Foundation of Paraíba and João Pessoa History Insights
Before Pedro Alvares Cabral arrived in Brazil, the coast of Paraíba was inhabited by the Tabajaras and Potiguaras Indians.
Most of the territory of present-day Paraíba belonged to the Captaincy of Itamaracá, which was granted to Pero Lopes de Sousa in 1534.
But the real colonisation began in 1581, during the Iberian Union, with a settlement on the island of Camboa, on one bank of the Paraíba River, which was destroyed by French pirates. At that time, the trade in Brazilwood in the region was already intense.
In 1585, the Portuguese João Tavares built Fort São Felipe at the mouth of the Paraíba River in honour of King Felipe II of Spain, who also ruled Portugal and its territories as Felipe I. Further up the river, the town of Filipéia (now João Pessoa) grew.
Albernaz called it Forte do Cabedelo and recorded that there was a town there in 1640 (now João Pessoa).
The city was renamed Paraíba after the expulsion of the Dutch in 1654. The region developed at the end of the 16th century with the cultivation of sugar cane.
In 1634, the present territory of Paraíba, as well as a large part of the northeast, was conquered by the Dutch.
In 1634, a Portuguese-Spanish armada left Lisbon for Brazil. An epidemic that wiped out about a third of the crew forced the armada to stay in Cape Verde for a few months.
In January 1640, the naval battle of Paraíba took place between the Dutch and the Portuguese-Spanish armada, which was inconclusive. In 1654 the Dutch were driven out by Portuguese forces under the command of André Vidal de Negreiros.
In 1684, Paraíba was elevated to the rank of captaincy.
In 1753, it was again subordinated to the Captaincy of Pernambuco, becoming separate again in 1799.
Paraíba took an active part in the Pernambuco Revolution of 1817.
In 1821, with Brazil under the regime of a Portuguese Parliamentary Monarchy led by the Constituent Courts of Lisbon, Paraíba elected a Provisional Government Junta on 25 October, presided over by the Portuguese João de Araújo da Cruz. On 18 July 1822, Father Galdino da Costa Vilar assumed the presidency of the government.
On 8 October 1822, the people of Paraíba declared their independence from Portugal, and on 28 November they proclaimed the Prince Regent.
The Paraíba people’s choice of central government in Rio de Janeiro was not without opposition.
For example, the cavalry lieutenant colonel Antonio José Gomes Loureiro did not join the cause of independence and was dismissed from his post in Paraíba.
Loureiro went to Salvador and tried to embark for Portugal, but was forbidden to do so by General Madeira.
He managed to board the merchant schooner Marianna as a passenger, but was captured by Brazilian troops at Caravelas and five of the schooner’s crew were killed in the battle.
In 1824 Paraíba participated in the Confederation of Ecuador. It became a state with the proclamation of the Republic.
In 1930, the President of the State, João Pessoa, was assassinated. He was running for vice-president of the republic on the ticket of Getúlio Vargas.
This was one of the reasons for the movement of 1930 that led to Getúlio Vargas’s coup d’état. In that year, the capital of Paraíba was renamed João Pessoa.
Background to the conquest of Paraíba
It took some time before Portugal began to exploit Brazil economically, as Lusitanian interests were focused on the spice trade in the Indies, and there was no wealth on the Brazilian coast that attracted as much attention as the gold found in the Spanish colonies, an ore that made the nation very powerful at the time.
Because of the Lusitanians’ lack of interest, pirates and corsairs began to exploit brazilwood, a wood that was abundant in colonial Brazil and was particularly valuable for its pigment, which was used to dye fabrics in Europe.
These invaders, mostly French, made friends with the Indians as soon as they arrived in Brazil, allowing them to enter into a commercial relationship known as “escambo”, in which Indian labour was exchanged for a worthless product.
The Portuguese, worried about the increase in trade caused by the invaders of the colony, began to send expeditions to prevent the smuggling of Brazilwood, but when they arrived in Brazil, these expeditions were always repelled by the French and supported by the Indians.
With the failure of the expeditions, the King of Portugal decided to create the system of hereditary captainships. In order to populate it, the Portuguese colony was divided into 15 captaincies for twelve grantees.
Among these we highlight the Captaincy of Itamaracá, which stretched from the Santa Cruz River to the Bay of Betrayal.
The captaincy was originally given to Pedro Lopes de Souza, who was unable to take it up. Francisco Braga took his place, but due to a rivalry with Duarte Coelho, he left the captaincy bankrupt and gave way to João Gonçalves, who carried out some improvements in the captaincy, such as the foundation of Vila da Conceição and the construction of mills.
After the death of João Gonçalves, the captaincy went into decline, being at the mercy of evildoers and favouring the continuation of timber smuggling.
In 1534, with the tragedy of Tacunhaém, the King of Portugal dismembered Itamaracá and created the Captaincy of the Paraíba River.
The tragedy of Tacunhaém
This was a tragedy in which Indians killed all the inhabitants of a plantation.
The Lusitanians were very interested in conquering what is now Paraíba, as it would guarantee the progress of the Pernambuco captaincy, the breaking of the alliance between the Potiguaras and the French, and the extension of their colonisation to the north.
