Portuguese colonies in Soth America (by Andrea Mariño)

First steps on the territory

Vicente Yáñez Pinzón, a Spanish navigator, was the first European to be known in the region of the territory today known as Brazil. By 1500, as he advanced northwards to the mouth of the Orinoco River, he found a territory which had been assigned to Portugal in 1494 by the Treaty of Tordesillas, signed by both the Spanish and the Portuguese Ambassadors at Tordesillas (in Northwest Spain),to mark by an imaginary line down through the Atlantic 370 leagues west of Cape Verde, Portugal´s most westerly possession, the division of the territory. According to this treaty, the land on the west side belonged to Spain and the land on the east side belonged to Portugal. Later the same year, a Portuguese navigator Pedro Álvares Cabral, reached the coast of present Brazil and named it Terra da Vera Cruz (Land of the True Cross). The following year, he Italian navigator, Amerigo Vespucci, was sent to Terra da Vera Cruz by the Portuguese government and when he returned with a cargo of the valuable red wood known as brazilwood, the government changed the name of the territory from Terra da Vera Cruz to Brazil.

King John III and the captaincies

In 1530, the Portuguese king John III, divided the colony into 15 districts or captaincies and granted them to 15 donatarios, whose heirs could found cities, grant land and even levy taxes over their territories. In 1549, Thomé de Souza, the first governor general of Brazil, made his headquarters at Bahia (today Salvador), which remained its capital city for over two centuries. He also brought large numbers of slaves to overcome the shortage of laborers, what led to the foundation of Sao Paulo in 1554. In 1555, the French founded a colony on the shores of the Rio de Janeiro Bay. However, the Portuguese destroyed it and in 1567 established on its site the city of Rio de Janeiro.

Brazil´s economy

During the First two centuries, Brazil´s economy was mainly based on the sugar trade but it was changed after the discovery of diamonds and other minerals in the region of Minas Gerais, in the north part of the colony. The mineral trade through the port of Rio de Janeiro gave this city prosperity and sophistication. These facts made Pombal, the chief minister of Portugal, move the capital, Bahia, to Rio de Janeiro in 1763.

Brazil becomes a Republic

A military revolt in November 1889, led by General Manuel Deodoro da Fonseca, forced Pedro II to abdicate the Regengy of Brazil. A republic was was proclaimed and Fonseca was elected head of the provisional government. The drafting of a constitution based on the American one was completed in June 1890 but it was not adopted until February 1891. Now, Brazil became a federal republic officially named United States of Brazil with Fonseca elected its first president.

Montréal’s Historical Summary (by Robert Quinteros)

In 1535, a French navigator, Jacques Cartier, arrived at Hochelaga. It was a village inhabited by St. Lawrence Iroquoians but he claimed the territory for France and gave the name Mont Royal to the mountain.

It is said that there was a supernatural flavor in the beginnings of the city. two religious gentlemen of France, the priest Jean Jacques Olier and the layman Jerome leRoyer de la Dauversiere, had at the same moment a dream in which they saw the configuration of the island, although they had not known of it before, and heard an inner voice convincing them to establish a new colony for the glory of God. The two men met and joint efforts to form a society called ‘La Compagnie de Notre Dame de Montreal’. On May 18, 1642, those men together with Paul de Chomedy De Maisonneuve, who was the first governor of the city, found Ville-Marie with about 60 settlers.

People were constantly attacked by natives, until in 1665, Carignan Regiment was order by New France to suppress the Iroquoians and ease tensions between both sides. At the end of the 17th century, the French gained permanent peace after the treaty La Grande Paix between the French and the Iroquois. At this time, Montréal began to prosper, it became the center of fur trade. The population was about 1,000 and they had the advantage of having inland navigation.

In 1775, Montréal was in war against the British and the city surrendered to British rule. They gave a new impetus to the life of the community, and at the end of the 18th century, Montréal had already taken the lead over the city of Quebec in population as well as in importance.

During the following years, there were fundamental improvements in transportation and industries. For instance, the expansion of the St. Lawrence canal system that made Montréal the principal seaport. The Railway construction made the city the hub of the railway system. Finally, Montréal was becoming a major industrial centre around the middle of the 19th century.

In the mid of 20th century, great projects took place in Montréal, such as the International World Exposition or EXPO 67 and the 1976 Summer Olympic games which gave status to the city.

After the 70s, there was high rate of unemployment, but Montréal regained a strong vitality from the mid-1990s and entered the 21st century with a modernized and buoyant economy based on international trade in basic products and on the distribution of manufactured goods.

