The golden age of Brazil, 1695-1750 : growing pains of a colonial society

THE GOLDEN AGE OF BRAZIL - 1695-1750 - Growing Pains of a Colonial Society - by C.R. Boxer, Camoens Professor of Portuguese. King's College, University of London - Published in cooperation with the Sociedade de Estudos Históricos Dom Pedro Segundo, Rio de Janeiro, by the University of California Press - Berkeley, Los Angeles, London Published with the assistance of a grant from the Ford Foundation. Designed by Walter Ritchie. Printed in the United States of America. When Brazil's golden age began, the Portuguese were securely established on the coast & immediate hinterland. European rivals-Spanish, French, Dutch-had been repelled. Expansion into the vast interior had begun. By the end of the golden age, bandleirantes, missionaries, miners, planters & ranchers had penetrated deep into the continent. In 1750, by the Treaty of Madrid, Spain recognized Brazil's new frontiers. The colony had come to occupy an area slightly greater than that of the ten Spanish colonies in South America put together. Despite conflicts, the fusion of Portuguese, Amerindian & African into a Brazilian entity had begun. The explosive expansion of Brazil had laid the foundation for the independence that followed in 1822. Professor Boxer deals not only with the turbulent events of the golden age but analyses the economic & administrative changes of the period. He examines the relationships of officials with colonists, of settlers with Indians, of colony with mother country. Boxer's classic study of a critical period in the growth of Brazil (the world's 5th largest country) has long been out of print. It's here reissued with numerous illustrations.