Portugal’s Early Colonization of the New World

With the discovery of the New World a series of treaties were made between the kings of Portugal and Castile, one of the most important being the Treaty of Tordesillas in 1494. The treaty created the Tordesillas Meridian which would divide the New World between the two kingdoms. All land east of the meridian was to be property of Portugal, any land west of it was property of Spain. In 1500 a Portuguese navigator named Pedro Alvares Cabral landed in what is now known as Brazil and laid claim to it in the name of the Monarchy of Portugal.For almost 30 years the Portuguese showed little interest in colonizing the New World until they learned that France had been sending excursions to the land to extract brazilwood. The Portuguese crown decided to send forces to combat the French and missions to secure and take possession of the land.

Portugal Puts Brazil On The Map

In the beginning Brazil was made up of 15 private, hereditary captaincies. Only 2 of the 15 captaincies were successful and instead the king decided to establish a central government in Brazil.The king sent Tome de Sausa to Brazil to establish his government and Sausabrought along with him Jesuits. The Jesuits would set up missions, study native languages and save many natives from slavery by converting them to Roman Catholicism.