The Portuguese and the Caribbean

Sugarcane Brazil and the Great Caribbean during the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries

Abstract

During the 16th and 17th centuries, the climate, agricultural potential, and history made Brazil a model, an alternative, and a competitor for some Caribbean societies. The relationship between Brazil and the Caribbean changed over time, but there were also continuities, circulation of information and interactions that linked their histories. In this essay, my I will focus on Brazil as an extension of the Greater Caribbean, on the role of the Portuguese in the Caribbean, and on their shared and interconnected history of sugar and slavery.