Note: The edition that I’m reviewing here was expanded by Boris Fausto’s son Sergio Fausto, to bring it up to date.
The most populous country in Latin America, with even more people than Mexico
Brazil is the most populous country in Latin America, with even more people than Mexico. It is also the only country in Latin America (or anywhere in the Americas) that speaks Portuguese. This often surprises North Americans, because they expect South America to speak Spanish. And in many other South American countries, they do. But in fairness, Spanish and Portuguese are extremely similar languages, so they’re not too far off. Of all of the major Romance languages, Spanish and Portuguese seem to me to be the closest. In the Old World, Spain and Portugal were neighbors on Europe’s Iberian Peninsula. And in the New World, they are the two dominant languages of South America, with a large border between their respective spheres. Famously, Spain and Portugal both had territorial ambitions on this continent, and appealed to the Pope to settle the boundary between their respective territories there. Spain then got everything to the west of that boundary, while Portugal then got everything to the east of it. The boundary may not be as linear as it once was, but you can definitely see its influence in the modern map of South America. This explains why the modern nation of Brazil speaks Portuguese, rather than Spanish. And it explains many other things about Latin American geography.
Original edition of this book
The Portuguese reached the coast of what today is Brazil in April 1500
As this book’s opening sentence notes, “The Portuguese reached the coast of what today is Brazil in April 1500.” The book then notes that “This occurrence was but one of the many episodes of Portuguese overseas expansion, which began early in the 15th century.” Before buying this book, I compared several histories of Brazil, in an attempt to decide which one was the best for me. That is to say, I looked at their respective webpages on Amazon.com (not to be confused with Brazil’s Amazon River), and looked through each one’s table of contents. This one seemed more interesting than most, but there was another factor that most recommended it to me. This was that it had greater coverage of Brazil’s early history. For example, the first chapter was entitled “Colonial Brazil (1500-1822).” This is more coverage than most comparable histories give to this period.
The Portuguese victory at the Battle of Guararapes, which ended the Dutch presence in Brazil
Relations with the native peoples of the region, and the use of African slave labor there
As the earlier quotations show, this book begins at the moment that the Portuguese reached the area’s coastline. But it also covers many other things as well. For example, this book talks about the relations with the native peoples of the region, and the early employment of African slave labor there. In early times, the two major industries of the colony were sugar and coffee. Each was produced by a plantation system, similar to that in what would become the Southeastern United States. Brazil used more slave labor than any other country in the Americas, because it was geographically much closer to Africa – the source of the kidnapped slaves. Thus, many slaves were transported from the west coast of Africa to the east coast of Brazil.
A Charrua warrior depicted by Jean-Baptiste Debret in the early 19th century
Brazil becomes independent from Portugal in 1822, and prohibits slavery in 1888
Like the rest of Latin America, Brazil was much affected by Europe’s Napoleonic Wars. Back in Europe, Napoleon’s troops marched through the Iberian Peninsula into Spain and Portugal, the mother countries of these Latin American colonies. Thus, Spain and Portugal found it difficult to maintain control of their colonies, and wars of revolution broke out throughout Latin America. Most of these future countries rebelled against Spain, but Brazil instead rebelled against Portugal – as you might expect from its prior history. The result was the creation of an independent Brazilian nation in 1822. This is where the second chapter begins. This chapter is entitled “Imperial Brazil (1822-1889).” It covers this period in somewhat greater depth than you’d find in a more typical introduction. One of the surprises for me was how closely the Brazilians were connected with Great Britain. The British were allied with Portugal against Napoleon, so this might seem unexpected. But after the Portuguese left Brazil, the British became the major ally of Brazil – more important than any other. The British tried to prohibit slavery in Brazil, and succeeded in getting the Brazilians to pass laws against it. But the laws went unenforced, so slavery unfortunately continued there. Only in 1888 did Brazil finally abolish slavery – 23 years after the United States had done so in 1865!
