Brazil — From Colony to Republic (1500–1909)

Timeline

Layers

Claimed territory (Portugal, then Brazil) · Disputed border zones · Portuguese America: State of Brazil · Portuguese America: State of Maranhão & Grão-Pará · Dutch Brazil (WIC, 1624–1654) · French: France Antarctique, São Luís, Guiana · Quilombo dos Palmares · Empire of Brazil, from 1889 the Republic · Spanish America & successor states · Jesuit reductions (Spanish, to 1767) · United Provinces of the Río de la Plata · Banda Oriental: Artigas, then Uruguay

Events

• 7 Jun 1494, Treaty of Tordesillas divides the Atlantic world: Signed at Tordesillas (Castile) on 7 June 1494, it set the Portuguese–Castilian demarcation 370 leagues west of the Cape Verde islands. Sixteenth- to eighteenth-century maps drew the line roughly from the Pará estuary to Laguna, where this marker stands.
• 22 Apr 1500, Cabral's fleet sights Monte Pascoal: Pedro Álvares Cabral's India-bound fleet sighted Monte Pascoal on 22 April 1500 and anchored off Porto Seguro (Baía Cabrália) on 23–24 April. A Mass was said at Coroa Vermelha on 26 April, and the fleet sailed on 2 May, sending news of the 'Terra de Vera Cruz' to Lisbon.
• 22 Jan 1532, Martim Afonso de Sousa founds São Vicente: On 22 January 1532 Martim Afonso de Sousa founded São Vicente, the first Portuguese vila in Brazil, and granted land for the first sugar mills (the Engenho do Governador, later São Jorge dos Erasmos, from 1534).
• 10 Mar 1534, Hereditary captaincies granted: From March 1534 João III divided the coast into 15 lots for 12 donees, by letters issued in Portugal; the first, for Pernambuco, went to Duarte Coelho on 10 March 1534. Coelho landed in 1535 and founded Igarassu and Olinda (charter 12 March 1537), the most successful captaincy.
• 15 Aug 1537, Asunción founded: Juan de Salazar built the fort of Nuestra Señora de la Asunción on the Paraguay river on 15 August 1537. It became the base for the Spanish conquest of Paraguay and the Chaco and for the refounding of Buenos Aires in 1580.
• 1 Apr 1545, Silver of Potosí: The Cerro Rico was registered in April 1545. Potosí became the largest silver producer of the Americas and drew roads from Arica and Tucumán.
• 29 Mar 1549, Salvador founded as capital of the State of Brazil: Governor-general Tomé de Sousa arrived in the Bay of All Saints on 29 March 1549 with about 1,000 people, including six Jesuits under Manuel da Nóbrega, and built the walled city of Salvador. It was the capital of Portuguese America until 1763.
• 25 Jan 1554, Jesuits found São Paulo de Piratininga: Manuel da Nóbrega and José de Anchieta held the founding Mass of the Jesuit college of São Paulo on the Piratininga plateau on 25 January 1554. The mission village became the base of the bandeirantes.
• 10 Nov 1555, Villegagnon founds France Antarctique: Nicolas Durand de Villegagnon arrived in Guanabara Bay on 10 November 1555 and built Fort Coligny on the island now named after him, allied with the Tamoio. Mem de Sá destroyed the fort in March 1560, and the French and Tamoio were finally defeated in January 1567.
• 29 Mar 1559, Crown licenses slave imports for the sugar mills: An alvará issued in Lisbon on 29 March 1559 allowed each sugar-mill owner in Brazil to import up to 120 enslaved Africans from the Congo at reduced duty. This opened the large-scale Atlantic slave trade to the sugar coast, where Pernambuco and Bahia became the main markets.
• 16 Mar 1560, Mem de Sá destroys Fort Coligny: The governor-general's fleet attacked on 15 March 1560 and took and razed the fort within two days; the French survivors fled to the Tamoio.