History of the conquest and foundation of Paraíba
1. Conquest expeditions
When the Governor General (D. Luís de Brito) received the order to separate Itamaracá, he also received the order from the King of Portugal to punish the Indians responsible for the massacre, to expel the French and to found a city.
Thus began the five expeditions to conquer Paraíba. King Sebastião first sent the Ombudsman General Fernão da Silva to conquer Paraíba.
First expedition (1574)
The commander of this expedition was the Ombudsman General Fernão da Silva. On arriving in Brazil, Fernão took possession of the land in the name of the king without any resistance, but this was a trap.
His troops were surprised by the natives and had to retreat to Pernambuco.
Second expedition (1575)
The second expedition was led by General Governor Luís de Brito. His expedition was hampered by unfavourable winds and didn’t even reach the Paraíba lands.
Three years later, another governor-general (Lourenço Veiga) tried to conquer the Paraíba River, but was unsuccessful.
Third expedition (1579)
Frutuoso Barbosa imposed the condition that if he conquered Paraíba, he would rule it for ten years.
This idea only brought him losses, as on the way to Paraíba, his fleet was hit by a violent storm and he not only had to retreat to Portugal, but also lost his wife.
Fourth expedition (1582)
Frutuoso Barbosa returned to Paraíba with the same proposal as in the previous expedition, but he fell into a trap set by the Indians and the French.
Barbosa gave up after losing one of his sons in battle.
Fifth expedition (1584)
Among them were Flores Valdez, Felipe de Moura and the tenacious Frutuoso Barbosa, who finally managed to expel the French and conquer Paraíba.
After the conquest, they built the forts of São Tiago and São Felipe.
2. Conquest of Paraíba
For the journeys, the General Ombudsman Martim Leitão formed a troop made up of whites, Indians, slaves and even religious people. When they arrived, they encountered Indians who, defenceless, fled and were captured.
On learning that they were Tabajaras, Martim Leitão ordered their release, claiming that he was fighting the Potiguaras (rivals of the Tabajaras).
After the incident, Leitão tried to form an alliance with the Tabajaras, but they refused, fearing another betrayal.
After some time, Leitão and his troops finally reached the forts (São Felipe and São Tiago), both of which were in a state of decay and misery due to the intrigues between the Spanish and Portuguese.
As a result, Martim Leitão appointed another Portuguese, known as Castrejon, to replace Frutuoso Barbosa, a change that only made matters worse.
When he learned that Castrejon had abandoned the fort, destroyed it and thrown all his artillery into the sea, Leitão arrested him and sent him back to Spain.
When nobody expected it, the Portuguese joined forces with the Tabajaras and forced the Potiguaras to retreat. This happened in early August 1585.
The conquest of Paraíba finally came about through the union of a Portuguese and an indigenous chief called Piragibe, a word that means Fish Arm.
3. History of the foundation of Paraíba
Martim Leitão brought masons, carpenters, engineers and others to build the City of Nossa Senhora das Neves. When the work began, Leitão went to Baía da Traição to expel the remaining French in Paraíba.
Leitão appointed João Tavares captain of the fort. Paraíba was the third city founded in Brazil and the last in the 16th century.
4. History of the foundation of João Pessoa.
Paraíba means bad river, bad port or corrupted sea. Varnhagen also gives the translation of bad river and Teodoro Sampaio that of impassable river.
The exact meaning would be arm of the sea, as the first geographers who studied the river considered it an arm of the sea, and it is likely that the Indians considered it as such.
The entire region of São Domingos (the first name given to Paraíba) was inhabited by the Tabajara Indians, who were courted by the French, who exploited Brazilwood and tried to keep them hostile to explorers of other nationalities.
In 1574, the Indians participated in the attack on the mill of Diogo Dias in the captaincy of Itamaracá.
Fearing that the French would settle there permanently, Portugal ordered the Portuguese to build forts at the mouth of the river, but they suffered several defeats.
At the beginning of 1585, Martim Leitão, Ombudsman General of Bahia, arrived in the region to lead an expedition to rebuild the Bar’s forts and drive the French from various positions.
In the same year, the Portuguese built the Varadouro Fort on the banks of the Sanhauá River, a small tributary of the Paraíba River, and founded the city.
In honour of the saint of the day, the place was named Nossa Senhora das Neves (Our Lady of the Snows), the patron saint of the city to this day.
In honour of the King of Spain who ruled Portugal, the town was named Felipéia. Several families arrived, led by the Ombudsman General Martim Leitão, who had forts, churches and houses built.
Fighting with the Indians continued for years, sometimes against the Tapuias, who lived in the interior, and sometimes against the Potiguares, who lived in the north.
The city developed slowly and Duarte Gomes da Silveira – Martim Leitão’s companion on one of his expeditions – settled there.
To stimulate the town’s development, Silveira established prizes to reward the inhabitants who built houses, and in 1639 he founded the Morgado Salvador do Mundo, a patrimony of the Santa Casa de Misericórdia da Paraíba.
In the 1630s, the town had around 1,500 inhabitants and 18 sugar mills in its immediate vicinity.