Slaves on a fazenda (coffee farm), circa 1885
The First Republic, and the dictatorship of Getúlio Vargas
After the abolition of slavery, Brazil began the First Brazilian Republic. This is the subject of the third chapter, which is simply entitled “The First Republic (1889-1930).” This was indeed their first experience with popular government. But unfortunately, it didn’t last long, and gave way to the dictatorship of Getúlio Vargas in 1930. Thus, the fourth chapter is entitled “The Vargas State (1930-1945).” Mr. Vargas is probably Brazil’s most important leader in the twentieth century – although, sadly, he wasn’t a very good one. They briefly cover Brazil’s limited involvement in World War II. Like most Latin American countries, Brazil wasn’t very interested in this faraway conflict, because it had plenty of problems back at home.
Getúlio Vargas after the 1930 revolution, which began the Vargas era
Another democratic experiment, a right-wing military junta, and a return to democracy
In 1945, Getúlio Vargas was overthrown, and a new democratic experiment was inaugurated. Thus, the fifth chapter is entitled “The Democratic Experiment (1945-1964).” But this democracy, too, did not last long; and gave way to yet another dictatorship in 1964. This was during the Cold War, and the United States was worried that the Brazilians would go communist at this time. So rather than allow Brazil to succumb to a left-wing dictatorship, the United States supported a right-wing dictatorship installed by a coup. Thus, Brazil was ruled for some time by a military junta, and the author is right to condemn this junta. Nonetheless, I’m not convinced that a left-wing dictatorship would have been any better. This is where the sixth chapter begins, which is entitled “The Military Government and the Transition to Democracy (1964-1984).”
João Goulart, left-wing president of Brazil who was ousted in this coup
Comments on the respective concluding chapters of each of the book’s two authors
This sixth chapter was the last of this book’s chapters to be written by Boris Fausto. The original Boris Fausto edition was published in 1999, fifteen years after the end of the period that it covered. This chapter ends by sounding off about “income distribution” (particularly for women and minorities), sex discrimination against women in the workplace, and the reduction in the number of Catholics in Brazil (although they are still a majority there). Only near the end of this chapter does Boris Fausto’s left-wing bias become clear. Up until then, he was reasonably good at hiding it; and that may be part of why these original chapters are so good. The seventh and final chapter is entitled “Modernization under Democracy (1985-2010).” It was written by Boris Fausto’s son Sergio Fausto. Specifically, it was written in 2014, four years after the end of the period that it covered. I had low expectations for this chapter, because I anticipated further left-wing bias. Indeed, Sergio Fausto is a political scientist and sociologist. I turned out to be correct about the bias, but enjoyed this last chapter anyway. Like the last of his father’s chapters, Sergio Fausto ended on a liberal note, sounding off about poverty and “social inequalities.” Nonetheless, it gave some interesting coverage of things that had happened since the original edition had concluded its history, and taught me some things about modern Brazil in the process.
The version of this book that I read, with updates by Sergio Fausto
Conclusion: A great introduction to Brazilian history despite its brevity and bias
Brazil is better off than most countries in the Third World, and so I know many who have been allowed to serve there as missionaries. But the country still has a lot of problems, as both authors note. Indeed, if I may be so bold, their left-wing governments seem to have made some of these problems worse. Brazil has flirted with socialism fairly often in its recent history. This, indeed, may have contributed to the high inflation that it suffered in the late twentieth century – although, in fairness, this inflation has been somewhat reduced since then. But as long as Brazil embraces freedom, they have the potential to go quite far in the world. They are the most populous country in Latin America. Thus, they have the potential to be a leader in the region, and may use this power for good or ill. I hope that they will use it for good, and be a force for stability on one of the world’s most unstable continents. I believe that they can do so, and I pray that their society will succeed in finding prosperity one day.
“His Most Faithful Majesty [the King of Portugal] recognizes Brazil in the category of independent Empire and separated from the Kingdoms of Portugal and the Algarves; And to his most beloved and dear son Pedro by Emperor, yielding and transferring from his free will the sovereignty of the said Empire to his son and to his legitimate successors.”
– Treaty of Rio de Janeiro (1825), Article I (see also the original Portuguese text)
Book at Amazon.com (not to be confused with Brazil’s Amazon rainforest)
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