• 20 Jan 1567, French expelled; Rio de Janeiro secured: Estácio de Sá founded São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro below the Pão de Açúcar on 1 March 1565. On 20 January 1567 Portuguese and Temiminó forces under Mem de Sá stormed the Franco-Tamoio stockade of Uruçumirim, ending France Antarctique, and the city moved to the Morro do Castelo.
• 16 Apr 1581, Iberian Union: Philip II becomes king of Portugal: Cardinal-King Henrique died on 31 January 1580 and Spanish troops won at Alcântara on 25 August 1580. Philip II of Spain was then acclaimed Philip I of Portugal by the Cortes of Tomar, which opened on 16 April 1581. Brazil stayed under Portuguese administration but became a target for Spain's Dutch…
• 5 Aug 1585, Paraíba conquered; Filipeia founded: On 5 August 1585 a Portuguese–Spanish expedition allied with the Tabajara founded Nossa Senhora das Neves (later Filipeia, today João Pessoa) on the Sanhauá river. This secured the coast north of Pernambuco against the Potiguar and French traders.
• 8 Sep 1612, French found São Luís (France Équinoxiale): La Ravardière and Razilly founded Saint-Louis on the island of Maranhão on 8 September 1612. After their defeat at Guaxenduba (19 November 1614), the French surrendered São Luís to the Portuguese in early November 1615.
• 12 Jan 1616, Belém founded at the mouth of the Amazon: Francisco Caldeira Castelo Branco founded the Forte do Presépio and the settlement of Feliz Lusitânia (Belém) on 12 January 1616. It became the base for Portuguese expansion up the Amazon.
• 10 May 1624, Dutch West India Company captures Salvador: A WIC fleet under Jacob Willekens and Johan van Dorth took Salvador on 9–10 May 1624 and captured governor Diogo de Mendonça Furtado. A Spanish–Portuguese armada of 52 ships (the Jornada dos Vassalos) forced the Dutch to capitulate on 30 April 1625, and the city was reoccupied on 1 May.
• 30 Jan 1629, Bandeirantes sack the Jesuit missions of Guairá: A great bandeira under Manuel Preto and Antônio Raposo Tavares left São Paulo in August 1628 with some 900 Paulistas and mamelucos and 2,000 Indian auxiliaries. From January 1629 it destroyed the Guairá reductions and enslaved thousands of Guarani. The Jesuits led the survivors down the Paraná in 16…
• 16 Feb 1630, Dutch take Olinda and Recife: New Holland begins: A WIC fleet of 67 ships under Hendrick Lonck landed about 7,000 men near Pau Amarelo, took Olinda on 16 February 1630 and Recife on 3 March. The Dutch held Recife until the capitulation of Taborda in January 1654.
• 1636, Kahal Zur Israel congregation founded (c. 1636): Sephardic Jews in Dutch Recife organised the Kahal Zur Israel congregation around 1636, the first Jewish congregation in the Americas. Its synagogue on the Rua dos Judeus (now Rua do Bom Jesus) worked until the Dutch surrender in 1654, when the community left.
• 23 Jan 1637, Johan Maurits governs Dutch Brazil: Count Johan Maurits of Nassau-Siegen landed at Recife on 23 January 1637 and pushed the Dutch frontier to the São Francisco (Fort Maurits at Penedo, March 1637). He besieged Salvador in vain in April–May 1638 and built Mauritsstad before leaving Brazil in May 1644.
• 28 Oct 1637, Pedro Teixeira's expedition up the Amazon to Quito: Pedro Teixeira left Cametá on 28 October 1637 with some 2,000 people in 47 canoes and reached Quito in 1638. On the way back, on 16 August 1639, he planted a Portuguese boundary mark near the Napo, and he reached Belém again on 12 December 1639.
