Imperial Capitalism

I. Imperialism in Brazil

A. Early Portuguese Imperialism


1. Sugar--the early economic impetus for Portuguese imperial development in Brazil was the cultivation of sugar. This lead to the development of slavery in the colony, which provided labor for this endeavor, as well as later economic developments. More than 35% of all slaves taken from Africa were sent to Brazil. Slavery legally existed in Brazil until 1888; slaves are still being found in some places in the country to this day.

B. Later Portuguese Imperialism




1. Gold--the discovery of gold in Brazil gave the Portuguese economy a boost just as the price of sugar was dropping because of increased production from other sugar-producing areas (particularly the Caribbean Islands).


2. Cotton--Portugal, worried about the growing trade imbalance with England, began growing cotton in Brazil to start a domestic textile industry. Portuguese/Brazilian investors, seeing advantages to building factories in Brazil, where the cotton was grown. Eventually, the metropole saw this as a threat to their continuing rule, and demanded the halt of construction of new textile factories, as well as the dismantling of factories already constructed.

a) This policy did not help to maintain a viable textile industry in Portugal (which could not continue to compete as industrial development continued to drive down the price of textiles produced in England, and at the same time ended the chance to further develop textile industry in Brazil.




C. Brazilian independence--

1. In 1808, King Joao the VI fled Portugal to avoid capture during the Napoleonic Wars, governing from Brazil. The center of government remained in the colony until 1821, when the so-called “Liberal Revolution” in Portugal forced the king to return. Upon returning to Portugal, attempts to limit the independence of local governments in Brazil, which had been granted a great deal of autonomy while the king resided in Brazil, created feelings of resentment.

2. Brazilian underdevelopment--tensions this determined underdevelopment of Brazil caused among the Luso-Brazilians (those persons in Brazil of Portuguese descent) and the Portuguese government stirred many to develop the opinion that the interests of those living in Brazil would be best served by severing ties with Portugal

3. Independence--was declared in 1822, and by 1825 an agreement was signed by Portugal recognizing the independence of Brazil. While the revolution was not bloodless, it was far less bloody than many of the other Latin American revolutions.



II. Imperialism in South Africa


A. Cape Colony--after its “discovery” by the Portuguese in 1488, the Cape of Good Hope became an important place along the trade route between Europe and Asia.


B. Afrikaner settlement--during the period of Dutch dominance of the Asian trade, a number of Dutch farmers settled in Cape Colony (called Boers, Dutch for “farmers”). Although the land in southern Africa was occupied by nomadic peoples, the Dutch settlers claimed that the land was “unoccupied” (since it was not occupied as they wished to occupy it), and therefore legitimately theirs for the taking.




C. English settlement--as the English assumed greater dominance on the high seas, they also began dominating the settlement in Cape Colony. Feeling closed in by the British, the Afrikaners moved further inland, which brought them into further conflict with Africans already living there.



D. Exploitation of Colonial Minerals--the discovery of valuable minerals for exploitation brought huge amounts of investment into southern Africa--but this resulted in the displacement on impoverishment of the native peoples


1. Diamonds

2. Gold

E. Colonial Industrialization--mining for these valuable minerals was industrialized, which meant that the native people were hired as miners--but also humiliated and dehumanized.


1. Mining camps--African miners were forced to live in all-male camps as a condition of their employment.
2. Authorization--miners also were forced to carry cards identifying them as miners; not producing a card when required to do so often resulted in a severe corporal punishment.

3. Apartheid--this system of organizing labor for the mines in the region gradually led to the system of apartheid, which defined South Africa for much of the 20th century.