As the Dutch approached, the people abandoned the town after setting fire to the main buildings.
The town was occupied by the Dutch after attacks on the Bar forts, which were defended by troops quartered in Cabedelo.
Under the command of the Dutch colonel Segismund von Schkoppe, 2,500 men entered the city, which was renamed Frederikstadt (Fredericia). The people of Paraíba resisted, led by André Vidal de Negreiros, the organiser of the reactionary movement, and in 1654 the Dutch were expelled.
In the 18th century, new churches marked the expansion of the city, including the majestic Baroque complex formed by the Church of São Francisco and the Convent of Santo Antônio.
His death was one of the immediate causes of the 1930 revolution. João Pessoa’s urban modernisation began in the mid-19th century and reached its peak in the 20th century, from 1920 to 1970, with urban transformations and road works that changed the physiognomy of the city’s original nucleus.
João Pessoa was founded by Portuguese settlers on 5 August 1585 as the Royal City of Nossa Senhora das Neves.
Fundação da Capital da Paraíba - João Pessoa
It was renamed Filipeia de Nossa Senhora das Neves in 1588 in honour of King Philip of Spain and Portugal. During the Dutch invasion in 1634 it became Frederikstad or Frederico.
From 1654 its name was changed to Parahyba do Norte.
The name João Pessoa was approved in September 1930 (Correio da Manhã, 7 September 1930, in the sixth column, under the heading “…e do Senado”), as a tribute to the Paraíba politician of the same name, who was assassinated on 26 July 1930 in the Confeitaria Glória in Recife by João Duarte Dantas (1888 – 1930), when he was governor of Paraíba and candidate for vice-president on the ticket of Getúlio Vargas.
The assassination of João Pessoa (1878 – 1930) caused great popular uproar and was considered the trigger of the 1930 revolution, which overthrew President Washington Luís and brought Getúlio Vargas to power.
5. Paraíba’s first colonial cities
As colonisation progressed, towns began to appear in Paraíba. Below is some information about the first cities in Paraíba.
1. The Pilar
Its settlement began at the end of the 16th century, when cattle ranches were established by the Dutch. Today, it is an unimportant town in Paraíba, and was elevated to village status on 5 January 1765.
Pilar originated from the mission of Father Martim Nantes in the region.
Pilar became a municipality in 1985, when sugar cane cultivation became the region’s main activity.
2. Sousa
Now the sixth most populous city in the State and home to one of the country’s most important archaeological sites (Vale dos Dinossauros), Sousa was once a village known as “Jardim do Rio do Peixe”.
The land in the region was very fertile, which quickly accelerated the process of settlement and progress in the area. By 1730 there were around 1,468 people living in the valley.
Sousa was promoted to the status of a town on 22 July 1766, with its present name in honour of its benefactor, Bento Freire de Sousa.
It was politically emancipated on 10 July 1854.
3. Campina Grande
Colonisation began in 1697. Captain Major Teodósio de Oliveira Ledo established a settlement in the region.
The natives formed a village. A street market grew up around this village, through which the peasants passed. Campina became a parish in 1769, under the invocation of Nossa Senhora da Conceição.
On 20 April 1790, it was elevated to the status of Vila Nova da Rainha.
Today Campina Grande is the largest inland city in the northeast.
4. São João do Cariri
Settled in the mid-17th century by the great Cariri family, who populated the São João site, among others, this town, which is not very important today, was elevated to village status on 22 March 1800.
São João do Cariri was politically emancipated on 15 November 1831.
5. Pombal
At the end of the 17th century, Teodósio de Oliveira Ledo crossed the river Piranhas. He won the confrontation with the Pegas Indians and founded a village there, initially named after the river (Piranhas).
Due to the success of the entry, it wasn’t long before the place was called Nossa Senhora do Bom Sucesso, in honour of a saint.
In 1721, the Church of the Rosary was built on the site in honour of the city’s patron saint, now considered a historical relic.
By royal charter of 22 June 1766, the town was renamed Pombal, in honour of the famous Marquis of Pombal.
It was promoted to town on 3 and 4 May 1772, which is now considered to be the date when the municipality was founded.
6. Areia
Formerly known as Bruxaxá, Areia was elevated to the parish of Nossa Senhora da Conceição by the Royal Charter of 18 May 1815.
This date is also considered the date of its elevation to the status of city. Its political emancipation took place on the 18th of May 1846, with the Act of Foundation No. 2.
Today, Areia stands out as one of the most important cities in the interior of Paraíba, mainly because of its attractive historical past.
6. First Captains Major of Paraíba
1 João Tavares
João Tavares was the first captain-major to govern the captaincy of Paraíba, from 1585 to 1588. João Tavares was commissioned by the General Ombudsman, Martim Leitão, to build a new city.
To build this city, 25 knights came, as well as bricklayers, carpenters and other workers.
Jesuits and other people also came to live in the town.
João Tavares founded the first sugar mill, d’El-Rei, in Tibiri, and the fort of São Sebastião, built by Martim Leitão to protect the mill.
