alternatehistory.com
ACT I - AN EMPIRE IN THE TROPICS
This same day, at the hour of vespers we sighted land, that is to say, first a very high rounded mountain, then other lower ranges of hills to the south of it, and a plain covered with large trees. The admiral named the mountain Easter Mount and the country the Land of the True Cross.
Southern Cross Constellation
1. The Colonization of Brazil by Portugal
The coast of Brazil had been discovered by Portugal in the year 1500, and since then it was settled and fortified by the Portuguese, mainly as an extractivist colony, to produce material resources directed to the metropolis.
During the 16th Century, the main material good directly extracted from the coastal regions inhabited by the first Portuguese colonists was brazilwood, highly valued in the European markets, and its production employed mainly Indian slave labor.
In the late part of this century, sugar-cane began to be cultivated in this colony, mainly in the Northeast Region, and the sugar trade reached its apogee in the 17th Century, as the great plantation system – now employing mainly African slave workforce – created one of the most profitable enterprises of the Americas. At the time, the Portuguese Empire created and monopolized the Atlantic slave trade from Africa, and the colonial population in Brazil would be exponentially increased by the forced immigration of Africans.
In the 18th Century, as the movements to explore and settle in the hinterland – spearheaded by companies of adventurers named Bandeirantes (“flag-bearers”) which sought to discover gold and enslave Indians – finally discovered precious metal and diamond mines in the region that would become known, for this reason, as “Minas Gerais” (“The Great Mines”).
As the colonial regions experienced an unprecedented demographic explosion, with a massive influx of migrants due to the “gold rush”, the Portuguese administration reformed the colonial government to capitalize on the extraction of wealth. The most notorious example of this change of affairs was the moving of the colonial capital from the city of Salvador (in Bahia) to the port-city of Rio de Janeiro, from whence the riches removed from Minas Gerais and São Paulo were transported to Europe.
By the end of the 18th Century, however, both the cycles of sugar cane and precious metals extraction began to decay – in the first case due to the competition of the Dutch in the Antilles, and in the second case due to the gradual depletion of the local resources. Yet, even if Portugal was now greatly enriched at the expense of the colonists, Brazil was still poor and backwards, and its population benefited nothing from the exploitation.
In the year 1800, while Europe welcomed and applauded generations of geniuses and inventors, of illuminated statesmen, far-sighting visionaries and distinguished leaders, the people of Brazil lived like peasants and anglers forgotten in a dark age. Basic communal activities and services were lacking, like schools, tribunals, factories, press, libraries, and hospitals. Despite the recent production of noble metals, coinage was almost nonexistent, and most of the commerce, excepting in the largest port-towns like Rio de Janeiro and Salvador, was still based on barter, as the greater part of the golden wealth was shipped beyond the Atlantic Sea. The vast territory lacked significant roads, excepting those that had been trailed by the Amerindians through the centuries and those built by orders of the Crown solely to accelerate the transport of gold from the mines. The most reliable means of communication were through the ports and coastal fortresses, as it was the interest of the metropolis that foreign invasions could be warned, but not that the locals could have convenient access through the provinces. Almost the whole population, excepting the top-most officers, administrators and clergymen, were illiterate. Overseas trade was entirely restricted to Portugal, due to the enforcement of the so-called “colonial pact”, and Brazilian ports were closed to non-Portuguese ships.
The cycle of gold, even more than the cycle of sugar, created a very distasteful state of affairs in the colony, as the metropolitan administration became even more oppressive and corrupt, and the rare earth from the country was greedily drained from the mostly impoverished colonists to sustain the rapacious privileges of a distant and useless aristocracy, without any compensations. The oppressed Brazilian population was much higher than that of the metropolis, and if the commoners resented the increasing financial burdens, the more conscious members of the regional elites despised the fact that they were obliged to satisfy the needs of a rotten empire.
Yet, the late 18th Century experienced the first winds of change. The winds of revolution, in fact.
The dreariest nightmares of the nefarious rulers of this decadent empire seated in Lisboa would soon come true. Even if the Portuguese tyrants tried to prevent the spread of revolutionary ideas coming from France, deeply rooted in the Illuminist proposals of freedom and equality, they penetrated the borders of Portugal’s most prized colony, and contaminated its intellectual elites, the rising middle class and the basest castes of society.
In addition, in this very western hemisphere, as if a shining beacon to inspire the oppressed nations, there lay a race who had managed to break the chains of a mighty European empire and earn its freedom. Yes, the greatest example to be followed was that of the former Thirteen Colonies of the United Kingdom, which had given birth to the United States of America, resurrecting the republican precepts from the ancient ages of mankind.
In Brazil, those news of revolution inspired the first generation of movements that sought full emancipation from the tyrannical thumb of the colonial system: The Mineira and Baiana Revolts.
_________________________________
Historical Notes: The Mineira Revolt never actually happened IOTL, because one of its original architects betrayed the movement when it was still in its initial stage. There are, nevertheless, surviving documents of the judicial trial to which the conspirators were submitted that detail its plans and objectives.
The Baiana revolt, on the other hand, really happened, and I tried to paint a picture similar to OTL.
ACT I - AN EMPIRE IN THE TROPICS
This same day, at the hour of vespers we sighted land, that is to say, first a very high rounded mountain, then other lower ranges of hills to the south of it, and a plain covered with large trees. The admiral named the mountain Easter Mount and the country the Land of the True Cross.
