minas geraes had been elevated by royal charter to the privileges of towns. in 1720 this district was separated from sao paulo, to which it had previously been dependent. as early as 1618 a code of laws for the regulation of the mining industry had been drawn up by philip iii., the executive and judicial functions in the mining districts being vested in a _provedor_, and the fiscal in a treasurer, who received the royal fifths and superintended the weighing of all the gold, rendering a yearly account of all discoveries and produce. for many years, however, these laws were little more than a dead letter. the same infatuated passion for mining speculation which had characterized the spanish settlers in south america now began to actuate the portuguese; labourers and capital were drained off to the mining districts, and brazil, which had hitherto in great measure supplied europe with sugar, sank before the competition of the english and french. a new source of wealth was now opened up; some adventurers from villa do principe in minas, going north to the seria frio, made the discovery of diamonds about the year 1710, but it was not till 1730 that the discovery was for the first time announced to the government, which immediately declared them _regalia_. while the population of brazil continued to increase, the moral and intellectual culture of its inhabitants was left in great measure to chance; they grew up with those robust and healthy sentiments which are engendered by the absence of false teachers, but with a repugnance to legal ordinances, and encouraged in their ascendancy over the indians to habits of violence and oppression. the jesuits from the first moment of their landing in brazil had constituted themselves the protectors of the natives, and though strenuously opposed by the colonists and ordinary clergy, had gathered the indians together in many _aldeas_, over which officials of their order exercised spiritual and temporal authority. a more efficacious stop, however, was put to the persecution of the indians by the importation of large numbers of negroes from the portuguese possessions in africa, these being found more active and serviceable than the native tribes. reforms of pombal. the portuguese government, under the administration of carvalho, afterwards marquis of pombal, attempted to extend to brazil the bold spirit of innovation which directed all his efforts. the proud minister had been resisted in his plans of reform at home by the jesuits, and, determining to attack the power of the order, first deprived them of all temporal power in the state of maranhao and para. these ordinances soon spread to the whole of brazil, and a pretext being found in the suspicion of jesuit influence in some partial revolts of the indian troops on the rio negro, the order was expelled from brazil under circumstances of great severity in 1760. the brazilian company founded by vieyra, which so materially contributed to preserve its south american possessions to portugal, had been abolished in 1721 by john v.; but such an instrument being well suited to the bold spirit of pombal, he established a chartered company again in 1755, to trade exclusively with maranhao and para; and in 1759, in spite of the remonstrance of the british factory at lisbon, formed another company for parahyba and pernambuco. pombal's arrangements extended also to the interior of the country, where he extinguished at once the now indefinite and oppressive claims of the original donatories of the captaincies, and strengthened and enforced the regulations of the mining districts. the policy of many of pombal's measures is more than questionable; but his admission of all races to equal rights in the eye of the law, his abolition of feudal privileges, and the firmer organization of the powers of the land which he introduced, powerfully co-operated towards the development of the capabilities of brazil. yet on the death of his king and patron in 1777, when court intrigue forced him from his high station, he who had done so much for his country's institutions was reviled on all hands. the most important feature in the history of brazil during the first thirty years following the retirement of pombal was the conspiracy of minas in 1789. the successful issue of the recent revolution of the english colonies in north america had filled the minds of some of the more educated youth of that province; and in imitation, a project to throw off the portuguese yoke was formed,--a cavalry officer, silva xavier, nicknamed tira-dentes (tooth-drawer), being the chief conspirator. but the plot being discovered during their inactivity, the conspirators were banished to africa, and tira-dentes, the leader, was hanged. thenceforward affairs went on prosperously; the mining districts continued to be enlarged; the trading companies of the littoral provinces were abolished, but the impulse they had given to agriculture remained. portuguese royal family in brazil, 1807. reorganization on portuguese model. removed from all communication with the rest of the world except through the mother country, brazil remained unaffected by the first years of the great revolutionary war in europe. indirectly, however, the fate of this isolated country was decided by the consequences of the french revolution. brazil is the only instance of a colony becoming the seat of the government of its own mother country, and this was the work of napoleon. when he resolved upon the invasion and conquest of portugal, the prince regent, afterwards dom john vi., having no means of resistance, decided to take refuge in brazil. he created a regency in lisbon, and departed for brazil on the 29th of november 1807, accompanied by the queen donna maria i., the royal family, all the great officers of state, a large part of the nobility and numerous retainers. they arrived at bahia on the 21st of january 1808, and were received with enthusiasm. the regent was requested to establish