History of Roraima
The history of the territory that is now Roraima, a state at the extreme north of present-day Brazil is recent, but not thereby simple. Invaded numerous times by the various countries interested in the region, the seldom-visited Roraima aroused little interest on the part of the Portuguese, especially after the arrival of the royal family in Rio de Janeiro. Meanwhile, the territory became coveted by other countries, including England, the Netherlands, and, especially, Spain.
A stage for revolts, massacres, exploration, and development, there were numerous foreign invasions, each repelled by the Portuguese force at Forte São Joaquim. Joaquim Nabuco, the acclaimed Pernambucan lawyer, defended the region from the king of Italy in the 19th century. The territory which was a municipality became a federal territory and a state.
The 17th century: the discovery of the Branco River
Although the Portuguese arrived in Brazil in 1500 under Pedro Álvares Cabral, two hundred years passed before they discovered the Branco River valley. It was by this river, which is the principal watercourse in the area, that the first Portuguese colonizers arrived.Although the area was inhabited by native people, the first Europeans' stay there was not calm, as Spain launched invasions from Venezuela, and the Netherlands from Suriname. The Portuguese reacted by defeating and expelling the invaders, and establishing Portuguese sovereignty in the region.
Captain Francisco Ferreira and the Carmelite priest Jerônimo Coelho were the first colonizers to arrive at the Branco River. Their intentions were to imprison natives and collect turtle eggs.
Later, Cristóvão Aires Botelho and Lourenço Belfort arrived, being the first to cross the Cachoeira do Bem-Querer. José Miguel Aires also came up the Branco, with the goal of imprisoning indigenous people and selling them at Belém do Pará and São Luís do Maranhão, where they would become slaves.
In November 1739, Nicholas Horstman, a German surgeon commissioned by the Dutch Governor of Guiana, traveled up the Essequibo River accompanied by two Dutch soldiers and four Indian guides. In April 1741 one of the Indian guides returned reporting that in 1740 Horstman had crossed over to the Rio Branco and descended it to its confluence with the Rio Negro. Horstman discovered Lake Amucu on the North Rupununi and later settled in Belém.
The Spanish, on their part, invaded the Uraricoera River Valley between the years 1771 and 1773, having crossed the cordillera of Pacaraima. There they founded three settlements, Santa Bárbara, São João Batista de Caya Caya, and Santa Rosa. However, they could not resist the Portuguese and were eventually expelled from the region. Seeing the international interest in the region, the colonial government constructed the Forte de São Joaquim do Rio Branco, a mark of Portuguese hegemony in the area.
The construction of the fort brought an illusion of having achieved prosperity, with the construction of three villages where the natives were forced to live: Nossa Senhora da Conceição e Santo Antônio, on the banks of the Uraricoera, São Felipe on the Takutu River, and Nossa Senhora do Carmo e Santa Bárbara on the Rio Branco. They were not successful, as the natives rebelled against the Portuguese impositions, and abandoned the villages which later disappeared.
The 18th century: introduction of cattle
The end of the 18th century marked the beginning of an economy based on cattle husbandry. Manuel da Gama Lobo D'Almada was the pioneer who, in 1789, introduced cattle and horses to the region, which the intention of spreading his familiar civilization to this new place.In 1770, there was an indigenous revolt in Roraima known as the. The name comes from the fact that many soldiers and native people were killed and their blood tinted the waters of the Branco River.
The livestock industry began at the São Bento ranch, then later was concentrated at São José, and finally in 1799 established itself definitively at Fazenda São Marcos, which is now located within the boundaries of the indigenous areas stipulated by FUNAI.
There were no fences, walls, or other enclosures to delimit the edges of the grazing areas, allowing the animals to disperse throughout the region. Some took advantage of this by claiming stray cattle and starting their own ranches. Some of the native people became well established as ranchers, in particular the Macushi, who remain known for it today.
The 19th century: the royal family and economic stagnation
In 1808 the Portuguese moved to Brazil, fleeing Napoleon Bonaparte and the French army. Established in the colonial capital, Rio de Janeiro, the nobility confronted problems adapting to their new home. They wished to establish the comfort and luxurious way of life they were accustomed to in Europe, which caused to the southern part of the colony to develop, while the Amazon found itself abandoned.At the time of this abandonment, Forte São Joaquim, was maintained for over a century as a sentinel of Portuguese sovereignty in the region. During this time, there were various confrontations between Portuguese soldiers and foreign invaders. This is a list of the leaders of the fort from this period:
- Captain Nicolau de Sá Sarmento
- Captain Inácio Magalhães
- Captain Ambrósio Aires
- Captain José Barros Leal
- Major Coelho
- Captain Bento Brasil
- General Pedro Rodrigues
The question of Pirara
Between 1810 and 1811 English soldiers penetrated the region. The commander of the fort received them cordially, but preventing them from completing their mission. The German Robert Hermann Schomburgk, who worked for the English, visited the area in 1835, under the pretense of researching the physical geography of the interior of Guyana. He sent to London reports denouncing the almost nonexistent Portuguese control of the area that is the present-day state of Roraima, and suggested that England occupy certain areas, in some cases permanently.