Colony of Asunción (by Martín Leardy)

To begin with the history of the Colony of Asunción we have to mention the discovery of the Rio de La Plata by Juan Díaz de Solís, which took place in 1515. It was not up to 1524 that Paraguay was discovered, when Alejo García, coming from Brazil, arrived. For eight years Alejo Garcia mustered men and began a trip to the interior of Paraguay. He marched west and discovered Iguazu Falls crossed the Rio Parana, and arrived at Asuncion, thirteen years before it was founded. Another important fact occurred in 1537, when the expedition of Gonzalo de Mendoza and Juan de Salazar, trying to find a route to the famous goldfields in Perú, resulted in the foundation of the fort Our Lady of Asunción.

Asunción began to stand as a commercial and administrative centre at the very beginning of this settlement. It had been given the character of “mother city,” because from Asunción commercial expeditions left and found numerous towns and cities in the region, such as Santa Fe and Buenos Aires. Little by little, The city became the centre from which La Plata section of South America was administered.

A very important landmark in Paraguay and in Asunción as well was the Jesuit Missions which spred the gospel among the natives. They began in 1604 and finished with the expulsion of the Jesuits from Asunción in 1767. There were many things that the Jesuits did in the “reducciones”. One of them was to pay attention to the different languages which existed among the aboriginal inhabitants and composed kinds of diccionaries to get a better understanding of those languages. Another thing was to settle natives down into colonies to achieve a better organization and to carry the Christian faith to the tribes. Each reduction was organized as a miniature republic with its own governors, who were elected among the aboriginal inhabitants themselves. The reducciones were built by the Guarani. The indigenous created the altars, sculptures, and much of the art that can be seen the churches and museums of Paraguay. Nowadays, we may observe the Jesuits´work, as regards knowledge, technology, art, social organization, politics and religion, in the ruins in some places in the southern part of Paraguay.

When the flourishing early days of Asunción passed, its began to be less and less important as a commercial centre, though remaining important as an administrative one. Buenos Aires became more relevant than Asunción as regard commercial matters.

To finish, we have to mention that Paraguay proclaimed its independence of Spain on May 14, 1811.

Villa de San Antonio del Camino (by Susana Guaglianone)

Villa de San Antonio del Camino was the original name of the City of Merlo. It was founded by Francisco de Merlo y Barbosa. He was born in Sevilla, Spain, in 1693 and died in Buenos Aires, in 1758. He served as a notary public in the Cabildo (town hall) of Buenos Aires and he started acquiring lands in the western countryside in the area called at that time Pago de las Conchas. It was surrounded by the rivers De las Conchas (now Reconquista) and Luxan (now Luján).

By 1727 Merlo had bought a large number of ranches, and his estate extended along the cities now known as Merlo, Libertad, Pontevedra, San Antonio de Padua, Mariano Acosta, Ituzaingó, Castelar, Villa Ariza, Villa General Zapiola, Moreno, Rafael Castilo, Isidro Casanova, González Catán, important sections of Morón and an ample portion of Partido de la Matanza.

According to the Spanish laws, the lands belonged to Francisco de Merlo, however, the territory was inhabited by indigenous tribes called Querandíes and Araucanos, whose recurrent raids led Merlo to build a small hamlet around his ranch as a refuge for many families. Don Francisco also erected a private chapel in the place, near the “Royal Road”, a road that linked Buenos Aires with Lima, the capital of the Viceroyalty of Perú. The chapel was consecrated to Nuestra Señora del Camino and to San Antonio de Padua. In 1742 fifteen families resided in the village.

After several unsuccessful attempts, Merlo wrote a letter to the King Felipe V of Spain in order to request permission for the legal foundation of the town. On August 7th, 1755 the authorization to found the town was conceded. Twenty days later -August 28th- the prosperous village received the name of Villa de San Antonio del Camino. Don Francisco de Merlo y Barbosa died on April 4th, 1778. His vaste estate was divided among his descendants (twelve children) and the Mercedarian Order.

In 1859, the architect Pedro Benoit was assigned to rebuild the church and to draw the map of the town including the thirteen squares that belonged to the church and eighty seven squares else donated by Manuela Calderón, widow of Pearson, and by her son Juan Dillon, who were the landowners of the lands in those days. Dillon was Jhon Dillon´s son, first husband of

Manuela. Juan Dillon is considered as the second founder of the village, he encouraged its development and he was its first mayor. In Dillon´s days the town started to be called Merlo. Benoit traced the basic structure of the city, which is known nowadays as the City of Merlo, and that once was named Villa de San Antonio del Camino.

Bibliography:

• Rotary Club, San Antonio de Padua´s site, 2005. www.paduaweb.com.ar/historia
• Schreiber, César, “Contribución al Conocimiento de la Naturaleza y el Hombre de la Región-Moreno- Provincia de Buenos Aires”, 1995. www.moreno.gov.ar/partidodemoreno/historiademoreno4aspx
• Portal Oficial de la Provincia de Buenos Aires, 2009. www.gob.gba.gov.ar/cdi/