PARAHYBA 



Asuncion :ilnl l.f tin- other Pi', ill- lil 



Plata settlement*, in.lu.ln>.' I'.iieno* 



Aires, by the orderly p.i"iii. .it i'>n 



>iic| l.y 



providing sum.- defence against 

 OMniM, whether rui..p.-in or in 



i liven, in*. Hut the ouriooa poUtioo* 



rcliL'ioim community founded by 

 the Jesuit* was practically a 

 acparate and rival staU-, remote 

 iiiul excluded from the Spanish 

 settlements. It lay chiclly within 

 the present routines of the 

 Ai-jrntiiie Republic; and aft rr t lie 

 expulsion <>f the Jesuits in 1707 and 

 before the liirtli of tin- Paraguayan 

 Republic, which sprang in fad '""" 

 Spanish conquest ana settlement 

 in the region of the river Paraguay, 

 it practically dissolved. 



The early exploration in these 

 regions by Sebastian Cabot and 

 others can only be mentioned here. 

 Continuous history begins with the 

 foundation of the city of Asuncion 

 in 1536. When, five years later, 

 the infant Spanish settlement at 

 Buenos Aires was abandoned, 

 Asuncion, in the country of the 

 peaceable and amenable Guaranis, 

 became the capital of the whole 

 Rio de la Plata region, and the 

 headquarters of all Spanish enter- 

 prise upon the Atlantic side of 

 the continent. Buenos Aires, re- 

 founded in 1580, was a colony from 

 Asuncion, and did not receive separ- 

 ate administrative recognition until 

 1620. But to a much later period 

 the term Paraguay was commonly 

 used to designate the whole Rio de 

 la Plata region as far as Patagonia. 

 However, from 1620 to 1776 Para- 

 guay proper was a distinct pro- 

 vince, wiui a royal governor resid- 

 ing at Asuncion and subordinate 

 to the viceroy of Peru. 



The true founders of Paraguay 

 were the conquistadores and gov- 

 ernors of the 16th and early 17th 

 centuries, of whom the most not- 

 able were appointed by the Spanish 

 settlers themselves, by virtue of a 

 decree which empowered them to 

 elect a governor in case of accidental 

 vacancy. The early settlers put 

 a liberal interpretation upon this 

 privilege, deposing and replacing 

 unpopular governors upon occa- 

 sion Later the municipality of 

 Asuncion claimed the exercise of 

 this privilege ; and this almost 

 self-contained Spanish settlement, 

 remote from royal and viceregal 

 authority, pursued a singularly 

 agitated and independent political 

 course. 



In the middle of the 17th cen- 

 tury the bishop of Asuncion made 

 himself governor with the sup- 

 port of the town council and the 

 citizens, defying superior authority 

 until reduced oy force of arms. 

 Again, from 1720 Asuncion acted 



59C7 



almost like an indep. 

 -tate, .leeeptmn governor* ap- 

 pM.xe.l l>\ t he people and misting 

 all outside aiiilionty. Finally, in 

 IT.'Iti, the ie\ olt of tho romwnercw, 

 tin- Paraguayan m-m > nta, in 

 A -un. ion u at put doxjn I'V a regu- 

 lar military e\| H -dition tn.m Muen. - 

 Aires, and the country reduced to 

 submission. From 1776 to 1820 

 the province of Paraguay formed 

 part of the newly -constituted 

 viceroyalty of Buenos Aires. 



In 1811 Buenos Aires, having 

 achieved independence, sent a force 

 up the river under Belgrano to offer 

 t" tlm Paraguayans independence 

 and union with the Argentine pro- 

 vince-. Paraguay declined union 



Paraguay. Map of the South 

 American republic 



but resolved upon independence, 

 deposing the royal governor of 

 Asuncion, and setting up a local 

 administration which soon merged 

 into personal despotism under an 

 able lawyer, Francia. From 1816 

 to his death in 1840 Francia exer- 

 cised an absolute tyranny, a long 

 reign of terror. He sealed up the 

 country, forbade all commerce, all 

 communication with the outside 

 world, and, with rare exceptions, 

 allowed no one to cross the frontier 

 in either direction. Francia was 

 succeeded by Carlos Lope/., who 

 opened the river to commerce, but 

 continued Francia's system of 

 internal tyranny. In 1862 he was 

 succeeded by his son, Francisco 

 Lopez, an audacious megalomaniac 

 who aimed at set- m^^^m 

 ting up a quasi- 

 Nap. . Iconic em- 

 pile in S. Ameri- 

 ca. He committed 

 acts of war 

 against Brazil, 

 violated Argen- 

 tine territory, and 

 brought upon his 

 country a com- 

 bined invasion 

 by the armies 

 and ships of 

 Brazil, Argentina, 

 and Uruguay. 

 During five years 



PARAHYBA 



of war Paraguay was overwhelmed, 

 devMtated, and d-j*ipulatcd. 

 U hen the struggle ended with tin- 

 death of Lopez in 1M70, nearly all 

 ill- men and most of the women had 

 IH-H-IIC.I. \ i' i.,ry retted with the 

 thi.-e allied n pul, he., hut the true 

 heroes of the war were the poor 

 i peasant* of Paraguay, who, 

 in frail canoca,attacked armed ships 

 of war and struggled to the death 

 against overwhelming odds. 



The present const it ut ion of Para- 

 guay dates from IsTn ; thccountry 

 has since enjoyed external peace, 

 but has suffered from a succession 

 of internal conflicts and presiden- 

 tial " revolutions." The catas- 

 trophe of 1865-70 has left its 

 traces, yet the degree of recovery 

 has been rema-kable. Paraguay 

 maintained complete neutrality 

 during the Great War. 



Bibliography. Paraguay : the 

 Land and the People, E. La Dardye, 

 I in,-, tnms. I-;. <:. Kavenstein, 1802 ; 

 A Vanished Arcadia, R. B. C. 

 Graham, 1901 ; History of 8. 

 America, 1854-1904, C. E. Akera. 

 1 904 : Stanford's Compendium of 

 Geography and Travel, Central and 

 South America, A. H. Keane, 2nd 

 ed. 1909-11; Paraguay, W. H. 

 Koebel. 1917. 



Parahyba. State, city, and river 

 of N.E. Brazil. The state, which 

 has an area of 28,854 sq. m., fronts 

 the N.E. coast and lies between Rio 

 Grande do Norte and Pernambuco. 

 From March to June is the rainy 

 season. The coast has several bays 

 and the large estuary of the Para- 

 hyba river, all spoilt as harbours 

 by coral reefs. Cotton, cotton-seed, 

 and manioc (tapioca) are the 

 principal products. The river 

 rises in the mts. on the border of 

 Pernambuco and flows E. for 270 

 m. The city is situated on the 

 Parahyba estuary ; Cabedello, 14 

 m. down the estuary, is its outport ; 

 both export timber, cotton, and 

 cotton-seed. It has rly. connexion 

 with Natal to the N. and Pernam- 

 buco to the S. The lower town is 

 the commercial quarter and con- 

 tains the 17th century cathedral. 

 Pop., state, 520,000; city, 20,000. 



Parahyba, Brazil. Church o! S. Francuico 



