The history of Pernambuco is the systematic study of the past of the State of Pernambuco in the Northeast region of Brazil. It can be roughly divided into two periods: first, when the region was a colony of Portugal and, second, when it was a component of the nation of Brazil. Not to be overlooked, however, are the established indigenous peoples of the region, numerous revolts and short-lived independence movements, French incursions, and a Dutch occupation.
Pernambuco was economically prosperous during its early history, first as a source of dye-wood and then sugar, but later languished becoming today a principal state in Brazil's underdeveloped Northeast Region. Following the expulsion of the Dutch from the region in 1654, there were numerous impediments to the development of the region, including a concentrated system of land ownership, its extensive reliance on a single crop, poor communication and transportation, and intense regionalism. In the late 20th century, the region again experienced some success as it developed an industrial sector and improved communication and transportation reduced the effects of regionalism.
Name Recent research indicates that the name Pernambuco was derived from Boca de Fernão (Fernão's Mouth). The place, now known as Canal de Santa Cruz, is where Fernão de Noronha loaded his ships with Brazilian wood to trade in Europe. The name was spoken by the Tupi as Pernãobuka and was recorded by French writers as Fernambouc; the two pronunciations have been combined into the modern name.
In the past, Pernambuco was believed to be a distortion of the Tupi words para-nã (wide river) and Mbuka (hollow or broken), referring to its coastal reefs.Robert Southey, History of Brazil Vol. 1, p. 54 (Burt Franklin, New York, 1970), p 53
Prehistory and antiquity The northeast section of Brazil has some of the country's oldest archaeological sites, dating back to 40,000 BC. In the region that today corresponds to Pernambuco, signs of human occupation from around 9,000 BC were identified in the regions of Chã do Caboclo, Bom Jardim, Furna do Estragon, and Brejo da Madre de Deus. In Brejo da Madre de Deus, an important necropolis was found, from which 83 skeletons were recovered.
The Itaparica people inhabited the region and were responsible for creating stone instruments around 4,000 BC. Cave paintings in the region from around AD 1 are attributed to the Kiriri people. Other indigenous groups from before Portuguese colonization such as the Pankararu and Atikum are still present in certain parts of Pernambuco. At the time of Portuguese colonization, the Tabajara, Tupinambá, and Caetés were recorded as inhabiting the area.John Hemming, Red Gold: The Conquest of the Brazilian Indians, 1500-1760, Harvard University Press, 1978, pp. 72-75
Precolonial history
Indigenous peoples At the time of the discovery of Brazil by Portugal, the area near Recife was populated chiefly by Tabajara Indians.Francis A. Dutra, "Duarte Coelho Pereira, First Lord-Proprietor of Pernambuco: The Beginnings of a Dynasty." The Americas Vol. XXIX, April 1973, Number 4, pp. 415{em}441Robert Southey, History of Brazil Vol. 1, p. 54 (Burt Franklin, New York, 1970 The Tabajara were members of the Tupi-Guarani linguistic group. The Portuguese had more successful dealings with Tupi-Guarani speakers than with speakers of other languages.Stuart B.Schwartz, Sugar Plantations in the Formation of Brazilian Society: Bahia, 1550 - 1835, chapter 2 (Cambridge University Press. 1985) While the Portuguese found many cultural practices of indigenous peoples objectionable, such as cannibalism and nudity,Pero de Magalhães Gandavo, The Histories of Brazil translated by John B Stetson, pp. 83 - 112 &165 - 174, The Cortes Society, New York, 1922 the Tupi-Guarani were viewed as more valuable culturally than their counterparts. Whereas other indigenous groups were wholly hunter-gatherers, Tupi speakers, including the Tabajara, practiced limited agriculture.
Portuguese arrival
The Tupi speakers' agriculture was key in their cooperation with the Portuguese during the pre-colonial period. During this time, the primary objective of the Portuguese in the region was to harvest and export Brazilwood. To this end, coivara (slash-and-burn) agriculture was employed by indigenous peoples. With the men doing the heavy work of clearing ground and the women planting and harvesting crops,John Hemming, Red Gold: The conquest of the Brazilian Indians, 1500-1760 (Harvard University Press, 1978), p. 27 indigenous peoples traded large quantities of Brazilwood with the Portuguese. In return, they were supplied with metal tools which allowed for more efficient ground clearing and quickly abandoned their stone tools.John Hemming, Red Gold: The conquest of the Brazilian Indians, 1500-1760 (Harvard University Press, 1978), chapter 1
To facilitate the exploitation of Brazilwood, King Manuel I of Portugal granted Fernão de Loronha, after whom the islands of Fernando de Noronha are named, an exclusive license to exploit Brazilwood.Bailey W. Diffie (1987). A History of Colonial Brazil: 1500 - 1792, p 1, Krieger, Malabar, Florida. Most of the Brazilwood taken from the region was shipped to Northern Europe, where it was valued for the red dye which came from the wood. The dye was especially popular in France, which soon began competing with the Portuguese in an attempt to secure Brazilwood production for themselves. Manuel I viewed these French efforts as violations of his sovereign territory. In 1516, King Manoel charged Cristóvão Jacques with patrolling the coast of Pernambuco against foreign vessels. Jacques established a feitoria, or trading post, on Itamaracá, an island at the mouth of the Canal de Santa Cruz. The trading post was intended to establish relations with the natives, seek information about resources inland, and repel encroachments by other nations.Alexander Marchant, From Barter to Slavery, The Economic Relations of Portugues and Indians in the Settlement of Brazil, 1500-1580, Peter Smith, Glouster, MA, 1966, pp 19 - 25Bailey W. Diffie (1987). A History of Colonial Brazil: 1500 - 1792, ch. 2, Krieger, Malabar, Florida.
