tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6404036170106001374.post7396657231625372533..comments2024-03-18T04:40:38.214-05:00Comments on Murderous Musings: Why Brazilians Speak PortugueseChester Campbellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07155257451021065218noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6404036170106001374.post-61735234540137314272012-01-11T16:57:23.014-06:002012-01-11T16:57:23.014-06:00to answer your question more specifically, Barbara...to answer your question more specifically, Barbara...yes, the Portuguese did engage in numerous battles with their European rivals, in particular with French Normans in Rio De Janeiro,the Dutch in the very North of Brazil,and the Spaniards in the extreme South of Brazil...<br /><br />The Portuguese (with help from Portuguese colonists, African slaves and Native Indians) were successful in repelling all their rivals attempts in colonizing Brazil, with the exception of losing modern day Uruguay to the Spaniards, which was originally a Portuguese-Brazilian territory...johnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10255217184371526217noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6404036170106001374.post-1515233829931436212011-07-17T17:51:44.855-05:002011-07-17T17:51:44.855-05:00Thanks, Barbara,
I appreciate your kind words.
You...Thanks, Barbara,<br />I appreciate your kind words.<br />You got that right!<br />I'm hooked on history.<br />All places and all eras.Leighton Gagehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09788807904434180290noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6404036170106001374.post-9260618600500862092011-07-17T16:34:23.795-05:002011-07-17T16:34:23.795-05:00Oh boy, another history freak. And especially Lati...Oh boy, another history freak. And especially Latin America. My mother was a travel writer there when I was a kid and I'm solidly hooked. Thanks for the post. I'm mostly nuts about history of Mexico and the Southwest.<br />Loved it.<br />Barbara DeShong<br />barbaradeshong-mysteryshrinkMysteryShrinkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14034207861274506238noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6404036170106001374.post-82243734050280821072011-07-17T12:58:02.715-05:002011-07-17T12:58:02.715-05:00Hi Jean,
The French, the Dutch and the Spaniards ...Hi Jean,<br /><br />The French, the Dutch and the Spaniards all battled Portugal for parts of Brazil, but that was much later.<br /><br />In the early days, Spanish exploration was all about finding precious minerals.<br /><br />Pizzaro found gold in Peru and destroyed the Inca empire to get it. Ditto Cortez, in Mexico, who decimated the Aztecs. And then there were the great silver mines at Potosi where so many died to fill the holds of the treasure ships.<br /><br />But the gold and silver in Brazil was only discovered much later, far from the coast.<br /><br />During most of the sixteenth century, the country was only of interest to people who wanted to cultivate land and settle there.<br />Or missionaries who were out to convert the Indians.<br /><br />And why would anyone want to settle in a Portuguese-speaking region if they weren't Portuguese-speaking? There was plenty of land for all and no reason to fight about it.<br /><br />Conflicts between the European powers for parts of the country began with the cultivation of sugar, another way to grow rich, but that began a century after the Portuguese began settling the territory.<br /><br />And it was mostly the Dutch and the French who fought them for it, because, by that time, the Spanish had vast holdings of their own in South America, and their forces were spread too thin.<br /><br />Moreover, they had their hands full holding off English pirates.Leighton Gagehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09788807904434180290noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6404036170106001374.post-23960372412539156502011-07-16T21:25:53.764-05:002011-07-16T21:25:53.764-05:00Interesting but a bit confusing as to the line of ...Interesting but a bit confusing as to the line of demarcation. Did the Portuguese battle the Spaniards for the rest of Brazil?Jean Henry Meadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08146960738692672013noreply@blogger.com