Brazil’s Northeast: from Masters and Slaves to Equality in Diversity
Some 2000 miles of stunning coastline and nine states encompass the northeast of Brazil. With all what possibly could be found in the interior, no wonder that it was not only the Portuguese who were interested in this tropical slice of what eventually became Brazil.
The Dutch and the French too were after possessing part of this inviting coast of South America and its alluring hinterland. While the Portuguese sailor Pedro Alvares Cabaral accidentally landed on the coast of Bahia in 1500, and Amerigo Vespucci was sent back a year later and took shelter in the peaceful bay he named Bay of All Saints Day, the day of his arrival, it was not until nearly half century later that the Portuguese established firm foothold in the area, when Tome de Souse founded Salvador in 1549.
By then, in 1537, the Portuguese had founded Olinda further up the coast. But the Dutch were not so easy to give up and in fact founded Recife, though they didn’t last long, nearly one hundred years after the Portuguese had Olinda and Salvador clearly on their map and thought they had a firm grip on the long coastline.
The French too were still trying hard on getting their foot in the door of Brazil. As the Dutch, the French too still tried hard in the early 17th century and in 1612 French fleet Commander Daniel de la Touche sailed into a fine bay way up north and broke the ground in honor of his king determined to build a town. Portuguese would not tolerate that kind of intrusion which they by now claimed all to be theirs and not a year later booted the French out and took over the city. Although the city, Sao Luis, took on a Portuguese flavor, the relationship to the French king remains.
From this point on the Portuguese had been busy sourcing the riches, building and cultivating. First they set to cut and shipped back home what they could of the Brazil wood, namely pau-brasil, a term applied to reddish wood that produces red dye, and which caught their attention most. Though unique the wood was just the beginning of what they could harvest in the continent. With suitable climate and gentle rolling topography next they set to establish large sugarcane plantations.
From “white gold,” as sugar was referred to, to real gold was not far gold mining and diamond prospecting came next. With all the riches to be found the Portuguese needed lots of labor to do the job. With colonies on the west coast of Africa, from Benin to Angola, soon Brazil became the biggest importer of slaves in the New World.
Although they certainly governed the slaves with hard hand, worked them to death, let them suffer in disease and squalor, not to mention the public beating at the infamous pelourinho, the proverbial whipping post was the course of the day, slaves were many and masters were few, so, contrary to the American South, the masters enjoyed sexual mixing with their slaves.
The end result is Brazil of today. Once slavery was finally abolished in 1888 and Brazil was proclaimed a republic, and soon after Europeans of various nationalities began to migrate to Brazil, the new country was better equipped to deal with the racial diversity and the sexual mixing that ensued having already experienced a solid foundation of racial amalgamation during Brazil’s previous three hundred years.
With a fascinating history and fabulous variety of sites, from beaches to jungles, from sophisticated cities to baroque splendor of Brazil’s colonial past, Brazil craves to be discovered!