The Jesuits were responsible for catechising the Indians. They also founded a catechism centre and built the chapel of São Gonçalo in Passeio Geral.
The government of João Tavares was greatly supported by Duarte Gomes da Silveira, a native of Olinda.
Silveira was a plantation owner and an important figure in Paraíba’s captaincy for more than 50 years. A wealthy man, he contributed financially to the city’s rise. His house is now home to the Nossa Senhora das Neves College.
Although he worked hard for the progress of the captaincy, João Tavares was expelled in 1588 due to the king’s policies.
2. Frutuoso Barbosa
In 1588, Frutuoso Barbosa was appointed the new Captain Major of the Captaincy of Paraíba, assisted by Pedro Cueva, who was in charge of the military part of the Captaincy, due to his insistence in court and the defence of certain rights.
At the same time, some Franciscan friars arrived and founded several villages. As they were not as strict in their religious teachings as the Jesuits, they fell out with them.
This disagreement threatened Barbosa’s government, as the Potiguaras Indians took advantage of his carelessness and invaded his lands. The captain-major of Itamaracá, João Tavares, Piragibe and his Indians came to Barbosa’s aid.
On the way, João Tavares died of a sudden illness. When the rest of the party arrived in Paraíba, they drove out the Potiguaras and arrested them.
Barbosa ordered the construction of a fortress in Cabedelo to prevent the French from entering the region.
Piragibe began building the fortress with the Tabajaras, but due to the interference of the Jesuits, the work was completed by the Franciscans and their men.
In honour of Felipe II of Spain, Barbosa changed the name of the town from Nossa Senhora das Neves to Felipéia de Nossa Senhora das Neves.
Due to the endless fights between Captain Pedro Cueva and the Potiguaras and disagreements with the Jesuits, Cueva left and Barbosa decided to end his rule in 1591.
3. André de Albuquerque Maranhão
André de Albuquerque ruled for only one year. During this time he expelled the Potiguaras and built some fortifications. These included the construction of the Inhobin Fort to defend some mills near the river.
Also during this government, the Potiguaras set fire to the Cabedelo Fort. Albuquerque’s government ended in 1592.
4. Feliciano Coelho de Carvalho
During his reign he fought in Capaoba, made peace with the Indians, improved the roads and expelled the Franciscans. He ended his reign in 1600.
Religious Orders of the Captaincy of Paraíba and their Monasteries
1) Jesuits
The Jesuits were the first missionaries to arrive in the state of Paraíba, accompanying all the colonisation struggles.
At the behest of Frutuoso Barbosa, the Jesuits began to build a college in Felipéia. However, due to disagreements with the Franciscans, who didn’t have the same strict educational methods as the Jesuits, the idea was abandoned.
Taking advantage of these disagreements, the king, unhappy with the Jesuits for not allowing the enslavement of the Indians, blamed the Jesuits for the rivalry with the Franciscans and expelled them from the captaincy.
One hundred and fifteen years later, the Jesuits returned to Paraíba and founded a college where they taught Latin, philosophy and literature.
Some time later, they founded a seminary next to the church of Nossa Senhora da Conceição, where the garden of the Palácio do Governo now stands. The Jesuits were expelled again in 1728.
In 1773, with the permission of Pope Clement XIV, the Ombudsman General took up residence in the seminary where the Jesuits lived.
The Franciscans After Frutuoso Barbosa, Franciscan priests arrived to catechise the Indians.
Friar Antônio do Campo Maior arrived to found the first monastery in the Captaincy. His work focused on several villages, which made him important.
During Feliciano Coelho’s reign, there were some disagreements because the Franciscans, like the Jesuits, did not enslave the Indians. After some disagreements between the Franciscans, Feliciano and the Governor General, Feliciano settled with the Franciscans.
The Franciscan church and convent were built on a very large plot of land where the Plaza de San Francisco now stands.
2. The Benedictines
The Superior General of the Benedictines was interested in founding a monastery in the Captaincy of Paraíba.
The governor of the captaincy received the abbot and discussed the idea with him. He decided to donate a piece of land, which would be ordered by the Superior General of the Benedictines. The governor’s condition was that the monastery should be built within two years.
The convent wasn’t built in two years, but Feliciano kept the donation of the land.
The church of São Bento now stands on Rua 9, where there is still a vane from 1753.
The Carmelite Missionaries The Carmelites arrived in Paraíba in 1580 at the request of Cardinal Henry.
However, due to an incident on their arrival, which led the missionaries in different directions, it took eight years for the Carmelites to arrive. The Carmelites arrived in Paraíba when Brazil was under Spanish rule.
The Carmelites arrived, founded a convent and began missionary work. The history of the Carmelites here is incomplete, as some historical documents were lost during the Dutch invasions.
Friar Manuel de Santa Teresa rebuilt the convent after the French Revolution, but it was soon demolished to serve as the residence of the first Bishop of Paraíba, D. Adauto de Miranda Henriques. The Carmelites founded the church of Carmo.
The indigenous population of Paraíba
There were two Indian races in Paraíba, the Tupis and the Cariris (also called Tapuias).
The Tupis were divided into the Tabajaras and the Potiguaras, who were enemies.
