Major Nations in a Global World: Brazil

COFFEE CRAZE Coffee eventually replaced sugar as Brazil’s primary export. The plant, originally from Ethiopia, came to Brazil early in the 1700s. As it was with sugarcane, Brazil’s climate was perfect for coffee cultivation. Coffee plantations sprung up around the coast, and the plant replaced sugar by the 1830s as the most dominant cash crop in Brazil. By 1850, coffee represented 50 percent of all Brazilian exports. Farming now became Brazil’s major occupation. By this time, the descen- dants of the first Portuguese settlers considered themselves Brazilian and wanted to break free of Portuguese rule. However, in 1808, the French emperor Napoleon invaded Portugal. Portugal’s king, Dom João VI, fled to Brazil, set- tling in Rio de Janeiro, which was now the center of the Portuguese Empire. Big changes were in store. Dom João undertook massive building projects. He invested in the arts and opened Brazil’s ports to other nations. When Dom João returned home in 1821, he left his son Dom Pedro in charge. In an abrupt policy shift from his father, Dom Pedro declared Brazil an independent nation. Dom Pedro ruled for nine years. His son, Dom Pedro II, became the emperor of Brazil at the age of fourteen. During Dom Pedro II’s reign, Brazil grew richer.

The eighteenth-century colonial palace, Paco Imperial, in Rio de Janeiro, was used as a dispatch house by King João VI of Portugal, then by Pedro I, emperor of Brazil.

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CHAPTER ONE: HISTORY, RELIGION, AND TRADITION