there the seat of his government, but a more secure asylum presented itself in rio de janeiro, where the royal fugitives arrived on the 7th of march. before leaving bahia, dom john took the first step to emancipate brazil, opening its ports to foreign commerce, and permitting the export of all brazilian produce under any flag, the royal monopolies of diamonds and brazil-wood excepted. once established in rio de janeiro, the government of the regent was directed to the creation of an administrative machinery for the dominions that remained to him as it existed in portugal. besides the ministry which had come with the regent, the council of state, and the departments of the four ministries of home, finances, war and marine then existing, there were created in the course of one year a supreme court of justice, a board of patronage and administration of the property of the church and military orders, an inferior court of appeal, the court of exchequer and royal treasury, the royal mint, bank of brazil, royal printing-office, powder-mills on a large scale, and a supreme military court. the maintenance of the court, and the salaries of so large a number of high officials, entailed the imposition of new taxes to meet these expenses. notwithstanding this the expenses continued to augment, and the government had recourse to the reprehensible measure of altering the money standard, and the whole monetary system was soon thrown into the greatest confusion. the bank, in addition to its private functions, farmed many of the _regalia_, and was in the practice of advancing large sums to the state, transactions which gave rise to extensive corruption, and terminated some years later in the breaking of the bank. thus the government of the prince regent began its career in the new world with dangerous errors in the financial system; yet the increased activity which a multitude of new customers and the increase of circulating medium gave to the trade of rio, added a new stimulus to the industry of the whole nation. numbers of english artisans and shipbuilders, swedish iron-founders, german engineers and french manufacturers sought fortunes in the new country, and diffused industry by their example. in the beginning of 1809, in retaliation for the occupation of portugal, an expedition was sent from para to the french colony of guiana, and after some fighting this part of guiana was incorporated with brazil. this conquest was, however, of short duration; for, by the treaty of vienna in 1815, the colony was restored to france. its occupation contributed to the improvement of agriculture in brazil; it had been the policy of portugal up to this time to separate the productions of its colonies, to reserve sugar for brazil, and spices to the east indies, and to prohibit the cultivation of these in the african possessions. now, however, many plants were imported not only from guiana but from india and africa, cultivated in the royal botanic garden, and thence distributed. the same principle which dictated the conquest of french guiana originated attempts to seize the spanish colonies of montevideo and buenos aires, portugal being also at war with spain. the chiefs of these colonies were invited to place them under the protection of the portuguese crown, but these at first affecting loyalty to spain declined the offer, then threw off the mask and declared themselves independent, and the spanish governor, elio, was afterwards defeated by artigas, the leader of the independents. brazil declared an integral portion of the monarchy. the inroads made on the frontiers of rio grande and sao paulo decided the court of rio to take possession of montevideo; a force of 5000 troops was sent thither from portugal, together with a brazilian corps; and the irregulars of artigas, unable to withstand disciplined troops, were forced, after a total defeat, to take refuge beyond the river uruguay. the portuguese took possession of the city of montevideo in january 1817, and the territory of misiones was afterwards occupied. the importance which brazil was acquiring decided the regent to give it the title of kingdom, and by decree of the 16th january 1815, the portuguese sovereignty thenceforward took the title of the united kingdom of portugal, brazil and algarves. thus the old colonial government disappeared even in name. in march 1816 the queen donna maria i. died, and the prince regent became king under the title of dom john vi. pedro proclaims the independence of brazil, 1822. although brazil had now become in fact the head of its own mother country, the government was not in the hands of brazilians, but of the portuguese, who had followed the court. the discontent arising among brazilians from this cause was heightened by a decree assigning a heavy tax on the chief brazilian custom houses, to be in operation for forty years, for the benefit of the portuguese noblemen who had suffered during the war with france. the amiable character of the king preserved his own popularity, but the government was ignorant and profligate, justice was ill administered, negligence and disorder reigned in all its departments. nor was the discontent less in portugal on account of its anomalous position. these causes and the fermentation of liberal principles produced by the french revolution originated a conspiracy in lisbon in 1817, which was, however, discovered in time to prevent its success. a similar plot and rebellion took place in the province of pernambuco, where the inhabitants of the important commercial city of recife (pernambuco) were jealous of rio and the sacrifices they were compelled to make for the support of the luxurious court there. another conspiracy to establish a republican government was promptly smothered in bahia, and the outbreak in pernambuco was put down after a republic had been formed there for ninety days. still the progress of the republican spirit in brazil caused dom joao to send to portugal for bodies