• 1 Dec 1640, Restoration: Brazil acclaims João IV: The coup in Lisbon on 1 December 1640 made the Duke of Braganza King João IV, ending the Iberian Union. Salvador acclaimed him in February 1641 and Rio de Janeiro in March; in São Paulo, Amador Bueno refused a local crown on 1 April 1641.
• 25 Nov 1641, Dutch take São Luís do Maranhão: A WIC force under Jan Cornelisz Lichthart took São Luís on 25 November 1641, despite the new Luso-Dutch truce. A Luso-Brazilian rising from 1642 forced the Dutch to evacuate on 28 February 1644.
• 13 Jun 1645, Pernambucan Insurrection against the Dutch: Luso-Brazilian planters led by João Fernandes Vieira and André Vidal de Negreiros rose in June 1645, the rising having been set for 13 June. They won their first victory at Monte das Tabocas on 3 August 1645, and the war confined the Dutch to Recife and a few forts until 1654.
• 19 Apr 1648, First Battle of Guararapes: On 19 April 1648 about 2,200 Luso-Brazilian troops under Francisco Barreto, with Henrique Dias, Filipe Camarão and Vidal de Negreiros, defeated some 4,500 Dutch soldiers under Sigismund von Schkoppe on the Guararapes hills south of Recife.
• 19 Feb 1649, Second Battle of Guararapes: On 19 February 1649 the Luso-Brazilian army again routed a Dutch army of about 3,500 on the Guararapes hills, and its commander, Colonel Johan van den Brinck, was killed. After this the WIC made no further offensive outside Recife.
• 26 Jan 1654, Capitulation of Taborda: the Dutch leave Brazil: Blockaded by a Portuguese fleet, the Dutch signed the capitulation at the Campina do Taborda outside Recife on 26 January 1654. They surrendered Recife, Mauritsstad and their remaining forts from Itamaracá to Ceará.
• 6 Aug 1661, Treaty of The Hague ends the Luso-Dutch war: Signed at The Hague on 6 August 1661, the treaty had the Dutch Republic renounce New Holland in return for 4 million cruzados (about 8 million guilders) paid over 16 years, plus trade concessions. The Dutch kept what they had taken in Asia, and Brazil was left definitively to Portugal.
• 1669, Fort São José da Barra do Rio Negro (Manaus): In 1669 the Portuguese built the fort of São José da Barra at the mouth of the Rio Negro to control the river and the Indian slave trade. The village around it became Manaus.
• 20 Jan 1680, Colônia do Sacramento founded on the Río de la Plata: Governor Manuel Lobo of Rio de Janeiro reached the San Gabriel islands on 20 January 1680 and began building Colônia opposite Buenos Aires. Spanish forces stormed it on 6–7 August 1680. The Provisional Treaty of Lisbon (7 May 1681) restored it, and the Portuguese reoccupied it in 1683.
• 1687, Samuel Fritz's Omagua missions: From 1687 the Bohemian Jesuit Samuel Fritz gathered some 38 Omagua, Yurimagua and Aisuare villages between the Napo and the Juruá into missions for Spain, among them San Joaquín (1687) and San Pablo (1689).
• 6 Feb 1694, Palmares destroyed: fall of the Cerca do Macaco: Bandeirante Domingos Jorge Velho and Pernambucan troops stormed Macaco, the fortified capital of the Palmares quilombo on the Serra da Barriga, on 6 February 1694 after a siege of several weeks. Zumbi escaped but was betrayed and killed on 20 November 1695.
• 20 Nov 1695, Zumbi killed: Zumbi, the last leader of Palmares, was betrayed and killed in the Serra Dois Irmãos on 20 November 1695. The day is now Black Consciousness Day in Brazil.
• 24 Jun 1698, Gold rush: Ouro Preto discovered: Paulista prospectors found alluvial gold in the Rio das Velhas and Rio Doce headwaters from about 1693–95, and Antônio Dias de Oliveira's find at Ouro Preto is traditionally dated 24 June 1698. Vila Rica was chartered on 8 July 1711, and Minas became the world's leading gold producer for half a cent…
• 18 Oct 1704, Spanish siege drives the Portuguese from Colônia: During the War of the Spanish Succession, Spanish forces besieged Colônia from 18 October 1704, and the Portuguese evacuated it by sea on 14 March 1705.