A French force led by Bertrand d'Ornesan once again tried to establish a trading post in Pernambuco in 1531. Renaissance Warrior and Patron: The Reign of Francis I by R. J. Knecht p.375 (Cambridge University Press, 1996) The Portuguese responded by sending an armada led by Martim Afonso de Sousa which burned the French outpost and reestablished Portuguese control in the area.Frei Vicente do Salvador, Historia do Brazil, Revista por Capistrano de Abreu, Rodolfo Garcia e Frei Venâncio Willeke, 6 ed. Melhormentos, São Paulo, 1974, II, pp 122-125 Shortly after this victory, Portuguese immigrants began to settle in Brazil. In 1534, King John III of Portugal began granting hereditary captaincies in order to better secure Brazil against foreign powers.Francis A. Dutra, "Duarte Coelho Pereira, First Lord-Proprietor of Pernambuco: The Founding of a Dynasty." The Americas Vol. XXIX, April 1973, Number 4, pp. 415-441
Colonial Period
Early Colonial Period (1534–1630)
By 1534 it became evident to John III of Portugal that in order to retain his rights to Brazil, Portuguese people must settle there. At the time, John viewed controlling trade in Asia as a more pressing matter than cementing control over Brazil, so he instituted the captaincy system which had previously been used in the Azores and other island possessions of Portugal. The Captaincy of Pernambuco was formed and granted to Duarte Coelho, consisting sixty leagues along the Atlantic Coast from the island of Itamaracá in the north to the River Sao Francisco in the south.E. Bradford Burns, Ed., A Documentary History of Brazil, Alfred Knopf, New York, pp. 33-45
Coelho arrived in Brazil in 1535 with his wife Dona Brites de Albuquerque, her brother Jeronimo de Albuquerque, a small group of settlers, and some supplies with which to found his captaincy.Francis A. Dutra. “Duarte Coelho Pereira, First Lord-Proprietor of Pernambuco: The Beginnings of a Dynasty,” The Americas 29:4 (April 1973), pp.415-441. While few historical documents exist to the exact nature of Coelho's governance, it is clear that Pernambuco was decidedly the most successful of all the initial captaincies in Brazil. However, Coelho's initial efforts also established Pernambuco's reliance on sugar farming and the latifundia system. As Lord Proprietor, Coelho directed military actions against the French-aligned Caeté people. Upon their defeat in 1537, he established a settlement in a former native village known as Olinda, as well as another village at Igarassu. Duarte Coelho, and later his heirs, enjoyed relative autonomy in developing the captaincy as a major producer of sugar and Portugal's richest Brazilian colony throughout the 16th century.Francis Dutra, “Centralization vs. Donatarial Privilege” in Colonial Roots of Modern Brazil, Dauril Alden, ed., University of California Press, 1973, pp. 19-60. This success persisted until the Dutch invaded and occupied Pernambuco in 1630.
Dutch Occupation (1630–1654)
Portugal experienced competition from other foreign powers throughout its colonial history, and preventing these rivals from expanding in the New World was one motivation for its colonization of Brazil. When the kingdom of Portugal fell under the rule of the Spanish Hapsburgs in 1580, however, Brazil became a prime target for the new colonial power of the Netherlands. After the Dutch failed to take Bahia, they invaded and occupied Pernambuco and continued to expand northward to the Amazon River. The Dutch occupation of Pernambuco was resisted by the Portuguese colonists for its duration. This period of Pernambucano history can roughly be divided into three periods: six years of fighting from 1630 to 1636; relative pacification under the governorship of Johan Maurits, from 1636 to 1644; and renewed struggle in the decade after Maurits' recall, from 1644 to 1654, ending with the expulsion of the Dutch.C. R. Boxer, The Dutch in Brazil 1624-1654, Archon Books, 1973
Late Colonial Period (1655–1807) After the Dutch occupation, Pernambuco was never able to restore its place as the most successful captaincy in Brazil. Over the course of the Dutch occupation, Bahia had surpassed Parambuco in sugar production. Additional Dutch colonies in the Caribbean were also developed and began producing sugar, providing fierce new competition for Parambuco within Brazil and internationally. Also contributing to Parambuco's decline in importance was the discovery of gold and diamonds in other Brazilian provinces such as Minas Gerais. Thus, when Brazil became an independent nation, Pernambuco's importance within the new nation was greatly diminished, despite its continued production of sugar.E. Bradford Burns, A History of Brazil, 3 ed. Columbia University Press, New York, pp 61-97Stuart B Schwartz, Sugar Plantations in the Formation of Brazilian Society: Bahia, 1550-1835 pp. 245-414
Early Brazilian Period (1807–1889)
Brazil's independence was predominantly caused by the arrival of the Portuguese royal family in the country. Portugal having been occupied by Napoleon's army and with Rio de Janeiro hosting the royal court, Brazil no longer occupied the role of colony and Portugal was no longer able to function as its metropole. As such, Brazil's ports were opened to foreign trade, its government became America centered, and bureaucratic institutions were established in the new country. Unlike the Spanish colonies in America, Brazil would remain territorially intact, aside from the loss of what is today Uruguay. However, there were rebellions in several regions of Brazil, including in Pernambuco, which could have led to the fracturing of Brazil.C. H. Haring, Empire in Brazil: A New World Experiment with Monarchy, Norton, New York, 1958, Ch. 3
Pernambuco Revolts