At the time of the founding of Paraíba, the Tabajaras were a group of about 5,000 people. They were peaceful and occupied the coast, where they founded the villages of Alhanda and Taquara.
The Potiguaras, on the other hand, were more numerous than the Tabajaras and occupied a small region between Rio Grande do Norte and Paraíba. These Indians were constantly on the move, leaving villages behind and founding new ones. With this constant movement, the Indians occupied previously uninhabited areas.
The Cariris outnumbered the Tupis and occupied an area stretching from the Borborema Plateau to the borders of Ceará, Rio Grande do Norte and Pernambuco.
The Cariris were Indians who were said to have come from a large lake. Scholars believe they came from the Amazon or the Maracaibo lagoon in Venezuela.
The Old Cariris, who would have been civilised before the New Cariris, were divided into many tribes: sucuru, icós, ariu and pegas and paiacú. Of these, the Tapuias Pegas became famous in the battles against the Bandeirantes.
The level of civilisation of the Paraíba Indians was considerable. Many could read and were skilled in trades such as carpentry. These Indians treated the Jesuits and missionaries well and paid attention to them.
Most of the Indians moved from the Paleolithic to the Neolithic period. The language they spoke was Tupi-Guarani, which was also used by the settlers to communicate with the Indians.
Tupiguarani even merited the creation of a grammar by Father José de Anchieta. Piragibe, who gave us peace in the conquest of Paraíba, Tabira, who fought against the French, and Poti, who fought against the Dutch and was a hero in the battle of Guararapes, are examples of Indians who excelled in Paraíba.
To this day, there are Potiguaras tribes in the Baía da Traição, but only in one village, São Francisco, where there are no people of mixed race, because the tribe does not accept the presence of caboclos, a term they use to refer to people who do not belong to the tribe.
The chief of this village is Djalma Domingos, who is also the mayor of Baía da Traição. The village is gradually becoming more civilised, as evidenced by the telephone exchange installed there a month ago. There are around 7,000 Potiguaras Indians living in these villages, who maintain their ancient culture.
They have around 1,800 pupils aged between 7 and 14 in lower primary school. There are only three Potiguaras tribes in Brazil, the only one in the north-east being in the Baía da Traição. On 19 April they celebrate their day by painting their bodies and bringing together the local villages in the village of S. Chico to perform dances such as the toré.
Their main economic activity is fishing and, to a lesser extent, agriculture.
Dutch invasions in Brazil
In 1578, the young king of Portugal, D. Sebastião, was killed in the battle of Alcácer-Quibir in Africa, leaving the Portuguese throne to his uncle, Cardinal D. Henrique, who died in 1579 due to old age, leaving no heirs.
The King of Spain, Felipe II, who claimed to be a cousin of the Portuguese kings, succeeded to the Portuguese throne in 1580 with the collaboration of the Portuguese nobility and their army.
The transfer of the Portuguese throne to the Spanish crown was detrimental to the interests of the Dutch, who were fighting Spain for their independence, and the Dutch were responsible for the sugar trade in the Portuguese colonies, which guaranteed them high profits.
As rivals of the Spanish, the Dutch were therefore forbidden to land on Portuguese soil, to their great detriment.
Interested in regaining their lucrative business with the Portuguese colonies, the Dutch government and private companies formed the West India Company to invade the colonies.
The first attempt at a Dutch invasion took place in 1624, in Salvador.
The governor of Bahia, Diogo de Mendonça Furtado, had prepared for the battle, but with the delay of the Dutch squadron, the Brazilians no longer believed in the invasion when they were taken by surprise.
The governor was arrested during the attack. But the Brazilian forces, led by Marcos Teixeira, killed several Batavian chiefs and weakened the Dutch troops.
In May 1625, they were driven out of Bahia by Fradique de Toledo Osório’s squadron. After leaving Salvador, the Dutch, commanded by Hendrikordoon, headed for Baía da Traição, where they landed and fortified themselves.
Troops from Paraíba, Pernambuco and the Indians joined forces at the behest of Governor Antônio de Albuquerque and Francisco Carvalho to expel the Dutch.
The Dutch were defeated in August 1625. After this conflict, the Dutch moved on to Pernambuco, where the governor, Matias de Albuquerque, set fire to the port’s warehouses and entrenched himself, leaving them without supplies.
In Paraíba, the Potiguaras were expelled by Francisco Coelho for helping the Dutch.
This was a period of great defence of the country. Fearing new attacks, the Fortress of Santa Catarina in Cabedelo was rebuilt and garrisoned, and the Fort of Santo Antônio was built in front of it, on the opposite bank of the Paraíba River.
On the fifth of December 1632, under the command of Callenfels, 1600 Batavians landed in Paraíba.
There was a firefight and the Dutch built a trench in front of the Santa Catarina Fortress, but they were defeated by the arrival of 600 men from Felipéia de Nossa Senhora das Neves, at the behest of the governor.
After this event, the Brazilians tried to dig a moat in front of the fortress. The Dutch tried to stop them, but the fort resisted. Unable to win, the Batavos retreated to Pernambuco.
