1. The History of Portugal

2. Background
 Portugal began in the early Middle
Ages
 Portugal is located in the Iberian
Peninsula bordering Spain and the
Atlantic Ocean
 Portugal became a world power in
the 15th and 16th centuries, claiming
land in South America, Africa, Asia
and Australasia
 The economic base for the empire in
this period was slaves and spices
 Gradually Portugal's empire was
whittled away by other European
conquest of their trading posts
 In 1975 Portugal granted
independence to all of its African
Colonies
 In 1986 Portugal entered the
European Union

3. Portugal’s Age of Discovery
 In its height, Portugal’s empire was vast and rivaled England, France
and Spain in all but political power
 The Portuguese empire began in 1415 when Portugal captured Ceuta in
North Africa
 In the early 13th century the Azorean islands were discovered and
colonized
 In the mid 13th century several islands were discovered in the Gulf of
Guinea
 In 1487 the Cape of Good Hope was turned, giving a new route to India
 In 1500, a Portuguese crew discovered the future colony of Brazil

4. Treaty of Tordesillas
 When Columbus discovered
America, the Spanish and
Portuguese quarreled
 The compromise between
the two nations was the
Treaty of Tordesillas, which
divided non-European lands
at the North-South meridian
970 miles west of the Cape
Verde islands
 The exact boundaries were
disputed because
technology gave them
imprecise measuring
 The treaty was not strictly
enforced, for example the
Portuguese were allowed to
expand Brazil westward
uncontested

5. Spice Trade in Southeast Asia
 Ceylon (Sri Lanka) was
reached by the Portuguese
in 1505. They sought to take
control of the spice trade
their, which was dominated
by the Kottle Empire.
 The Portuguese made the
Malaccan Peninsula a new
trading post at the Capitol of
Goa
 Good diplomatic relations
between Portugal and the
Kingdom of Siam aided their
presence in the region
 A Portuguese fort was
constructed in Ternate in
1512, and a trade base was
allowed at Macau, further
extending trade influence
 These trading posts helped
establish the Portuguese
large slice of the spice trade
pie

6. Discovery and Settlement of
Brazil
 Brazil was first claimed in
1500 by Pedro Alvares Cabral
 A main export of the new
colony was brazil wood, a
valuable tree extracted from
the rainforest which was used
to create a dye for luxury
clothing. The natives
harvested the tree in
exchange for tools and
mirrors.
 Competition between the
Portuguese and French
explorers caused conflicts.
Notable missions were carried
out against the French to ban
them from the area
 European adventurers aided
the Portuguese in
communicating with the
natives

7. Government of Brazil
 Under King John III, Brazil became a
royal enterprise, but in 1549, Tome
de Sousa (the first Governor-General
of Brazil) sought to establish a
central government and travelled to
the colony of Brazil
 The capital city of Salvador de Bahia
was constructed first and then the
economies of the villages were
reconstructed
 After 1621, Brazil was divided into
two states, each led by its own
governor
 Each village had a city council
represented by high ranking
members in society
 After 1640, the capital of the Estado
do Brazil was moved to Rio de
Janeiro