• 1707, War of the Emboabas: Paulistas and 'emboabas' (newcomers) fought for control of the gold mines; the worst episode was the massacre at the Capão da Traição near São João del-Rei. The war ended with the creation of the captaincy of São Paulo e Minas do Ouro on 3 November 1709.
• 1 Feb 1709, Portuguese drive Fritz from the Solimões: Troops from Pará ordered the Spanish Jesuits out in February 1709 and burned Yurimagua and Cambeba villages in December; smallpox emptied the river in 1710. Carmelites had taken over the missions by 1714.
• 6 Feb 1715, Treaty of Utrecht returns Colônia to Portugal: The Spanish–Portuguese Treaty of Utrecht, signed on 6 February 1715, restored Colônia do Sacramento to Portugal. It was handed back in 1716–18, but its territory stayed limited to the area around the town.
• 8 Apr 1719, Gold at Cuiabá opens the Mato Grosso frontier: Pascoal Moreira Cabral found gold on the Coxipó-Mirim and signed the founding act of the Cuiabá mining camp on 8 April 1719. Miguel Sutil's rich finds of 1722 set off a rush, and Cuiabá became a vila on 1 January 1727.
• 3 Jul 1722, Anhanguera's bandeira discovers the gold of Goiás: Bartolomeu Bueno da Silva, the second Anhanguera, left São Paulo on 3 July 1722 and returned on 21 October 1725 with news of gold on the Rio Vermelho. The Arraial de Sant'Ana, later Vila Boa de Goiás (1739), was founded in 1727.
• 22 Jan 1724, Spain founds Montevideo: Governor Bruno de Zabala expelled a Portuguese post and secured the bay of Montevideo in the course of 1724. The town was formally constituted in December 1726.
• 22 Jul 1729, Diamonds officially reported in Serro do Frio: Diamonds found around the Arraial do Tijuco (Diamantina) in the 1720s were reported to the Crown by Governor Lourenço de Almeida in July 1729. Diamonds became a royal monopoly, and the Diamond District (Demarcação Diamantina) was closed off in 1734.
• 19 Feb 1737, Silva Pais founds Rio Grande: During the Spanish siege of Colônia (1735–37), Brigadier José da Silva Pais landed at the bar of the Lagoa dos Patos and founded the Jesus-Maria-José fort on 19 February 1737. It became the nucleus of Rio Grande de São Pedro.
• 13 Jan 1750, Treaty of Madrid redraws the Luso-Spanish border: Signed in Madrid on 13 January 1750 on the principle of uti possidetis, the treaty recognised Portuguese possession of the Amazon basin and Mato Grosso. It also exchanged Colônia for the Seven Missions (Sete Povos), founded east of the Uruguay by Jesuits from 1682, whose Guarani refused to move.
• 19 Mar 1752, Vila Bela da Santíssima Trindade: Captain-general Rolim de Moura founded Vila Bela on the Guaporé on 19 March 1752 as the capital of the new captaincy of Mato Grosso.
• 10 Feb 1756, Guarani War: battle of Caiboaté: Spanish and Portuguese armies sent to enforce the Treaty of Madrid killed the Guarani leader Sepé Tiaraju on 7 February 1756. On 10 February they routed the Guarani of the Seven Missions at Caiboaté, killing about 1,500, and occupied São Miguel in May 1756.
• 3 Sep 1759, Pombal expels the Jesuits: A law issued in Lisbon on 3 September 1759 expelled the Society of Jesus from Portugal and its empire. The Jesuit colleges of Salvador, Rio, Recife and Belém were seized, several hundred Jesuits in Brazil were deported in 1759–60, and their aldeias became secular vilas.