The Dutch decided to attack Rio Grande do Norte, but Matias de Albuquerque, 200 Indians and three companies from Paraíba prevented them from landing.
The Dutch returned to Paraíba to attack the Fort of Santo Antônio, but when they disembarked they saw the trench the Paraibans had dug, so they abandoned the invasion and returned to the Cabo de Santo Agostinho.
After a while, the Dutch decided to try to invade Paraíba again, as it was a gateway to the invasion of Pernambuco. On 25 November 1634, a squadron of 29 ships set sail for Paraíba.
On the fourth of December 1634, the well-prepared Dutch soldiers arrived north of Jaguaribe, where they disembarked and captured three Brazilians, including the governor, who managed to escape.
The following day the rest of the Dutch troops landed and took more prisoners. On their way overland to Cabedelo, the Batavos received further reinforcements. Antônio de Albuquerque Maranhão sent to Paraíba all that was needed to fight the Dutch chiefs in the region of the fort.
Meanwhile, Callabar stole property. Reinforcements arrived from Rio Grande do Norte and Pernambuco. Captain Francisco Peres Souto took command of the Cabedelo fortress.
It wasn’t until 15 November that Count Bagnuolo arrived in Paraíba to help the Paraibans. Already in a hopeless situation, the Paraibans decided to surrender the Cabedelo Fort and then the Santo Antônio Fort.
The Count of Bagnuolo went to Pernambuco; Antônio de Albuquerque and the rest of the troops, together with the rest of the people, tried to found the Arraial do Engenho Velho.
The Dutch arrived with their armies in Felipéia de Nossa Senhora das Neves in 1634 and found it empty. They looked for Antônio de Albuquerque in Engenho Velho, but didn’t find him.
The commander of the Dutch troops contacted Duarte Gomes, who went looking for Antônio de Albuquerque, arrested him and sent him to Arraial do Bom Jesus.
The Dutch then ordered the release of Duarte Gomes. At Engenho Espírito Santo, our warriors defeated the invaders led by André Vidal de Negreiros.
The Paraibans still had the idea of driving out the Dutch. They recruited men from the São João sugar mill and enlisted the support of André V de Negreiros.
When the Dutch found out, they too prepared for battle.
The Paraíbans gathered in Timbiri and then went to the Santo André mill, where they were attacked by Paulo Linge and his troops. After several battles, eighty Dutch died and Paraíba lost Captain Francisco Leitão.
The fighters, holed up in the Santo André mill, continued to provoke the Dutch, thus complicating the situation in Pernambuco.
The fortress of Pernambuco was handed over to the prisoners released by Hautyn. Francisco Figueroa arrived to govern the captaincy for a period of time.
In 1655, João Fernandes Vieira arrived to take over the captaincy of Paraíba. Jerônimo de Albuquerque conquered Maranhão with the help of his son Antônio de Albuquerque Maranhão.
In 1618 he inherited the government of Maranhão, which was to be advised by two people elected by the people. Antônio didn’t like his advisors very much and dismissed them.
With his advisors going their own way, Antônio de Albuquerque left the government of Maranhão, married in Lisbon and had two children.
António returned to Brazil in 1627 with the appointment of Captain Major of Paraíba.
Captaincy of Paraíba at the time of the Dutch invasion
At the time of the Dutch invasion, the population was divided into two groups: free men (Dutch, Portuguese and Brazilian) and slaves (of Brazilian or African origin).
During the long period of Dutch rule in Brazil, there was no racial mixing.
Dutch administrative policy in Paraíba
For a decade, the captaincy of Paraíba was administered by Dutch governors:
1. Servais Carpentier
He also governed Rio Grande do Norte, and his official residence was the Convent of St Francis.
2. Ippo Elysses
He was a violent and dishonest administrator. He seized the best mills in the captaincy. Elias Herckmans: Important Dutch governor who ruled for five years.
3. Sebastian Von Hogoveen
Was supposed to take over from Elias H., but died before he could take over. Daniel Aberti: Replaced the previous one.
4. Gisberk de With
He was the best Dutch governor because he was honest, hardworking and humane.
5. Paulo de Lince
He was defeated by the “liberators of the insurrection” and retreated to Cabedelo.
Conquest of the interior of Paraíba
The interior of Paraíba was conquered by means of entrances, catechetical missions and bandeiras, especially after the Dutch invasions.
The missionaries preached Christianity in their missions, taught the Indians to read and write, and built schools for the settlers.
The missionaries found a plateau with a green landscape and a pleasant climate.
A settlement of Cariris Indians, who had organised themselves in the area, gave it the name of Campina Grande. Among the missionaries was Father Martim Nantes, whose mission gave rise to the town of Pilar.
The catechism missions were the first means of conquering the interior of Paraíba.
They were followed by bandeiras, with the aim of capturing Indians.
Captain Major Teodósio de Oliveira Ledo was the man who commanded the first flag in Paraíba.
This flag travelled along the Paraíba River and its climax was the founding of a town called Boqueirão. This first flag, although turbulent, was successful, as Teodósio captured several Indians.
