The portuguese overseas expansion (1415-1825)

Abstract

The Portuguese Empire was one of the most successful European empires of history. Stretching all the way from Brazil, to Macao; it had territories in every continent in the world. Portugal’s discoveries opened the world to a whole new era of trading overseas. Portugal was the first to establish direct trade between Asia and Europe, a path that would be later followed by the English and the Dutch. This new route throughout the Cape of Good Hope enabled western European countries to get goods, as pepper or cotton, from Asia without intermediaries like the Ottoman Empire.

After dealing with the origins of Portuguese expansion (Part 1). I will be focusing on the eastern side of the empire (Parts 2 and 3). However, it is undeniable that Brazil was fundamental in the Portuguese Empire and that later it would become more and more important to the Crown. That’s why I will be devoting a chapter to Brazil (Part 4), because without understanding it we cannot understand the Portuguese empire as a whole.

Since the treaty of Tordesillas the Spanish Empire focused on conquering and colonizing America and the Portuguese focused their efforts on exploring and colonizing their way to Asia and the coast of Asia itself. I reckon that the most remarkable thing Portugal did during its history was to successfully connect Asia and Europe. That’s why I will be focusing on the African territories and in the Estado da India, starting from 1415, at the beginning of the Portuguese overseas expansion. In any case, the Golden Era of Portugal in the East came to an end during the 17th century, its decadence would be compensated by the growing importance of Brazil during the 17th and 18th centuries.

For this purpose, my main source will be modern bibliography. A lot has been written about the Portuguese Empire during the last 20 years, so those works will be the basis of my paper. I could not end this paragraph without mentioning the original works of Magalhães Godinho and Charles Boxer, which were the keystone to the knowledge we have nowadays about the Portuguese Empire.