16th Century

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  Roanoke Colony: Why England’s First American Settlement Failed

  Roanoke shows why England’s first American colonization efforts were limited by war, supply, diplomacy and Atlantic distance.

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  Brazil Before Effective Portuguese Colonization

  Before sugar plantations, Brazil was a coastal trade frontier shaped by brazilwood, Indigenous labor, and the Portuguese fear of rival powers.

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  Viceroyalties, Audiencias, and Cabildos in Spanish America

  Spanish America before the Bourbon reforms was governed through layered institutions that made royal power depend on negotiation.

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  Colonial Brazil (1500-1822): Politics, Economy and Society

  For three centuries, Brazil was ruled by Portugal under a harsh colonial system whose practices continued long after independence.

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  The Life of African Slaves in Brazil: Violence and Resistance

  Africans and their descendants lived in subjugation in Brazil, but they resisted it and left a legacy in Brazilian society.

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  African Slave Trade to Brazil: Reasons, Operation, and End

  For many centuries, millions of Africans were transported to Brazil, where they were enslaved to sustain the economy.

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  Indigenous Slavery in Brazil: Motives, Obstacles, and Laws

  Indigenous labor was widely used in the early stages of Brazil’s colonization and persisted in various regions even after successive laws prohibited it.

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  Protestant Reformation and Counter-Reformation: Causes and Effects

  The Protestant Reformation broke Western Christianity in the 16th century, while the Catholic Counter-Reformation reorganized doctrine, discipline and missions.

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  Brazilian Economy in the Colonial Period

  The economy of Colonial Brazil was characterized by the predominance of sugar and mining, along with some other less relevant activities.