Who was Pedro Alvares Cabral?
Pedro Alvares Cabral was a Portuguese explorer who is recognized for having discovered Brazil in 1500. He established a successful sea route to India and became the leader of the trade at the time. Pedro Alvares Cabral arrived near the present-day Bahia to the coastal regions of South America. Many years after the discovery, the Portuguese begun to colonize Brazil, where they found greater benefits from the presence of brazilwood tree which produced lumber (Greenlee, 2017). The Portuguese used this tree as timber to make furniture and ships due to its strong and study nature.
What events led to the discovery of Brazil?
Pedro Alvares Cabral began the journey from Lisbon, Portugal on March 9, 1500, with a fleet of 13 ships. Pedro and his vessels sailed through the coast of the island of Africa. But after leaving, one of the vessels went missing, and Pedro believed it had sunk. While taking a similar route as da Gama between Africa to India, he accidentally sailed too far and in the wrong direction to the Atlantic Ocean (Greenlee, 2017). This brought him to the South America coast where they saw a new land unknown to the Europeans, and he realized the land was not India. Due to the presence of the brazilwood trees, they named the land Brazil.
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What followed the discovery of Brazil?
Many years after the land was discovered by Pedro, the Portuguese came back to colonize the land. The goal of the colonizers was to monopolize the profitable trade of Pau-Brasil and establish permanent settlements as the trade increased, there was a need to clear the land and establish plantations into the land that was fertile and full of natural resources. The Portuguese tried to use the Indians as slaves in the farms, making them work for long hours.
Reference
Greenlee, W. B., (2017). The voyage of Pedro Álvares Cabral to Brazil and India: from contemporary documents and narratives . Routledge.