Teodósio is considered to be largely responsible for the colonisation of the interior of Paraíba. He settled in the interior and brought families and Indians to populate it.
Teodósio’s footsteps were followed by Captain Major Luís Soares, who was also notable for his forays into the interior. A man called Elias Herckman searched for mines and reached the Serra da Borborama.
His attitude (of looking for mines) was followed by Manuel Rodrigues. The founder of Casa da Torre, Francisco Dias D’ávila, was another bandeirante who stood out in the colonisation of Paraíba.
Among the various tribes (caicós, icós, janduis, etc.) that stood out in the conflict against the conquest of the interior of Paraíba, the most famous are the sucurus, who inhabited Alagoas de Monteiro.
Political, economic and social analysis of the captaincy in the 17th and 18th centuries
1. Political analysis
In the colonial administration of Brazil, there were three types of political statutes: the hereditary captaincies, the general government and the viceroyalty.
In Paraíba, the Royal Captaincy was created in 1574. In 1694, after more than ninety years, this captaincy became independent.
However, more than sixty years later, on 1 January 1756, the captaincy of Paraíba was merged with that of Pernambuco.
This merger was detrimental to the Captaincy of Paraíba, as well as to the Royal Service, due to the complications of the General Order of Pernambuco, the Governor of Paraíba and Rio Grande do Norte.
For this reason, in 1797, the Governor of the Captaincy, Fernando Castilho, made a statement to the Queen of Portugal, describing the situation of the Royal Captaincy of Paraíba. On 11 January 1799, the Captaincy of Paraíba was separated from the Captaincy of Pernambuco by Royal Charter.
The interior of the captaincy was ravaged by bandeirantes, who penetrated as far as Piauí.
The conquest of the Sertão, however, was carried out by the Oliveira Ledo family. Another political fact was the constant invasions by the French, at the behest of the French crown itself.
The Dutch invasion and the War of the Mascats, in which Paraíba was always present with the heroism of its sons, had their political consequences, stimulating the nationalist sentiment of the Paraíba people.
2. Economic analysis
During the colonial period, the economy of Paraíba was remarkable. The main products and sources of wealth were brazilwood, sugarcane, cotton and the black trade.
Brazilwood, which came from Asia, was known to the Indians as ibira-pitanga. Its value as a raw material for dyeing was recognised in Europe and Asia.
Hence its economic importance. Pernambuco and Paraíba were among the places in Brazil where the ibira-pitanga was most abundant.
Sugar cane, which was the main wealth of Paraíba with its sugar mills, came from Cape Verde. It was first planted in the captaincy of Ilhéus. Sugar cane did not take root in Europe.
In the Middle Ages, sugar was a rare product with an exorbitant price.
It appeared in wills under jewellery. This proved the importance of sugar for the development and progress of the Brazilian colonies.
In the first decade of Paraíba’s foundation, there were already ten sugar mills.
The product had been stored in the granaries of the Iguarassú trading post since 1532.
The French were already trading in cotton. But it was not until the 18th century that the “white gold” economy developed.
Here in the Captaincy, cotton played an important role in the economy.
In Paraíba, cattle were also important. It was not only used as a means of subsistence. They were also used to power the mills.
Cattle had their golden age during the “Leather Age”, when everything was made from leather for commercial purposes: furniture, doors, chests, etc.
3. The slave trade
Slaves were introduced to Brazil at the beginning of colonisation.
No date is given, but it is believed that they first arrived with Martim Afonso de Souza to the captaincy of São Vicente.
In Paraíba, the black trade began soon after the Royal Decree of 1559, issued by Regent Catarina, which allowed the mills to buy twelve (12) slaves each.
Slaves were an expensive commodity. Their average value was between 20 and 30 pounds sterling.
4. Social analysis
Churches
Duarte Coelho Pereira founded a new Lusitania, composed only of nobles. Some nobles from Pernambuco fled to Paraíba before the Dutch invasion.
When they arrived, they set up their mills, where they lived in luxury and enjoyed everything. However, not everyone lived as well as the nobility, as there were illiterate women and girls who only did domestic work.
There were also other social classes, made up of merchants and adventurers who got rich quickly, were part of the bourgeoisie and wanted to become part of the nobility.
The members of the administrative machine were another class. They were considered the good men and lived in uniform.
The most important factor in society was the Church, due to the way it catechised the people.
The main churches that accompanied Paraíba during the colonial period were
- The Parish Church of Nossa Senhora das Neves
- Church of Misericórdia
- Church of Mercês
- Church of Our Lady of the Black Rosary
- Chapel of Our Lady of the Mother of Men
- Church of Bom Jesus dos Martírios
Revolts in which Paraíba participated
1. The Mascates War
The Mascates’ War was a civil war that took place in Pernambuco in the 18th century, specifically in Olinda, the seat of the Pernambuco government at the time.
It was fought against the elevation of Recife to the category of city, at the request of the population of Recife, made up of Portuguese merchants called mascates, who wanted greater autonomy.
At the time, the economy of the Northeast was in decline due to falling sugar prices on the world market and the discovery of the Minas Gerais region. Many plantation owners owed money to the traders.