• 12 Feb 1761, Treaty of El Pardo annuls the Treaty of Madrid: Signed at El Pardo near Madrid on 12 February 1761, the treaty cancelled the 1750 exchange. The Seven Missions stayed Spanish and Colônia stayed Portuguese.
• 27 Jan 1763, Capital of Brazil moved to Rio de Janeiro: By a royal letter of 27 January 1763, Pombal's government moved the seat of the viceroyalty from Salvador to Rio de Janeiro, which was closer to the mines and the southern frontier. The Count of Cunha took office there as viceroy later that year.
• 12 May 1763, Cevallos takes Colônia and Rio Grande: Governor Pedro de Cevallos of Buenos Aires took Colônia in October 1762, then the forts of Santa Teresa (19 April 1763) and São Miguel, and the town of Rio Grande in May 1763. Colônia was returned under the Peace of Paris, but Spain held Rio Grande until the Portuguese retook it on 1 April 1776.
• 29 Jun 1764, Fortaleza de São José de Macapá: Begun on 29 June 1764 and inaugurated on 19 March 1782, the Vauban-style fortress guarded the north channel of the Amazon against the French at Cayenne.
• 1766, Tabatinga registry: A registry post set up in 1766 and fortified in 1776 fixed the limit of Portuguese rule on the Solimões, opposite Spanish Loreto.
• 1 Oct 1777, Treaty of San Ildefonso: Signed at San Ildefonso (Segovia) on 1 October 1777, after Cevallos had seized Santa Catarina island (February 1777) and Colônia (June 1777). Spain kept Colônia and the Seven Missions and returned Santa Catarina, while the Amazon and Mato Grosso frontiers largely followed the 1750 lines.
• 15 Mar 1789, Inconfidência Mineira betrayed: Vila Rica magistrates, clerics and officers planned a republic in Minas, to be launched when the gold-tax arrears (the derrama) were collected. Joaquim Silvério dos Reis betrayed them on 15 March 1789, and the leaders were arrested from May 1789.
• 21 Apr 1792, Tiradentes hanged in Rio de Janeiro: Ensign Joaquim José da Silva Xavier, 'Tiradentes', the only Inconfidente to be executed, was hanged at the Largo da Lampadosa in Rio de Janeiro on 21 April 1792. His body was quartered and displayed along the road to Minas.
• 12 Aug 1798, Tailors' Revolt (Conjuração Baiana): On 12 August 1798, handwritten bulletins posted in Salvador called for a republic, equality and an end to slavery. The conspirators, mostly mulatto artisans and soldiers, were arrested, and four were hanged in the Praça da Piedade on 8 November 1799.
• 1 Aug 1801, Seven Missions conquered by Rio Grande irregulars: In August 1801 militia and irregulars under José Borges do Canto and Manuel dos Santos Pedroso took the Seven Missions east of the Uruguay from Spain almost without a fight. This pushed Rio Grande do Sul's frontier west to the Uruguay and south towards the Ibicuí.
• 28 Jan 1808, Ports opened to friendly nations: The Carta Régia signed by Prince Regent João in Salvador on 28 January 1808 opened Brazil's ports to ships of all nations at peace with Portugal. It ended the colonial trade monopoly.
• 12 Jan 1809, Portuguese occupy French Guiana: In reprisal for the French invasion of Portugal, a Luso-Brazilian force from Pará with British naval support attacked Cayenne, and Governor Victor Hugues capitulated on 12 January 1809. Portugal handed the colony back to France on 8 November 1817.
• 25 May 1810, May Revolution: Buenos Aires deposed the viceroy and formed a junta. Montevideo and Paraguay stayed outside its control.
• 16 Dec 1815, United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves: A law signed in Rio de Janeiro on 16 December 1815 raised Brazil to a kingdom equal to Portugal. João VI was acclaimed king in Rio on 6 February 1818.
