Society & Culture
Wars and revolutions wrack the Americas and Europe. Colonies are becoming nations and monarchies are falling. And it's all because of the French. (Okay, not all, but a lot of the blame is theirs.) Brazil starts making tentative steps toward independence, but the revolts are interrupted when the royal family enacts plan B.Sources for this episode:1808, Laurentino GomesBrazil: Five Centuries of Change, Thomas E. SkidmoreBrazil: uma biografia, Lilia Moritz SchwartzA History of Portugal and the Portuguese Empire: From Beginnings to 1807, Volmes 1 & 2, A. R. DisneyIt's with a twinge of regret that after this episode we have to set aside A. R. Disney's excellent two volume history of Portugal and its empire. (Note the "to 1807" part of the title.) It has been a great resource for these first few history episodes!