In 1707, the city of Recife was promoted to village status, which provoked a revolt in Olinda.
Some Olindenses occupied Recife and elected a new governor in their favour; Olinda occupied Recife for three months.
João da Mata, a peddler, won the support of the governor of Paraíba, João da Maia Gama, to take revenge on the plantation owners. The peddlers imprisoned the governor of Pernambuco.
A new governor (Félix José Machado de Mendonça) came to power, who was initially impartial, but then sided with the traders, who won the conflict.
2. Liberal revolutions
The transition from the 18th to the 19th century was marked by the emergence of revolutionary ideas.
In the world, the literary style known as realism/naturalism emerged, which sought to describe the lower classes and show the most degrading and cruel aspects of society.
In Paraíba, revolutionary ideas were stimulated by the Marçonaria. The whole world was based on the scientific point of view. One example is Father Manoel Arruda, who began to study the fauna and flora of the northeast.
All these liberal ideas led to a revolutionary upsurge, including the revolutions of 1817, 1824 and 1848, all with republican, federalist and democratic tendencies.
3. Revolution of 1817
This republican and separatist movement began in the province of Pernambuco and soon spread to the provinces of Alagoas, Paraíba, Rio Grande do Norte and Ceará. Influenced by the French Revolution and the example of the American Republic, the rebels wanted to emancipate Brazil.
When the revolt broke out, the rebels set up a provisional republican government.
But the General Government wasted no time. Four months later, the leaders of the revolt were sentenced to death and the revolution was crushed. Among the leaders of the revolution were Domingos José da Silva (a merchant) and the Paraíba soldiers Peregrino de Carvalho and Amaro Gomes.
4. Praieira Revolution
This uprising lasted only five months and took place in the province of Pernambuco between 1848 and 1849.
It was influenced by the spirit of 1848 that dominated Europe. This uprising was not only a protest movement against imperial policy, but also a social movement that sought to bring about reforms.
Among the other demands of the rebels we can mention
- the division of land
- freedom of the press
- Democracy
- End of textile imports
- End of Portuguese domination of the Recife trade
- the end of the political oligarchy, among other things.
The rebels were liberals against the conservatives (large landowners and Portuguese merchants).
The main liberal newspaper in Recife was located on Rua da Praia. For this reason, the liberals became known as Praieiros.
The revolution began with clashes between liberals and conservatives in Olinda on the seventh day of November 1848.
In 1849 the rebels attacked Recife, but failed. After being defeated by Brigadier Coelho’s troops in Pernambuco, Borges da Fonseca continued to fight in Paraíba. Other leaders were tortured or assassinated.
This was the last revolutionary movement in the Empire.
5. Confederation of Ecuador
This revolt was the result of the authoritarian attitude of Pedro I, who dissolved the Constituent Assembly.
The situation worsened when Pedro I wanted to replace the governor of the province, Manoel Pais de Andrade, a former revolutionary who was very popular among the Pernambucans, with one of his godfathers (Francisco Reis Barreto).
As a result, the city councils of Olinda and Recife declared their opposition to Barreto’s government.
On 2 July 1824, Pais de Andrade joined the rebellion and asked for support from the other northeastern provinces.
His aim was to unite the northeastern provinces in a republic called the Confederation of Ecuador. Envoys were sent to the provinces of Paraíba, Rio Grande do Norte and Ceará.
But the uprising was fiercely suppressed. Pedro I sent warships to put it down. After the defeat of the republican troops in Pernambuco, the other provinces were weakened and defeated.
Their leaders were all executed, including Frei Caneca, who was shot because no one had the courage to hang him.
6. Revolt of the Kilogram Breakers
It took place in 1874 and became famous for the changes it made to the system of weights and measures, which sparked a major revolution in Paraíba. This uprising led to many arrests, including that of the priest of Campina Grande (Calisto Correia Nóbrega).
7. Ronco da Abelha
The Bee Snoring Rebellion took place in the interior of Pernambuco, Alagoas, Ceará and Paraíba in 1851, with the aim of controlling the labour force, as free men went to work with the collapse of the slave trade.
8. Princesa Isabel
Opposition front against President João Pessoa in the city of Princesa Isabel, Paraíba. Its leader was José Pereira, who had influential friends in the state.
9. Prestes Column
It was a movement started by some politicians who were unhappy with the government of the President of Rio Grande do Sul and old participants of the Federalist Revolt of 1893.
Its main leaders were Luís Carlos Prestes, Miguel Costa and Juarez Távola. Despite all the difficulties, the members of the column managed to break through the southern barriers. In the end, the column retreated to Bolivia, Paraguay and Argentina.
10. Revolution of the 1930s
This was the most important event in the history of Paraíba. From the moment João Pessoa refused to accept Júlio Prestes’ candidacy for the presidency of the republic, the leadership of Paraíba went into reverse.
The situation was exacerbated by the Princesa rebellion, which was supported by all the sugar and cotton colonels.
Soon after this event, the president of Paraíba, João Pessoa, died. The revolution spread to different places (north-east from Maranhão to Bahia).
History of the foundation of Paraíba and João Pessoa
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