• 20 Jan 1817, Lecor occupies Montevideo: A Luso-Brazilian army under Carlos Frederico Lecor invaded the Banda Oriental from August 1816 and entered Montevideo on 20 January 1817. Artigas fought on until his final defeat at Tacuarembó on 22 January 1820.
• 6 Mar 1817, Pernambucan Revolution of 1817: Republican officers, planters and priests seized Recife on 6 March 1817 and set up a provisional government, joined by Paraíba (16 March) and briefly Rio Grande do Norte. Blockaded by sea and attacked by troops from Bahia, the rebels were beaten at Ipojuca on 15 May, and royal troops entered Recife…
• 22 Jan 1820, Battle of Tacuarembó: The Count of Figueira destroyed Artigas's last army. Artigas's lieutenants submitted, and Artigas went into exile in Paraguay in September 1820.
• 31 Jul 1821, Cisplatine Province incorporated: A congress of Oriental notables in Montevideo voted on 18 July 1821 to join the United Kingdom as the Cisplatine Province, and the act of incorporation was signed on 31 July 1821.
• 9 Jan 1822, Dia do Fico: Pedro stays in Brazil: On 9 January 1822, answering a petition from Rio de Janeiro, Prince Regent Pedro refused the Cortes' order to return to Portugal ('Fico'). Jorge de Avilez's Portuguese Auxiliary Division was forced to leave Rio in February 1822.
• 7 Sep 1822, Cry of Ipiranga: independence declared: Riding back from Santos on 7 September 1822, Prince Regent Pedro received dispatches from Lisbon and Rio on the bank of the Ipiranga stream near São Paulo. There he declared Brazil's separation from Portugal.
• 12 Oct 1822, Pedro acclaimed Emperor of Brazil: Pedro was acclaimed Constitutional Emperor and Perpetual Defender of Brazil before crowds on the Campo de Santana in Rio de Janeiro on 12 October 1822, his 24th birthday.
• 20 Jan 1823, Siege of Montevideo: last Portuguese holdout: After Lecor sided with Pedro I in late 1822, the Portuguese Royal Volunteers under Álvaro da Costa held Montevideo, and imperial forces besieged it from 20 January 1823. Under a convention of 18 November 1823 the Portuguese agreed to leave; Lecor entered on 2 March 1824 and the last troops sailed on…
• 13 Mar 1823, Battle of Jenipapo: On 13 March 1823, near Campo Maior (Piauí), about 2,000 poorly armed Piauí and Ceará volunteers attacked Major João José da Cunha Fidié's Portuguese column as it marched back to Oeiras. The Brazilians lost the field but captured Fidié's baggage, forcing him to retreat into Maranhão.
• 2 Jul 1823, Brazilian army enters Salvador (Dois de Julho): After Madeira de Melo's army and fleet sailed away overnight, the Brazilian 'Pacifying Army' under José Joaquim de Lima e Silva entered Salvador on 2 July 1823. The day is celebrated as Bahia's Independence Day.
• 2 Jul 1824, Confederation of the Equator: Manuel de Carvalho Pais de Andrade proclaimed a republican confederation in Recife on 2 July 1824, after Pedro I had dissolved the Constituent Assembly; Ceará joined on 26 August. Imperial troops and Cochrane's squadron retook Recife in September, and the last rebels were captured in Ceará on 29 Nov…
• 19 Apr 1825, Thirty-Three Orientals land at La Agraciada: Juan Antonio Lavalleja and his companions crossed the Uruguay from Buenos Aires province and landed on the beach of La Agraciada on 19 April 1825. Their landing started the revolt of the Banda Oriental against Brazil.
• 29 Aug 1825, Portugal recognises Brazil's independence: The Treaty of Rio de Janeiro, mediated by Britain's Sir Charles Stuart and signed in Rio on 29 August 1825, recognised the Empire of Brazil. João VI kept an honorary imperial title, Brazil took on a £2 million debt owed to Portugal, and Portugal ratified the treaty on 15 November 1825.