Letter of Pêro Vaz de Caminha describing the discovery of Brazil (1500 C.E.)
Southern Cross Constellation
1. The Colonization of Brazil by Portugal
The coast of Brazil had been discovered by Portugal in the year 1500, and since then it was settled and fortified by the Portuguese, mainly as an extractivist colony, to produce material resources directed to the metropolis.
During the 16th Century, the main material good directly extracted from the coastal regions inhabited by the first Portuguese colonists was brazilwood, highly valued in the European markets, and its production employed mainly Indian slave labor.
In the late part of this century, sugar-cane began to be cultivated in this colony, mainly in the Northeast Region, and the sugar trade reached its apogee in the 17th Century, as the great plantation system – now employing mainly African slave workforce – created one of the most profitable enterprises of the Americas. At the time, the Portuguese Empire created and monopolized the Atlantic slave trade from Africa, and the colonial population in Brazil would be exponentially increased by the forced immigration of Africans.
In the 18th Century, as the movements to explore and settle in the hinterland – spearheaded by companies of adventurers named Bandeirantes (“flag-bearers”) which sought to discover gold and enslave Indians – finally discovered precious metal and diamond mines in the region that would become known, for this reason, as “Minas Gerais” (“The Great Mines”).
The Bandeirantes, first explorers and adventurers of the Brazilian interior in search of riches and slaves, would become the symbol of the people of São Paulo
As the colonial regions experienced an unprecedented demographic explosion, with a massive influx of migrants due to the “gold rush”, the Portuguese administration reformed the colonial government to capitalize on the extraction of wealth. The most notorious example of this change of affairs was the moving of the colonial capital from the city of Salvador (in Bahia) to the port-city of Rio de Janeiro, from whence the riches removed from Minas Gerais and São Paulo were transported to Europe.
By the end of the 18th Century, however, both the cycles of sugar cane and precious metals extraction began to decay – in the first case due to the competition of the Dutch in the Antilles, and in the second case due to the gradual depletion of the local resources. Yet, even if Portugal was now greatly enriched at the expense of the colonists, Brazil was still poor and backwards, and its population benefited nothing from the exploitation.
The Map of Brazil in 1800 C.E.
II. The Age of the Revolutions
In the year 1800, while Europe welcomed and applauded generations of geniuses and inventors, of illuminated statesmen, far-sighting visionaries and distinguished leaders, the people of Brazil lived like peasants and anglers forgotten in a dark age. Basic communal activities and services were lacking, like schools, tribunals, factories, press, libraries, and hospitals. Despite the recent production of noble metals, coinage was almost nonexistent, and most of the commerce, excepting in the largest port-towns like Rio de Janeiro and Salvador, was still based on barter, as the greater part of the golden wealth was shipped beyond the Atlantic Sea. The vast territory lacked significant roads, excepting those that had been trailed by the Amerindians through the centuries and those built by orders of the Crown solely to accelerate the transport of gold from the mines. The most reliable means of communication were through the ports and coastal fortresses, as it was the interest of the metropolis that foreign invasions could be warned, but not that the locals could have convenient access through the provinces. Almost the whole population, excepting the top-most officers, administrators and clergymen, were illiterate. Overseas trade was entirely restricted to Portugal, due to the enforcement of the so-called “colonial pact”, and Brazilian ports were closed to non-Portuguese ships.
The cycle of gold, even more than the cycle of sugar, created a very distasteful state of affairs in the colony, as the metropolitan administration became even more oppressive and corrupt, and the rare earth from the country was greedily drained from the mostly impoverished colonists to sustain the rapacious privileges of a distant and useless aristocracy, without any compensations. The oppressed Brazilian population was much higher than that of the metropolis, and if the commoners resented the increasing financial burdens, the more conscious members of the regional elites despised the fact that they were obliged to satisfy the needs of a rotten empire.
Yet, the late 18th Century experienced the first winds of change. The winds of revolution, in fact.
The dreariest nightmares of the nefarious rulers of this decadent empire seated in Lisboa would soon come true. Even if the Portuguese tyrants tried to prevent the spread of revolutionary ideas coming from France, deeply rooted in the Illuminist proposals of freedom and equality, they penetrated the borders of Portugal’s most prized colony, and contaminated its intellectual elites, the rising middle class and the basest castes of society.
In addition, in this very western hemisphere, as if a shining beacon to inspire the oppressed nations, there lay a race who had managed to break the chains of a mighty European empire and earn its freedom. Yes, the greatest example to be followed was that of the former Thirteen Colonies of the United Kingdom, which had given birth to the United States of America, resurrecting the republican precepts from the ancient ages of mankind.
In Brazil, those news of revolution inspired the first generation of movements that sought full emancipation from the tyrannical thumb of the colonial system: The Mineira and Baiana Revolts.
_________________________________
Historical Notes: The Mineira Revolt never actually happened IOTL, because one of its original architects betrayed the movement when it was still in its initial stage. There are, nevertheless, surviving documents of the judicial trial to which the conspirators were submitted that detail its plans and objectives.
The Baiana revolt, on the other hand, really happened, and I tried to paint a picture similar to OTL.
- Rdffigueira
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