Portugal Research Paper

Both countries have transplanted cultures: Portugal for Brazil and Great Britain for USA, but the process of colonization that started in Brazil differs from the process of colonization of the USA, for example. Europeans didn’t go to Brazil to live and develop the territory for their own benefit. Actually, they went there to explore its rich natural recourses and came back home with lots of money.

Throughout the 15th and 16th centuries, European exploration and expansion thrived. Portugal led the way in this movement of exploration with their development of efficiently built ships known as caravels, seafaring devices such as compasses and astrolabes, and cutting-edge naval academies. Various European countries, including Spain, England, France, etc., followed Portugal’s example by utilizing their progressive naval technology. These technological advancements led to the crossing of oceans and eventually the circumnavigation of the world. These Portuguese sailing techniques were implemented by explorers such as Christopher Columbus, John Cabot, Hernando Cortes, Francisco Pizarro, and Bernal Castillo allowing them to travel by sea to places such as Africa, East Asia, the Caribbean, and the Americas. These nations and explorers were persuaded to put in the time and effort to complete these complex expeditions by three essential motivations. Financial gain, political dignity, and religious expansion were fundamental motivators for the European Age of Exploration.

Portugal’s explorations of the Africa brought wealth and power for Prince Henry. It was not enough for him, so he was looking for more opportunities, especially to trade with India. His main goal was to find a sea route that connected to Asia. When Manuel took the throne, he organized a large expedition to India. After 22 days of sailing the crew landed Portugal reached their goal; they had found their long sought water route. I feel that without the advanced technology that Portugal utilized that no such route would have been found and they would have not been able to gain essential resources needed for their country to thrive.

Portugal was one of the, if not the only, technological and economic geniuses of the fifteenth century. As a result of their genius, Portugal was able to build one of the first caravels and sail around the coast of Africa in an attempt to find a sea route to India. As a result of this attempt,

The first supporting evidence for this statement is,“Portugal was too poor and rocky to support more than a modest agricultural economy. It lacked the commercial expertise and resources to break into the Italian-dominated trade of the Mediterranean.”(Page 22) This evidence stated that people wanted to travel to other places because Portugal was too poor and rocky for people to support an agricultural economy. Another supporting evidence is, “Europe was poorly endowed with gold. Many mines which had formerly produced gold were now all but exhausted; much gold had been lost to Europe through plunder and continuing trade with the East.”(Page 13) The analysis of this evidence is that Most of the gold was gone in Europe because the mines were exhausted, and Europe exchanged much of their gold to Asia to get spices, and other goods. People also wanted to travel to new places because of their technological

As early as the fifteenth century, Europeans began to become eager to discover the New World that was unknown to them. With the concerns of rapid population growth, commerce, new learning, and the rise of competing for nation states, they set out for new adventures and discovery. For a long time, Spain and Portugal were the only European powers with New World colonies.

- Because Spain and Portugal were rivals, they were always trying to out beat each other. Since the Portuguese set up trading posts in Africa first, other European countries started and later on Spain set up posts too. Because the Portuguese didn’t like taking water routes, it took them longer to get to India through land to get spices and jewels. While this was happening, the Spanish people became unified and seeing that they were now stronger, planned to outstrip their rivals of the Indian

During the 15th through 16th centuries, The Portuguese and Spanish explorers were very attracted to valuable resources, new land, and trade routes. These motives encouraged them to seek out new explorations and search for items that would benefit their home countries. Common resources that both the Spanish and Portuguese sought out included silks, porcelain, spices, persian horses, silver, and gold (Chasteen, 2001). Although the Portuguese and Spanish explored and sought out new land for many of the same reasons, they also had some different causes for exploration which were often very specific to the needs and goals of Portugal and Spain.

