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Portuguese Colonization Of Brazil

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Each country in South America speaks Spanish, excluding the largest country in the continent, Brazil. After the colonization of the Portuguese in South America, the official language of Brazil became Portuguese, leaving the other countries in the continent to be ruled by Spain. Due to the migration of the Portuguese from Portugal, Brazilians today speak Portuguese in their own adapted dialect. The language is the most commonly used, so much that there is only a small percentage of those who do not speak it. The start of this all was due to the Treaty of Tordesillas, where Latin America was split in half and the possession of the lands given to Spain and Portugal were differentiated between their languages (Britannica Encyclopaedia). …show more content…

The Portuguese failed to see Brazil’s value until they discovered brazilwood, which provided them with dye, and ultimately the greatest discovery, sugar (Portuguese colonization of Brazil). The history of Brazil soon went along a path familiar to the U.S., where the first appointed governor emphasized the need for slavery. This governor, Tomé de Sousa, also insisted on everyone being Christian, and those who celebrated any other religion were enslaved (Portuguese colonization of Brazil). Soon diseases were spread and years of famine began, which helped control population but also made the need for slaves much greater. Brazil decided to have European settlers import African slaves and, without them knowing, started the African heritage in Brazil (Portuguese colonization of Brazil). Brazil’s central government was difficult to form due to the large amount of landmass, but nonetheless, the first capital was established in today’s city of Salvador (A Brief History of Brazil). In 1763, Rio de Janeiro was named the new capital and there was an uprising of exported goods. Dom João VI’s arrival in Brazil was crucial due to the fact that only after his arrival were banks created, and universities and other buildings were built (A Brief History of Brazil). Years went by and Brazil’s …show more content…

This treaty set in place in 1494 dictated the division of two dominant languages between Spain in Portugal, which soon expanded to South America, when Portugal took control over the biggest country in the continent. This left the Spaniards to take control of the remaining countries of the other half of the continent. The Portuguese language is a huge part of today’s Brazilian culture and only those that are living isolated from the public, such as “Indians” living near the Amazon rainforest, are unfamiliar with the language (Central Intelligence Agency). Nonetheless, Portuguese is seen as the national language and is, at the same time, different when compared to the Portuguese spoken in Portugal. The adaptations to the language and modifications vary in each of the

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