Any pre-history or early history of Brazil is unknown, but artifacts and cave paintings have been found that are 11,000 years old! However, people could have lived in Brazil as long as 30,000 years ago. The natives of Brazil, the Tupinamba Indians, lived in patrilineal villages on the East Coast. Brazil was officially discovered by the Portuguese in 1500 by Pedro Alvarez Cabral; he first landed in Port Seguro. The Portuguese were initially interested in exploiting the red wood tree (pau-brasil), but switched to plantations after the coastal forests were exhausted of trees (this is where the name “Brazil” comes from!) The Portuguese diseases killed most of the natives, so African slaves were used instead. The Jesuits as well as the bandeirantes tried to capture the remaining Indians and covert them to Christianity.

       Overall, Portugal was more interested in exploiting Brazilian resources than building a stable economy. Brazil was attacked by the French Huguenots in 1555 and the Dutch in 1633. Brazil’s economy at this point was in sugar and mining, especially the lucrative Minas Gerais mine that exported tons of gold to Portugal. In 1763, Brazil’s capital moved away from Salvador to Rio de Janeiro. Napoleon invaded Portugal in 1808, so the royal family, headed by Dom Joao IV, fled to Brazil. Rio de Janeiro was subsequently designed to be fit for a king; for example, many universities and banks were built. When Napoleon fell in 1821, Joao IV went back to Portugal and left his son, Pedro I, in Brazil. Pedro claimed independence for Brazil on September 7, 1822. Pedro I eventually abdicated power to his son, Pedro II, who oversaw the building of modern Brazil. A few wars occurred during this time including the war against the Argentine dictator Juan Manuel de Roses and the war of Triple Alliance against Paraguay in 1865. There was also an increase in railroads and coffee/rubber exports. Slavery was officially abolished by Pedro II’s daughter, Isabel, in 1888. In 1889, the monarchy was ousted out of power because of landowner and military discontent, and the republic was founded. The first president was Marshal Manuel Deodoro de Fonseca, but the most notable politician was Getulio Vargas, who came to power in 1930 by means of a military coup.


      Vargas established a central government and a dictatorship; he came to power again in 1950, but eventually shot himself in 1954 because of political and economic problems. With regard to world wars, Brazil sided with the allies in WWI and again in WWII. The wars stimulated the production of rubber and minerals. In 1955, President Kubitschek moved the capital to Brasilia. Another important president, Henrique Cardoso, reduced Brazil’s inflation and began economic reforms in 1994, but his office was plagued with corruption; he was president again in 1998 as well. In 2001-2002, there was an energy crisis in which a severe drought halted electricity and hydropower. Finally, the president Lula da Silva (2002) stabilized the Brazilian democracy, but his campaign was marred by financial scandals. He founded the Workers Party and has instituted many social reforms (i.e. campaign to eradicate hunger, Bolsa Familia, lower teenager pregnancies, and build water wells in poor, arid regions ).

       Lula's successor was Dilma Vana Rousseff, the first woman to hold the office of presidency in Brazil. She was elected in 2011 and had previously been a strong political activist against military dictatorships (she was even jailed for her outspokenness). Right now, she is working to complete a hydroelectric dam near the Amazon Basin (she was once the Minister of Energy).


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