WI: Portuguese and French roles reversed in Americas?

Dorozhand

Banned
What if the Portuguese had taken the place of the French in North America, using similar colonization methods in similar areas, while the French end up in Brazil?
 
There is a reason for the area France and Portugal colonized. It was hard to go from France to Brazil by ship or from Portugal to Canada.
 

Dorozhand

Banned
There is a reason for the area France and Portugal colonized. It was hard to go from France to Brazil by ship or from Portugal to Canada.

Perhaps the Portuguese attempt to claim and explore the area of Newfoundland they were ceded in Tordesillas, and then went off course and landed in Quebec, founding a small colony, trading with the natives and discovering the great wealth in furs. Then, after the Portuguese have been thoroughly engrossed in colonizing Canada and the Treaty of Tordesillas reduced to the laughable farce that it was, they don't bother with a French private expedition to find El Dorado in Brazil.
 
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Maybe a POD where Portugal's interest in reaching India is butterflied and there's a diiferent treaty dividing the exploration of the world, and where North America ends in the Portuguese zone (and South America in the Spanish zone).
 
Maybe a POD where Portugal's interest in reaching India is butterflied and there's a diiferent treaty dividing the exploration of the world, and where North America ends in the Portuguese zone (and South America in the Spanish zone).
How do you butterfly away Portugal's interest in reaching India? That's literally the #1 reason behind both Portugal and Spain starting their exploration/colonization drives?

India is crazy rich, whereas nobody even knew the Americas were there.
 
How do you butterfly away Portugal's interest in reaching India? That's literally the #1 reason behind both Portugal and Spain starting their exploration/colonization drives?

India is crazy rich, whereas nobody even knew the Americas were there.
If no-one believes there's the America's, and it's just open sea, it might be doable that people think India could be reached though what is North and South America, with any parts of they they find within their sphere of influence. The nation which gets south America might also get the Cape route.
 
There is a reason for the area France and Portugal colonized. It was hard to go from France to Brazil by ship or from Portugal to Canada.

Sooo...it's hard from France to get to Brazil, but not Madagascar, or Guyana? What sense does that make? It's the same route with the same currents and wind patterns used to sail on. :confused:. And if Spain could reach North America (say, Florida, or Mexico) then it stands to reason that the neighboring country of Portugal could too. I'm sorry, but this excuse is simply deterministic thinking.
 
The colonisation of America look place long before that of Africa and Guyana was never a large colony. I'm sure the French could colonise the south but to a certain extent its down to convenience, France is closer to Canada in terms of Geography and climate.
 
France actually tried to colonize Brazil, but the Portuguese kicked them out.

As well, the Portuguese "claimed" several parts of Canada including Newfoundland (which was also claimed by the English at the same time).

All of these excused of geography are complete bull. The real reason why this didn't happen OTL was because France was politically unstable at the time, in the midst of the Wars of Religion, and didn't have the resources or surplus population necessary to make large scale colonization at the time when Brazil was up for grabs.

If you can prevent the Wars of Religion, then you can see earlier successful French colonies in the Americas, and, yes, one of their top choices was Brazil.
 
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