The English court and public opinion received the report well and the Protestant missionary Thomas Yound was sent to the area. Yound arrived in the area of Pirara converting the natives to Protestantism and encouraging British allegiance, teaching English and raising the British flag.
The president of the province of Pará, General Francisco José de Sousa Soares de Andréa, ordered the commander of the fort, Ambrósio Aires, and the friar José Santos Inocentes to command the missionary personally to leave the region. He, for his part, followed the command, but took with him natives that had already been converted.
The attempt of the English to dominate the region did not end there, and in 1840 a large conflict developed which involved even the European kings and international tribunals. On this date, Schomburgk drew a map with contained the regions of Tacutu, Mau and Surumu, showing that they were occupied by "independent tribes," and sent it to London. It gave a new border between the Brazilian lands and the present-day territory of Guyana, given as the Cotingo and Surumu Rivers.
The map impressed British public opinion, which supported complying with Schomburgk's suggestions of occupying the territory. The Brazilian presence in the border region was weak due to disunity in the royal family; nevertheless, the government in Para protested before the English consulate in Belém, and the Brazilian government protested at the Brazilian embassy in London. The protests made the British government retreat to the provisional boundaries already established in the region, but did not desist in its claims. In 1842, a Brazilian recommendation was received in London that the disputed area be "neutralized."
Britain agreed, but did not renounce its rights: it accepted neutralization only on the condition of the inclusion of the areas of the Cotindo and Mau rivers. This diplomatic impasse lasted until 1898, when Brazil agreed with Britain that the issue be submitted to the Italian government, who would serve as an arbiter for the dispute. The Pernambucan Joaquim Nabuco argued the Brazilian case, which would be heard by Victor Emmanuel III of Italy. Nabuco studied the case, arguing for the precedence of Portuguese supremacy in the area. Eighteen volumes of arguments were advanced in the Portuguese case.
In 1904 a decision was made by the Italian king: 19,630 square kilometers would be taken from Brazil and given to Britain, which today form the territory of the nation of Guyana, defining the boundaries of the countries. Despite this, the arguments of Nabuco were not in vain, considering that without them the territory lost would have been about double, giving Roraima an eternal debt to his argumentative skill.
The birth of Boa Vista
According to the data from 1887, the population of Boa Vista was 1,000 inhabitants, counting only whites and slaves, and not the indigenous population. On July 9, 1890 the governor of Amazonas Augusto Ximeno de Ville Roy created the municipality of Boa Vista do Rio Branco, believing that in this way he was creating an incentive for developing the Branco valley region.Another attitude which contributed to the development of the region was the construction of a road linking Boa Vista and Manaus, which today is one of the primary highways of the area, the BR-174. The order for construction was given by the Amazonas governor, Eduardo Ribeiro and was executed by the resident Sebastião Diniz.
The 20th century: creation of the federal territory
In 1943, the president of the republic Getúlio Vargas created five new federal territories, of which two were renamed, two were eliminated in 1946, and one in 1988. Until then Acre was the only federal territory. The present-day state of Roraima was called the Território Federal do Rio Branco.This act made the region a bit more visited. A Division of Production, Land and Colonization was created, which realized surveys concerning the natural resources of the territory, recording lands and organizing agricultural colonies, among other functions.
The first acts of the new territory were:
- Construction of 52 residences in the centre of the capital;
- Construction of the scholastic groups Lobo D'Almada, Osvaldo Cruz, Professor Diomedes and Afrânio Peixoto;
- Installation of the Monteiro Lobato Regional Normal Course, which prepared professors, and the gymnasium Euclides da Cunha
- Constitution of the Blue Legion to prepare the terrain for the road from Mucajaí to Caracaraí;
- Creation of the three primary agricultural colonies of the territory, Coronel Mota, Braz de Aguiar, and Fernando Costa
During the 1960s and 70s, the military expanded the infrastructure, giving support so that businesses and workers would establish themselves in the region. Diamonds caused great interest in the area during the 1980s, and Roraima experienced its greatest population growth during this period.
In its last decade as a federal territory, two federal highways were opened, the BR-174 and the BR-210. Along these roadways colonization projects in the dozens were started. In 1982, 42 agricultural colonies were being developed. The neighborhood streets are perpendicular to the highways which augmented the number of lots, and consequently colonizers, who came especially from Maranhão and southern Brazil.