Captaincy of Rio Grande
[1][3] European colonization in America effectively began in 1534, when King John III divided the territory into fourteen hereditary captaincies and gave them to twelve donatários, who could exploit the land's resources, but in exchange had to populate and protect the regions.In a letter addressed to Martim Afonso de Sousa in 1532, John III announced the decision to divide the Portuguese territory, beginning the donations in 1534.[4][5] There are three possible factors for the adoption of the captaincy system in Brazil: a response by the Portuguese monarchy to France's threat to its project of domination in America; the transfer of expenses with colonization from Portugal to the donatários, favoring the Crown in a situation of limited resources; and the conversion of the native population to Christianity, continuing the ideal of the Crusades.[3] The mouth of the Potenji River was reached on December 25, 1597, by the Captain-Major of the Captaincy of Pernambuco, Manuel Mascarenhas Homem, who built the first defensive nucleus there - the base of the Fortress of Barra do Rio Grande.The reply, in a detailed report, led to the construction of several fortifications, built in 1808, simultaneously with the arrival of the Portuguese Royal Family in Brazil during the Peninsular War.