• 12 Oct 1825, Battle of Sarandí: On 12 October 1825 the Orientals under Lavalleja and Rivera routed Bento Manuel Ribeiro's Brazilian cavalry at Sarandí. Brazil was left holding only Montevideo, Colônia and a few border forts.
• 10 Dec 1825, Brazil declares war: the Cisplatine War: Pedro I declared war on the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata on 10 December 1825, and his navy declared Buenos Aires blockaded on 21 December; Buenos Aires replied on 1 January 1826. The war lasted until the peace convention of 27 August 1828.
• 20 Feb 1827, Battle of Ituzaingó (Passo do Rosário): On 20 February 1827 Carlos María de Alvear's Republican army, which had invaded Rio Grande do Sul, fought the imperial army of the Marquis of Barbacena at Passo do Rosário on the Santa Maria river. Barbacena withdrew, but the invaders could not exploit their victory.
• 20 Apr 1828, Rivera conquers the Seven Missions: Fructuoso Rivera invaded the Misiones Orientales of Rio Grande do Sul on 20 April 1828 and quickly took the seven former Jesuit towns. He withdrew at the end of 1828 under the peace, taking thousands of Guarani with him to found Bella Unión.
• 27 Aug 1828, Preliminary Peace Convention: Uruguay independent: Signed in Rio de Janeiro on 27 August 1828 under British mediation (Lord Ponsonby), the convention had Brazil and the United Provinces give up the Cisplatine Province, which became the independent State of Uruguay. Ratifications were exchanged in Montevideo on 4 October 1828.
• 7 Apr 1831, Pedro I abdicates: Facing opposition from the army and the streets of Rio de Janeiro, Pedro I abdicated at the Paço de São Cristóvão on 7 April 1831 in favour of his five-year-old son, Pedro II, and sailed for Europe.
• 7 Jan 1835, Cabanagem revolt in Pará: A popular revolt seized Belém on 7 January 1835. Tens of thousands died before it was suppressed in 1840.
• 20 Sep 1835, Farroupilha (Ragamuffin War): Rebels in Rio Grande do Sul rose on 20 September 1835 and proclaimed the Riograndense Republic in 1836. The war ended with the peace of Ponche Verde on 1 March 1845.
• 7 Nov 1837, Sabinada revolt in Salvador: Rebels led by the physician Francisco Sabino seized Salvador on 7 November 1837 and declared Bahia a republic until Pedro II came of age. Imperial troops retook the city in March 1838.
• 13 Dec 1838, Balaiada revolt in Maranhão: A revolt of cowhands, artisans and escaped slaves began at Vila da Manga on 13 December 1838 and spread across eastern Maranhão, where the rebels took the town of Caxias in 1839. Luís Alves de Lima e Silva, the later Duke of Caxias, had suppressed it by 1841.
• 23 Jul 1840, Pedro II declared of age: To end the unrest of the Regency, the General Assembly declared the fourteen-year-old Pedro II of age on 23 July 1840. He reigned until 1889.
• 2 Sep 1850, Blumenau colony founded: Hermann Blumenau's colonists settled on the Itajaí-Açu on 2 September 1850, the start of the German colonial zone of Santa Catarina.
• 4 Sep 1850, Eusébio de Queirós Law ends the slave trade: Under British naval pressure, the law of 4 September 1850 banned the import of enslaved Africans into Brazil and was, unlike the law of 1831, enforced. Slavery itself lasted until 1888.
• 12 Oct 1851, Limits treaty with Uruguay: The treaty of 12 October 1851 fixed the border on the Quaraí, the Jaguarão and Lagoa Mirim. Brazil dropped its claim to the Arapey but kept all the waters of Lagoa Mirim.
• 23 Oct 1851, Convention with Peru: Tabatinga–Apapóris: Signed in Lima on 23 October 1851, the convention made the Javari and a straight line from Tabatinga to the mouth of the Apapóris the limit between Brazil and Peru.
