Place:Pernambuco, Brazil

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source: Family History Library Catalog

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Pernambuco is a state of Brazil, located in the Northeast region of the country. To the north are the states of Paraíba and Ceará, to the west is Piauí, to the south are Alagoas and Bahia, and to the east is the Atlantic Ocean. There are about of beaches, including some of the most beautiful in the region, such as Porto de Galinhas, Carneiros and Calhetas. In 1982 the city of Olinda, the second oldest Brazilian city, was declared a Historical and Cultural Patrimony of Humanity by the UNESCO. Recife, the Capital of State and Olinda have one of the most traditional Brazilian Carnivals. Both have Portuguese architecture, with centuries-old casarões and churches, kilometers of beaches and much culture. The state of Pernambuco also includes the archipelago Fernando de Noronha. The proximity of the Equator guarantees sunshine throughout the year, with average temperatures of 26 °C (79 °F).

History

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Originally inhabited by various indigenous peoples, Pernambuco was first settled by the Portuguese in the 16th century. The French under Bertrand d'Ornesan tried to establish a French trading post at Pernambuco in 1531. Shortly after King John III of Portugal created the Hereditary Captaincies in 1534, Pernambuco was granted to Duarte Coelho, who arrived in Nova Lusitânia (or "New Lusitania") in 1535.

Duarte directed military actions against the French-allied Caetés Indians and upon their defeat in 1537 established a settlement at the site of a former Marin Indian village, henceforth known as Olinda, as well as another village at Igarassu.

Due to the cultivation of sugar and cotton, Pernambuco was one of the few prosperous captaincies (the other notable one being São Vicente). With the support of the Dutch West India Company, sugar mills (engenho) were built and a sugar-based economy developed. In 1612, Pernambuco produced 14,000 tons of sugar; in the 1640s, more than 24,000 tons of sugar were exported to Amsterdam alone. While the sugar industry relied at first on the labor of indigenous peoples, especially the Tupis and Tapuyas, high mortality and economic growth led to the importation of enlslaved Africans from the late 17th century. Some of these slaves escaped the sugar-producing coastal regions and formed independent inland communities called mocambos, including Palmares.

In 1630, Pernambuco, as well as many Portuguese possessions in Brazil, was occupied by the Dutch. The occupation was strongly resisted and the Dutch conquest was only partially successful. In the interim, thousands of the enslaved Africans had fled to Palmares, and soon the mocambos there had grown into two significant states. The Dutch Republic, who allowed sugar production to remain in Portuguese hands, regarded suppression of Palmares important, but they were unsuccessful. Johan Maurits van Nassau-Siegen, count of Nassau, was appointed as ruler of the Nieuw Holland (Dutch colonization enterprise in Brazil).

Nassau's government built Vitória or The Victore (Recife) on delta islands, which have similarities to Salvador's topography. This moved the political focus from Olinda to Recife. Nassau's Dutch administration was noted for advancements in urbanism, culture, and science. The Dutch legacy is still recognizable in Pernambuco's people, accent and architecture.

Pernambuco reconquered Recife in 1654 and Olinda regained its status of political center. However, Recife remained the commercial /port city. If the Dutch were gone, however, the threat of the now unified quilombo of Palmares remained. In spite of a treaty negotiated in 1678 with its ruler Ganga Zumba, a war between the two remained. Zumbi who became ruler following the peace treaty and later repudiated it, fought the Portuguese government until 1694 when soldiers brought from the south eventually defeated him.

In 1710 the Mascate War took place in Pernambuco. This conflict set the mascates (traveling salesman) from Recife against the establishment hosted in Olinda and led by the Senhores de Engenho (owners of the sugar mills, literally: sugar mill lords).

Pernambuco was the site of the most important rebellions and insurrections in Brazilian history, especially in the 19th century.

1817 was the year of the Pernambucan Revolution, a republican separatist movement which resulted in the creation of the Republic of Pernambuco. The main cause of the revolution was dissatisfaction with the colonial administration. The republic was declared on 7 March 1817. After military intervention, the secession ended on 20 May 1817. The republic's flag is the current flag of Pernambuco.

As a reaction to the Emperor Dom Pedro I dissolution of the Constituent Assembly, the Confederation of the Equator was set up on 2 July 1824. The Confederation was another separatist movement which encompassed the provinces of Pernambuco, Paraíba, Rio Grande do Norte, and Ceará. On 29 November 1824, the Confederation's forces capitulated to the Imperial army.

Pernambuco was the site of the brief liberal republican Praieira revolt in 1848, which was Brazil's response to the European year of failed liberal revolutions. Deodoro da Fonseca, the marshal who crushed the revolt, much later overthrew Emperor Pedro II, and served as the first president of the Brazilian republic.

Dutch domain

In the 17th century, the Netherlands was experiencing a surge of freedom and progress, free from the anchors of delay that lingered in other parts of America. Its society, its economy and the arts (which included paintings of great beauty and high artistic level) experienced the benefits of modern capitalism, driven by the ambition of a powerful bourgeoisie. A symbolic expression of this new economy was a branch of the Dutch West India Company – that would be called a transnational corporation today – which had influence throughout the world and controlled much of the trade between East and West. A Board of nineteen members appointed Prince Johan Maurits, Count of Nassau, Governor of Pernambuco. It was an auspicious choice for Northeast, because he was a lover of the arts, a versatile and competent talent, with a deep interest in the New World. In 1637 he opened his government guidelines quite different from those of the Portuguese colonists, declaring "Freedom of Religion and Trade". His entourage contained traders, artists, planners, German and Dutch citizens. He was accompanied by six painters, including Jonh Post and Albert Eckhout. Nassau also created an environment of Dutch religious tolerance, new to Portuguese America and irritating to his Calvinist associates. Nassau was the first to replace sugar production monoculture with an economic polyculture. Under Dutch rule, Jewish culture developed in Recife. Many Ocean Jews had sought refuge in the Netherlands. The Jewish community, especially the Sephardim, were established and would spread to the northern Americas. There are records that in 1636 a synagogue was being built in the city. Many Dutch Jews were linked to commercial activities of the East Islands Company, which naturally sent them to the New World. A Jewish scholar from Amsterdam, Isaac Aboab da Fonseca, arrived in Recife in 1642, becoming the first rabbi on Brazilian soil and on the continent. In 1643, three years after the Portuguese regained the crown in the metropolis, Father António Vieira – frowned upon, persecuted by the Inquisition and admirer of Aboab – recommended the King of Portugal occupy the capital of the New Christian and Jewish immigrants to help the depressed Portuguese finances

In 1630, Indian West Islands Company once again turned its interest to the Captaincies of the Dutch colony in the Americas. Due to the Islands Union (1580 a 1640), the Dutch Republic (which was dominated by Spain, but later became independent) saw in Pernambuco the opportunity to strike Spain and to compensate for the loss due to the failure of Dutch management. In 26 December 1629, a squad with 66 vessels and 7280 men left São Vicente, Cape Verde, heading to Pernambuco.

The Dutch Republic conquered the Captaincy of Pernambuco in February 1630 and established the colony of Vitória da Conquista.

Nowadays, it is credited that the majority of the inhabitants of the pernambuco's agreste has some Dutch ancestry.

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