Columbus "discovered" America in 1492.
Cabral "discovered" Brazil in 1500.
The purpose of the article is to compare the relationships which the French had with the Amerindians in the fur trade of Canada and the brazilwood trade of Brazil.
"While concomitant for part of the 1500s with the fur trade of the north, the Franco-Brazilian trade had started earlier and peaked much sooner. It declined towards the end of the century.
The French pioneered commercial relations with Amerindians in South America, trafficking for such exotic items as parrots, monkeys and feathers, but more importantly for cotton and various types of woods, particularly those which produced dye, of which brazil-wood (pau-brasil) was the most important.
By when Pedro Cabral stumbled across Brazil in 1500, the French had already launched trading activities in the region, pursuing them successfully enough to bring considerable properity to their Atlantic port cities such as Rouen.
Something of the importance of the brazilwood trade can be gauged from the fact that the new land became known as Brazil despite strong support for Cabral's designation, Terra de Santa Cruz. The term Brazil, of unknown origin, long ante-dated the discovery of the New World and referred to the colour red made from the dye of the wood. Among other names by which the new land was also known was Terra de Papagois, because of the brilliantly plumaged birds, particularly parrots.
In the case of Brazil's dyewood, the comparatively densely spread and stable indigenous farming population meant that there was sufficient manpower available on the spot to cut and prepare the wood (not easily worked being both dense and heavy), piling it at locations suitable for loading on ships. In Brazil the rendezvous points were principally in the regions of Pernambuco and Rio de Janeiro (including cape Frio).
The French encouraged trade by adapting to Amerindian customs and practices. Facilitating such a course of action was the similarity in the level of social integration achieved despite wide differences in cultural backgrounds. This was probably what had struck Jacques Cartier in 1535, when he reported Canadians (as they were called) "living much like Brazilians". In Brazil adaptation to Amerindian customs was given added impetus because the French were already operating in regions claimed by the Portuguese, and the principal way of circumventing this was by means of native alliances.
In France the brazilwood trade was a continuation part of the commercial "take off" which had occurred during the last quarter of the 15th Century. In Normandy for example the number of trading licences granted between 1475** and 1533 by La Compagnie de Marchands jumped from 78 to 226. This activity centred in Rouen, which Louis XI, (reigned (1461-1483) hoped would rival Bruges."
Olive Patricia Dickason (Univ. of Alberta)
The Brazilian Connection
A Look at the Origin of French Techniques for Trading with Amerindians.
Outre-Mers Revue d ' histoire, 1984 p.129-146.
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