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May 1, 1494
Land Claims
Portuguese explorers arrived to claim the land.Portugal claimed lands to the east and began colonizing Brazil. ThePortuguese traded with Native Americans for brazilwood and the Portuguese set up an export economy, and economy based on export. -
Apr 1, 1500
Cultures Meet
Portuguese explorers first set foot on the land we know today as Brazil. Native American tribes had adapted to Brazil's various environment. Some lived by hunting or fishing and gathering. Others had turned to farming -
Africans Arrive
Portuguese brought enslaved Africans to labor on sugar cane plantation and later n the diamond mines of Minas Gerais, to replace the Native Americans. -
An Independent Brazil
The seeds of Brazil's independence were planted in 1807, when the French emperor Napoleon invaded Portugal. Portugal's royal family fled to Brazil to escape Napoleon. -
The King Returned
The king returned to Portugal in 1821. His son , Pedro I, stayed in Brazil. In 1822, Pedro declared that Brazil was no longer part of the Portugal. He made himself emperor of an independent Brazil. Brazilians had begun growing coffee. It was latest "star" product in a boom and bus cycle. -
The New Brazil
In the late 1800s, coffee had brought such wealth that coffee planters were politically powerful. They challenged the government, which was controlled by the owners of the sugar plantations. The coffee planters wanted a republic. Meanwhile, abolitionists, or people who wanted too end slavery, were campaigning to free the slaves. -
Freedom & Republic
In 1888, all the slaves were freed. A year later, Brazil's military staged a coup - an overthrow of government. The empire ended, and a republic took its place. During the republic, power shifted from the sugar plantations of the northeast to the coffee growers of the southeast. Some of the first leaders of the republic were known as "coffee presidents". -
Economy fell
Throughout the 1900s, the republic faced many challenges. Brazil's economy was hurt when challenges. Brazil's economy was hurt when demand for rubber decline. Coffee Depression began in 1929. Then coffee prices fell sharply in the world markets. -
The Olympic Games in Rio
The competition venues were clustered in Barra, Copacabana, Deodoro and Maracanã.The cost for Rio is estimated at around $4.6 billion. And that’s without factoring in another $1.6 billion in estimated budget overages. Improved infrastructure in RIO, but not everyone like it.
