Independence of Brazil

The independence of Brazil comprised a series of political and military events that led to the independence of the Kingdom of Brazil from the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves as the Brazilian Empire. Most of the events occurred in Bahia, Rio de Janeiro, and São Paulo between 1821 and 1824. It is celebrated on 7 September, although there is a controversy whether the real independence happened after the Siege of Salvador on 2 July 1823 in Salvador, Bahia where the independence war was fought. However, September 7 is the anniversary of the date in 1822 that prince regent Dom Pedro declared Brazil's independence from his royal family in Portugal and the former United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and Algarves. Formal recognition came with a treaty three years later, signed by the new Empire of Brazil and the Kingdom of Portugal in late 1825. The land now called Brazil was claimed by the Kingdom of Portugal in April 1500, on the arrival of the Portuguese naval fleet commanded by Pedro Álvares Cabral. The Portuguese encountered Indigenous nations divided into several tribes, most of whom shared the same Tupi–Guarani languages family, and shared and disputed the territory. But the Portuguese, like the Spanish in their North American territories, had brought diseases with them against which many Indians were helpless due to lack of immunity. Measles, smallpox, tuberculosis, and influenza killed tens of thousands. Though the first settlement was founded in 1532, colonization only effectively started in 1534 when King John III divided the territory into fifteen hereditary captaincies. This arrangement proved problematic, however, and in 1549 the king assigned a Governor-General to administer the entire colony. The Portuguese assimilated some of the native tribes while others slowly disappeared in long wars or by European diseases to which they had no immunity. By the mid-16th century, sugar had become Brazil's main export due to the increasing international demand.

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History of Brazil

Before the arrival of the Europeans, the lands that now constitute Brazil were occupied, fought over and settled by diverse tribes. Thus, the history of Brazil begins with the indigenous people in Brazil. The Portuguese arrived to the land that would become Brazil on April 22, 1500, commanded by Pedro Álvares Cabral an explorer on his way to India under the sponsorship of the Kingdom of Portugal and the support of the Catholic Church. From the 16th to the early 19th century, Brazil was created and expanded as a colony, kingdom and an integral part of the Portuguese Empire.

Flag of Brazil

The national flag of Brazil (bandeira do Brasil), is a blue disc depicting a starry sky (which includes the Southern Cross) spanned by a curved band inscribed with the national motto "Ordem e Progresso" ("Order and Progress"), within a yellow rhombus, on a green field. It was officially adopted on 19 November 1889 — four days after the Proclamation of the Republic, to replace the flag of the Empire of Brazil. The concept was the work of Raimundo Teixeira Mendes, with the collaboration of pt, pt and Décio Villares.

House of Braganza

The Most Serene House of Braganza (Sereníssima Casa de Bragança), also known as the Brigantine dynasty (dinastia Brigantina), is a dynasty of emperors, kings, princes, and dukes of Portuguese origin which reigned in Europe and the Americas. The house was founded by Afonso I, 1st Duke of Braganza, illegitimate son of King John I of Portugal of the House of Aviz, and would eventually grow into one of the wealthiest and most powerful noble houses of Iberia during the Renaissance period.

Echoing Swiss Coloniality. Land, Archive and Visuality between Brazil and Switzerland.

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Informed by longstanding artistic practice, this doctoral thesis approaches entanglements of Swiss coloniality in Brazil and Switzerland under the lens of land, archive, and visuality. The enduring legacies of imperial capitalism in the former Colonia Leop ...

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