of picked troops, which were stationed throughout the provincial capitals. in portugal the popular discontent produced the revolution of 1820, when representative government was proclaimed--the spanish constitution of 1812 being provisionally adopted. in rio, the portuguese troops with which the king had surrounded himself as the defence against the liberal spirit of the brazilians, took up arms on the 26th of february 1821, to force him to accept the system proclaimed in portugal. the prince dom pedro, heir to the crown, who now for the first time took part in public affairs, actively exerted himself as a negotiator between the king and the troops, who were joined by bodies of the people. after attempting a compromise the king finally submitted, took the oath and named a new ministry. the idea of free government filled the people with enthusiasm, and the principles of a representative legislature were freely adopted, the first care being for the election of deputies to the cortes of lisbon to take part in framing the new constitution. as the king could not abandon portugal to itself he determined at first to send the prince thither as regent, but dom pedro had acquired such popularity by his conduct in the revolution, and had exhibited such a thirst for glory, that the king feared to trust his adventurous spirit in europe, and decided to go himself. the brazilian deputies on arriving in lisbon expressed dissatisfaction with the cortes for having begun the framing of the constitution before their arrival, for brazil could not be treated as a secondary part of the monarchy. sharp discussions and angry words passed between the brazilian and portuguese deputies, the news of which excited great discontent in brazil. an insulting decree was passed in the cortes, ordering the prince dom pedro to come to europe, which filled the brazilians with alarm; they foresaw that without a central authority the country would fall back to its former colonial state subject to portugal. the provisional government of sao paulo, influenced by the brothers andrada, began a movement for independence by asking the prince to disobey the cortes and remain in brazil, and the council of rio de janeiro followed with a similar representation, to which the prince assented. the portuguese troops of the capital at first assumed a coercive attitude, but were forced to give way before the ardour and military preparations of the brazilians, and submitted to embark for portugal. these scenes were repeated in pernambuco, where the portuguese, after various conflicts, were obliged to leave the country; in bahia, however, as well as in maranhao and para, the portuguese prevailed. in the agitation for independence continued. the two brothers andrada were called to the ministry; and the municipal council conferred upon the prince regent the title of perpetual defender of brazil. with great activity he set off to the central provinces of minas and sao paulo to suppress disaffected movements and direct the revolution. in sao paulo, on the 7th of september 1822, he proclaimed the independence of brazil. on his return to rio de janeiro on the l2th of october he was proclaimed constitutional emperor with great enthusiasm. the cortes at lisbon chose bahia as a centre for resisting the independence, and large forces were sent thither. but the city was vigorously besieged by the brazilians by land, and finally the portuguese were obliged to re-embark on the 2nd of july 1823. a brazilian squadron, under command of lord cochrane, attacked the portuguese vessels, embarrassed with troops, and took several of them. taylor, another englishman in brazilian service, followed the vessels across the atlantic, and even captured some of the ships in sight of the land of portugal. the troops in montevideo also embarked for portugal, and the banda oriental remained a part of brazil with the title of the _provincia cisplatina_. before the end of 1823 the authority of the new emperor and the independence of brazil were undisputed throughout the whole country. constitution of 1824. republican movements now began to spread, to suppress which the authorities made use of the portuguese remaining in the country; and the disposition of the emperor to consider these as his firmest supporters much influenced the course of his government and his future destiny. the two andradas, who imagined they could govern the young emperor as a sovereign of their own creation, encountered great opposition in the constitutional assembly, which had been opened in rio in may 1823, to discuss the project of a new constitution. in july the emperor resolved to dismiss them and form a new ministry, but against this the brothers raised a violent opposition. in november the emperor put an end to the angry debates which ensued in the assembly by dissolving it, exiling the andradas to france, and convoking a new assembly to deliberate on a proposed constitution more liberal than the former project. the proclamation of a republic in the provinces of pernambuco and ceara, with the rebellion of the cisplatina province, favoured by buenos aires and its ultimate loss to brazil, were the result of the _coup d'etat_ of november 1823. the brazilians were universally discontented--on one side fearing absolutism if they supported the emperor, on the other anarchy if he fell. knowing the danger of an undefined position, the emperor caused the councils to dispense with their deliberations, and adopt, as the constitution of the empire, the project framed by the council of state. accordingly, on the 25th of march 1824, the emperor swore to the constitution with great solemnity and public rejoicings. by this stroke of policy he saved himself and brazil. negotiations were opened in london between the brazilian and portuguese plenipotentiaries, treating for the recognition of the independence of brazil; and on the 25th of august 1825 a treaty was signed by which the portuguese king, dom john