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Recife Brazil History: Traveling Through Time

Recife Brazil history has produced an exceptional array of cultural experiences ready to take the traveler to a meaningful halt in one's vacation. Originally a colonial town in old Brazil, Recife was a just small village in the Hereditary Captaincy of Pernambuco. Right after King John III of Portugal's division of Brazil in 1534, the Captaincies were awarded to Donatorios, a system wherein the task of tending the land was given to private entrepreneurs. This system was proven effective in the African continent. The Portuguese realized there were not enough human as well as financial resources to make the land produce finances for them. Recife Brazil history starts with such colonial episode.

But it does not stop there. Recife Brazil history continues with the prosperity achieved by the captaincy of Pernambuco. The times were hard because Portugal no longer showed that much support to their colonies. So much so, that this economic boost was an unexpected twist in Pernambuco's history. It was during these times when the name Duarte Coelho Pereira surfaced. Also the founder of Olinda, he is said to give it its name being entranced himself by its natural beauty. Under Pereira, Pernambuco flourished in its sugarcane industry. This was remarkable at that time because sugar beets could only be produced in Andalusia and Algarve. Later, in the 1420s, sugarcane was transported to Azores, Medeira, and Canary Islands.

The fame of Brazilian sugar spread across Europe particularly because of the colony had a stable climate and fertile land, which were tow conditions that sustained the colonial economy. However, Pereira was confronted with two things: a lack of human resources to work on the crops and to keep the wooden machinery also called "engenhos" turning. To solve this, the Portuguese first employed the natives of Brazils to carry with the work. But as soon as they realized that the Brazilians were not fit for engenhos work, they soon imported black slaves from Africa. Between the 16th to the 19th centuries, Pernambuco had a significant number of slaves working in their plantations. This explains why in Recife Brazil history, African culture is visible in music, dance, and culinary arts.

Along with Indian, and later Spanish and Dutch in the years 1580 and 1640, Recife became a city colored with diversity. When Spain and Portugal united under the former's rule, the unified kingdom went into war against the Dutch, who were at that time, the main distributors of sugar; they prohibited to come to Brazil. After the Dutch invasion between the years 1630 to 1654, Netherlands finally took hold of Olinda and Recife. It was here when the first synagogue in the Americas was built as other Jews fled to what is now known as New York City. As the centuries came and left the doorsteps of this shore limned with white sand, Recife expanded in culture and economy that continues to this day.

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