The day April 22nd it is marked in our country as the “day of the discovery of Brazil”, that is, the day that the Portuguese arrived here, in the year 1500, which took place through the expedition of Pedro Álvares Cabral. This expedition had a double mission: the investigation of Portugal's possibilities in America and the purchase of spices in India.
The arrival of the Portuguese in our territory started the Brazilian colonization, although, in the first decades, their presence was very shy. For a long time, it was believed that this arrival took place on May 3rd, but the discovery of Pero Vaz de Caminha's letter confirmed the real date.
![Pedro Álvares Cabral's expedition was the first Portuguese expedition to reach Brazilian territory, on April 22, 1500. [1]](/f/c7bde59abf59b837d67c4f303c855f67.jpg)
great navigations
The arrival of the Portuguese in Brazil is related to a process that extended throughout the 15th century and became known as great navigations— the set of navigations carried out by the Portuguese in the Atlantic Ocean.
These expeditions resulted in numerous discoveries, and Portugal was the pioneer country in Atlantic navigation because it met the conditions for this to happen, starting with political issues. Portugal was a stable country and not experiencing political turmoil since the Avis Revolution (when the Avis dynasty was enthroned).
In addition, Portugal had the territoryconsolidated since the 13th century, when the Moors were expelled from the Algarve region. This political stability was not shared by neighboring nations such as Spain, England and France. Also, she allowed the commercial and technological development, which, in the Portuguese case, resulted in nautical improvements.
Portugal had a very developed trade because the location of its capital, Lisbon, made it an important commercial center. The trade issue also included the Europeans' need to keep in touch with India, region in Asia where spices, highly valued goods in Europe, were obtained.
The traditional route, which passed through Constantinople, had been closed by the Ottomans when they conquered the city in 1453. The Portuguese started to invest in Atlantic navigation so that they could find a route around the coast of the African continent. Throughout the 15th century, they tried to bypass the southern coast of Africa, and only succeeded in 1488.
Another feat accomplished by Portugal in the course of the great navigations was the location discovery, such as the Canary Islands, Madeira, Azores and Cape Verde. As the ocean was opened up, the impetus for exploration increased and the interest in profit mobilized men like christopherColumbus, Genoese who got Spanish funding.
sharing america
Christopher Columbus' expedition resulted in the arrival of Europeans in America in 1492. This feat caught the attention of Old World inhabitants, and a disputediplomatic it was carried out between the Portuguese and the Spanish, in the last decade of the 15th century.
With that, we arrived at the Treaty of Tordesillas — an agreement, reached between the two nations, which divided all the lands to be discovered based on an imaginary line stipulated 370 leagues west of the island of Cape Verde.
Accessalso: April 21 – Tiradentes Day
The Portuguese arrive in America
After skirting the southern coast of the African continent, the Portuguese sent an expedition to India and soon organized a Mondayexpedition, captainedperPeterÁlvaresCabral (whose title was Captain General). Below him were another 13 captains, each leading a specific vessel.
Cabral's expedition was designed with the objective of trading with India, but also to investigate the possibilities of Portugal in America. The expedition had 13vessels and with a crew of up to 1500 men. She sailed from the Tagus River, in Lisbon, on March 9, 1500.
The expedition proceeded directly to Cape Verde, arriving there on March 22nd. After that, he continued his journey into the equatorial calm zone a week later. In day April 21st, the sailors spotted seaweed, a clear sign that land was approaching. On the morning of April 22, birds were sighted, and at the end of that day, the mountEaster.
On April 23, 1500, Cabral authorized a group of men to go ashore to explore the coast. There they had contact with the natives, and that was the first contact made by the Portuguese with the indigenous. This moment was peaceful and included the exchange of gifts between the two sides.
The Portuguese remained in Brazil until May 2, when, then, the vessels left for Calicut, India. Before that, in April 26, was performed to first mass in Brazilian territory. The news of the finding of the land was soon sent to the king d. Manoel I, and the main document of this event was the Letter written by butemptyinwalk.
Know more:Influences of the Catholic Church in Brazil
Discovery date
For a long time, it was believed, in Brazil, that the date of arrival of the Portuguese was May 3rd. This is because, until the mid-nineteenth century, Pero Vaz de Caminha's letter was lost in the documents of the Empire Portuguese, and as it was not possible to have access to it, important details of this event were lost. This incorrect impression is attributed to a Portuguese historian who lived in the 16th century — gasparbelt.
This historian interpreted the change the name of Brazil from Terra de Vera Cruz to land of Santa Cruz as an indication that the arrival of the Portuguese had taken place on the 3rd of May. This interpretation was based on the fact that May 3 was dedicated to the religious commemoration of the Holy Cross in Portugal. Thus, he deduced that the Portuguese had given that name to Brazil because they would have arrived here on that day.
Only in 1817, when the Father Manuel de Aires de Casal found the Letter of Pero Vaz de Caminha retrieved the information that the arrival of the Portuguese took place on the 22nd of April and not on the 3rd of May. It took more than a century for all traces of Gaspar Correia's misinterpretation to disappear.
Accessalso: November 15 - Republic Proclamation Day
National holiday
Although April 22 is a significant date for Brazil, it it's not a national holiday. The discovery was a holiday in the country until 1930, but it stopped being so when a law, issued by the government of Getúlio Vargas, abolished some holidays from our calendar.
Currently, national holidays are delimited by two laws: a 10.607, of December 19, 2002, and the 6.802, June 30, 1980. Through them, they defined themselves eight national holidays (when talking about fixed dates) in our country, and April 22nd is not one of them.
As said, the Discovery day was once considered a national holiday., but its celebration was not held on April 22, but on May 3rd. This was done by Provisional Government, which took over the country after the Proclamation of the Republic, through the Decree No. 155-B, of January 14, 1890.
Historians argue that the likely reason for the holiday is May 3 and not April 22, as if I knew at the time to be the real date of discovery, it was that there were no holidays for two days in a row (21st and 22nd April). With this, the rulers of the time chose to choose the false date to commemorate the arrival of the Portuguese. O Decree No. 19,488, of December 15, 1930, abolished this holiday, guaranteeing the April 22 consolidation.
Image credits
[1]tristan tan and Shutterstock
By Daniel Neves
History teacher
Source: Brazil School - https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/datas-comemorativas/dia-do-descobrimento-do-brasil.htm