BRAZIL 



nine years. The lower house consists of 212 

 members, elected for three years. Each state 

 has its own governor, legislatures and judicial 

 system, and is divided into districts for the 

 purpose of local government. 



History. The discovery of America by 

 Columbus, and of the Cape of Good Hope by 

 Da Gama six years later, were both the result 

 of maritime enterprise fostered in the period of 

 Portugal's glory by Henry, the Navigator, 

 called by Thomson 



The Lusitnnian prince who, Heaven-inspired 



To love of useful glory, roused mankind, 



And in unbounded commerce mixed the world. 



The coast of Brazil was first reached in 1500, 

 by Vicente Pinzon, a Spaniard, who claimed it 

 for his king. But since it proved to be east 

 of the line of demarcation fixed by arbitration 

 of the Pope between the fields for exploitation 

 by the Portuguese and by the Spanish, Spain 

 yielded its claim to the region (see DEMARCA- 

 TION, LINE OF). The first settlement was made 

 in 1501, at Rio de Janeiro. Bahia was founded 

 in 1549. Between 1532 and 1545 there were 

 formed twelve proprietary divisions of the coast 

 lying between latitudes 30 S. and the equator, 

 but the proprietors failed to take advantage of 

 the opportunities offered them. An attempt 

 was made to enslave the Indians, but this was 

 abandoned in 1680 in deference to the priests, 

 whose labors among the natives were bearing 

 fruit. African slavery followed, great numbers 

 of negroes being imported for the purpose. 



The story of the negro revolt against their 

 taskmasters and of the state of Palmares, 

 which they established, fortified, and main- 

 tained for more than sixty years, ending in 

 1695, is one of the most romantic in American 

 history. Southey compares it with the story 

 of early Rome, and describes its capital city 

 of more than 20,000 people, with its palace hav- 

 ing a "rude kind of magnificence." An incen- 

 tive to the African race forever will be the 

 memory of Palmares. It was for them more 

 than a state. They used to call it "Republica 

 des Palmares." 



From 1580 to 1640 the Spanish royal house 

 controlled both Spain and Portugal. Gold was 

 discovered in 1691 and diamonds about a score 

 of years later. When Portugal was invaded by 

 the French, in 1807, the Portuguese royal fam- 

 ily fled from Lisbon to Brazil, which remained 

 for fourteen years the seat of the Portuguese 

 government. In 1821 the king returned to 

 Lisbon, leaving his son Pedro as regent of 

 Brazil; but in the following year the great col- 



906 BRAZIL 



ony proclaimed its independence and chose 

 the regent to be its emperor, under the title 

 of Pedro I. He proved a worthless ruler and 

 after nine years was induced to abdicate, leav- 

 ing his crown and scepter to his son, who 

 succeeded at the age of fifteen years, under 

 the title of Pedro II. The long reign of this 

 ruler was beneficent, and early won the respect 

 of the world. 



Dom Pedro II represented three of the great 

 royal houses of European history the Bra- 

 gancas, the Hapsburgs and the Bourbons. His 

 mother was a sister of Napoleon's second wife, 

 and his stepmother a granddaughter of Na- 

 poleon's first wife. His public and private life 

 was free from blemish. There were few wars 

 in his reign. In 1825 there was a short con- 

 test with the new republic of La Plata (Ar- 

 gentina) for the possession of Uruguay, which 

 fell to neither power. 



From 1860 to 1865 Brazil was compelled to 

 wage a war in concert with Argentina and 

 Uruguay, against Francisco S. Lopez, the dic- 

 tator of Paraguay, who preferred death to sur- 

 render. Dom Pedro issued in 1871 an imperial 

 decree for the gradual abolition of slavery, 

 deeming this the best method of ridding the 

 nation of that system. In 1888 he proclaimed 

 total emancipation. In all the years of his 

 long reign he was the patron of art, letters, 

 science, production, commerce and public be- 

 nevolence. 



In 1874 and again in 1876 Dom Pedro visited 

 the United States, where he enjoyed unbounded 

 popularity, and where he chose for his most 

 intimate friends the men of letters with whose 

 works he was familiar. The feelings of the 

 people were happily expressed in the words of 

 Whittier: 



Wear unashamed a crown by thy desert 



More than by birth thy own, 

 Careless of watch and war : thou art begirt 



By faithful hearts alone. 



The visit of the North American scientist, 

 Louis Agassiz, to Brazil in the preceding decade 

 was a matter of general as well as scientific 

 interest. 



In 1889 Dom Pedro was deposed, his op- 

 ponents thus anticipating the republic for which 

 he was seeking to prepare his people. He died 

 in Paris, two years later. In the year of his 

 deposition Deodoro da Fonseca, the first Presi- 

 dent of the new republic, was impeached and 

 he resigned. 



Dr. Prudente de Moraes, elected President in_ 

 1894, displayed ability and firmness. His sue- 