One of the main reasons European Exploration started snowballing is the fall of Constantinople. This reason itself is why European Exploration began. The Ottomans controlled all the sea trade in the eastern Mediterranean, Syria, Palestine, Egypt, and the rest of North Africa, and the power extended into Europe also. After the fall of the great Ottoman Empire it had sparked curiosity into European explorers to discover new sea routes, lands, and territories. They were preparing for this moment and they took full advantage of it, and that was starting with Portugal. In “Document 3” the map describes “A map of exploration routes coming from Portugal. Rulers of Portugal began to fund voyages of exploration under the rule of Prince Henry, ‘The Navigator’ a nickname earned for his interest in new navigation technologies he brought to Europe from the Arab world.” In the map it had presented the new sea routes around the southernmost tip of Africa because they were attempting to find new routes to Asia. If the fall of Constantinople never happened and they remained with their power, the exploration would have never started up. Europe still would’ve been isolated in the Dark Ages with poverty, death, and overall a corrupt

From 1580 to 1640, the throne of Portugal was held by the Habsburg kings of Spain. This period marked a phase of decline for the Portuguese Empire. Spain's enemies, such as the Netherlands and England, coveted their overseas wealth, and in many cases found it easier to attack poorly-defended Portuguese outposts than Spanish ones; Spain also pursued a policy of neglect of the Portuguese colonies it now controlled. Although Dutch colonies in Brazil were wiped out, over the 17th century the Dutch were able to occupy Ceylon, the Cape of Good Hope, and the East Indies, and to take over the trade with Japan at Nagasaki. Portugal's Pacific territories were reduced to the bases at Macao and East Timor.

European colonialism changed the economy in Brazil drastically. The country went basically from hunters and gatherers to a major source of goods for exports do largely to the Portuguese. Portugal explored Brazil because of the European commercial expansion of the fifteen and sixteenth centuries. Portugal began in the fifteenth century to search for other routes to the sources of goods valued in European markets. At first the Portuguese did not find mineral riches in their American colony, but did not lose hope. The Portuguese had to defend the Brazil from European intruders, they did this by establishing a pioneer colonial enterprise. They began to produce sugar, and then in 1531 cattle began to arrive in Brazil, and developed quickly as an industry. The cattle developed to the needs of the sugar industry for transportation and food for the workers. (5)

Portugal is located in Europe, it covers 91,470 square kilometers and 620 square kilometers of water. Portugal became or emerged as a country in 1143. The population of Portugal is 10,610,486. Portugal’s history can be traced back to 1000 BCE to the Phoenicians, the seafaring people who settled in the southern coast. Portugal has been colonized by Celtic tribes, Romans Vandals, Visigoths and Arabs. Portugal led the world in exploration primarily to find a sea route to India which held a monopoly in the profitable spice trade. Portugal went on to establish many colonies and create its own copyright. Brazil was discovered in 1500 and became Portugal’s richest colony. Portugal also happens to be where famous Soccer player, Cristiano Ronaldo, is from; he is said to have been the highest paid soccer player of all time from Portugal.

The origin of Portugal is fascinating. The name Portugal is derived from a Roman or

Vasco da Gama's revolutionary sea expedition to India is one of the most crucial moments in the entire history of exploration. Till the middle of 15th century, Portugal was the foremost seafaring country in Europe. King Manuel I: the ruler of Portugal hired about four ships for the voyage around Africa to the legendary land of India. King Manuel I knew that India was a huge cradle of variety of spices, which were extremely rare to see in other places and moreover they were pretty expensive in Europe. The king had also noticed that the Muslim merchants transported the spices by caravans through Arabian deserts and sold them in the markets of the Mediterranean ports. King Manuel I expected a new sea route to India, as that would enable him to import spices directly. This achievement was very important for Portugal as they could trade and earn money a lot of money from it. India was filled with spices: Pepper was a very common and the most used spice, it was used to preserve food and to flavor spoiled meat. Pepper was originated from Cochin and Malabar Coast in India. Cloves and cinnamon were equally used. They were used for keeping the food hygienic and ventilated. They were also sprinkled across the floor to avoid foot odor from entering the room. Many spices were also used for the cure of various illnesses and deadly diseases. India was the foremost spice trader for most of the countries including Europe.

During the 15th and 16th century portuguese folklore spread to the rest of the world as a consequence of the many Portuguese maritime voyages of discovery. These journeys also resulted in a rich travel literature and expanded the Portuguese language to other countries. Portuguese folklore contains all genres from lyric poetry, renaissance drama and realist novels to historical writing documenting Portugal’s rulers and conquests.