After the government of Tomé de Sousa, Portugal faced a serious problem in Rio de Janeiro. The invasion of the French and their alliance with the Indians of the region took a significant proportion, becoming a threat to Portuguese rule. The main achievement of the third governor-general of Brazil, Mem de Sá, was precisely the expulsion of the French and the control of the situation.
Mem de Sá assumed the government of the colony in 1558 and continued to rule for 15 years. The first thing he did was to get around the French invasion situation. In a first attack, Mem de Sá managed to destroy fort Coligny, however it was not enough to win the dispute. Thus, on March 1, 1565, Mem de Sá's nephew, Estácio de Sá, founded the city of São Sebastião, which became the base of operations in the fight against the French. The outcome of the case took place only with the help of troops from the governor and from the São Vicente region and from the Temiminos Indians of Espírito Santo, where it was possible to expel the foreigners definitively.
In 1563, the Jesuits José de Anchieta and Manuel de Nóbrega managed to establish a peace between the Tamoio Indians and the Portuguese, the so-called Paz de Iperoig. The end of the conflict between the Tamoio Indians and the Portuguese was important to allow the survival of the Colégio de São Paulo and the permanence of the colonizers in the region.
Although Mem de Sá has lived with serious problems, such as hunger and smallpox in Bahia, his government was marked by relative peace and prosperity. In 1572, Mem de Sá decided to leave the general government and return to Portugal. In the same year, he passed away. After his death, Brazil was divided into two governments: the North, headquartered in Salvador, and the South, headquartered in Rio de Janeiro.
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Government of Tome de Souza
Government of Duarte da Costa