• 27 Dec 1864, Paraguay invades Mato Grosso: Fort Coimbra fell on 28 December 1864, followed by Albuquerque, Corumbá, Dourados, Nioaque and Miranda. Paraguay held southern Mato Grosso until April 1868.
• 27 Mar 1867, Treaty of Ayacucho with Bolivia: Signed on 27 March 1867, the treaty set the border along the Madeira to the mouth of the Beni and from there in a line to the source of the Javari. The future Acre was left to Bolivia.
• 28 Sep 1871, Free Womb Law: The law of 28 September 1871, signed by Princess Isabel as regent, declared free all children born to enslaved mothers from that day on.
• 9 Jan 1872, Loizaga–Cotegipe treaty with Paraguay: After the Paraguayan War the Apa became the border, and Brazil kept all the land north of it that Paraguay had claimed.
• 28 Dec 1882, Seringal Empresa on the Acre: On 28 December 1882 Neutel Maia founded the Volta da Empresa rubber estate on the Acre river, in land claimed by Bolivia. It grew into the city of Rio Branco.
• 13 May 1888, Lei Áurea abolishes slavery: Princess Isabel signed the law on 13 May 1888, freeing the last enslaved people in the Americas.
• 15 Nov 1889, Proclamation of the Republic: Marshal Deodoro da Fonseca overthrew Pedro II on 15 November 1889, and the imperial family went into exile.
• 24 Feb 1891, Constitution of the Republic: The constitution promulgated on 24 February 1891 made Brazil a federal republic under a president, with the name United States of Brazil.
• 5 Feb 1895, Cleveland award: Palmas stays Brazilian: On 5 February 1895 US President Grover Cleveland awarded the whole Palmas (Misiones) zone, about 30,600 km², to Brazil.
• 21 Nov 1896, War of Canudos: From November 1896 four army expeditions were sent against Antônio Conselheiro's settlement of Canudos in the backlands of Bahia. The last one destroyed it on 5 October 1897, killing most of its thousands of inhabitants.
• 14 Jul 1899, Estado Independente do Acre: Luis Gálvez proclaimed an independent state of rubber tappers at Puerto Alonso on 14 July 1899. A Brazilian flotilla dissolved it on 15 March 1900.
• 1 Dec 1900, Swiss award: Amapá to Brazil: On 1 December 1900 the Swiss Federal Council ruled for the Oiapoque line, ending the dispute between France and Brazil over the Contestado.
• 6 Aug 1902, Acre Revolution of Plácido de Castro: Brazilian rubber tappers under Plácido de Castro seized Xapuri on 6 August 1902 and forced Puerto Alonso to surrender on 24 January 1903.
• 17 Nov 1903, Treaty of Petrópolis: Acre joins Brazil: Bolivia ceded about 191,000 km² of Acre. Brazil paid £2 million, ceded about 3,164 km² and promised to build the Madeira–Mamoré railway.
• 6 Jun 1904, Pirara award: The King of Italy divided the Pirara zone on 6 June 1904. Britain received about 19,630 km² east of the Mahu–Takutu line and Brazil about 13,570 km².
• 24 Apr 1907, Treaty of Bogotá with Colombia: Signed on 24 April 1907, the treaty fixed the line from Cucuí along the Memachi, Uaupés, Taraira and Apapóris. Brazil kept the Rio Negro and Uaupés area.
• 8 Sep 1909, Velarde–Rio Branco treaty with Peru: The treaty of 8 September 1909 ended the Acre dispute with Peru. Brazil kept the upper Juruá below the Breu and the Purus below the Santa Rosa, and gave up about 39,000 km².
• 30 Oct 1909, Lagoa Mirim treaty with Uruguay: On 30 October 1909 Brazil moved the boundary to the thalweg of the Jaguarão and a median line in Lagoa Mirim, sharing the waters with Uruguay.

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