Captaincy of Rio de Janeiro

The Captaincy of Rio de Janeiro was formed in the northern portion of the Captaincy of São Vicente, in a territory that extended from Macaé (Rio de Janeiro) to Caraguatatuba (São Paulo). This part of the Captaincy had been abandoned by its donatário Martim Afonso de Sousa, who was never interested in its settlement and focused his attention and resources on the area of the current São Paulo coast.

16th century
Since it was not occupied by the Portuguese, the region of Guanabara Bay suffered an attempt at colonization by the French between 1555 and 1567, which became known as France Antarctique. In response, Portugal founded the city of São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro in 1565 and, in 1567, transformed the region into the Royal Captaincy of Rio de Janeiro, with Estácio de Sá as its first representative, who died in the same year. In 1570, the then governor of the Captaincy of Rio de Janeiro, Antônio Salema, gathered an army of Portuguese supported by a troop of catechized indigenous people, with the purpose of exterminating the French-Tamoio domination that had been going on for twenty years on the coast of the captaincy. Fearing to lose their territories, the Tamoios, still allied to the French, were practically exterminated by the rebellion called the Cabo Frio War, which ended in 1575.

17th century
In 1619, the Captaincy of São Tomé was abdicated by its donatário and returned to the custody of the Portuguese Empire. A great part of its territory, which went from the region of the current city of Macaé to Itapemirim, in Espírito Santo, entering the still unexplored interior, was incorporated into the Captaincy of Rio de Janeiro. In 1674, the Captaincy of Paraíba do Sul, also called the Captaincy of Campos dos Goytacazes, was created out of the dismemberment of the northern part of the Captaincy of Rio de Janeiro, in an area similar to that previously occupied by the Captaincy of São Tomé. In 1679, after the Restoration of Portugal's Independence from Spain, Governor Manuel Lobo received the order to found a colony on the eastern side of the River Plate, which he named Colonia del Santíssimo Sacramento, in an expedition that gathered 400 soldiers recruited in Rio and São Paulo. Four ships were loaded with supplies and armed with 18 cannons.

18th century
In 1720, the towns of Angra dos Reis and Paraty were transferred to the Captaincy of São Paulo and remained until 1727, when they were reincorporated to Rio de Janeiro. In 1738, with the Portuguese expansion to the south, the Captaincy of Santa Catarina was founded in the territory of the Captaincy of São Paulo, which was subordinated to the Captaincy of Rio de Janeiro.

In 1748, Portugal decided that the Captaincy of São Paulo would be subordinated to the Captaincy of Rio de Janeiro, which would administer lands up to the coastal region of present-day Rio Grande do Sul. In 1750, through the Treaty of Madrid, the lands of the Misiones Orientales and the Pampas of Rio Grande do Sul were also incorporated into the administration of Rio de Janeiro, in exchange for the Colonia del Sacramento to the Spanish. In that year, the lands of the Captaincy of Paraíba do Sul, now extinct, were added, making the Captaincy of Rio de Janeiro reach its largest historical extension. In 1753, the Captaincy of Itanhaém was incorporated and the area of the former Captaincy of Paraíba do Sul was transferred to the Captaincy of Espírito Santo, which returned to Rio de Janeiro only in 1832.

In 1760, the Captaincy of Rio Grande de São Pedro was created, which remained subordinate to the Captaincy of Rio de Janeiro. The following year, after the Guaraní War, the captaincy lost the territory of the Misiones Orientales upon signing the Treaty of El Pardo with the Spanish, but gained back the Colonia del Sacramento.

In 1763, the Portuguese Empire decided to transfer the capital of the State of Brazil from Salvador to the city of São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro, in order to better control production in the region of the Captaincy of Minas Gerais, which, at the end of the 17th century, was transported through the port of Paraty (Caminho Velho), but was transferred to the port of the city of Rio de Janeiro (Caminho Novo). Two years later, São Paulo regained its autonomy under the administration of Luís António de Sousa Botelho Mourão, the third Morgado de Mateus, who created several towns in São Paulo territory.

In 1777, the Spanish occupied the Captaincy of Santa Catarina, but gave it back the following year after the Treaty of San Ildefonso, which granted them the Pampas region of Rio Grande do Sul and the Colonia del Sacramento. At the end of the year, another treaty will determine the return of the Pampas to the Captaincy of Rio Grande de São Pedro.

19th century
In 1804, still subordinated to Rio de Janeiro, the Captaincy of Rio Grande de São Pedro annexed the lands of the Misiones and extended to the Uruguay River. Three years later, it gained autonomy from Rio de Janeiro, taking control of the Captaincy of Santa Catarina and getting the name of Captaincy of São Pedro do Rio Grande do Sul.

On February 28, 1821, by decision of the Portuguese Empire, the captaincies of the Kingdom of Brazil became provinces; the Province of Rio de Janeiro was established, which would initially remain under direct administration of the crown.

Throughout the colonial period, especially during the time when Rio de Janeiro was a captaincy, several towns were founded, in addition to the city of São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro, which served as its headquarters: Angra dos Santos Reis da Ilha Grande (1608), Santa Helena (later Nossa Senhora da Assunção de Cabo Frio, 1615), Nossa Senhora dos Remédios de Paraty (1667), São Salvador dos Campos (1677), Santo Antônio de Sá (1679), Nossa Senhora da Piedade de Magé (1696), São João do Paraíba (1676), Vila Nova de São José del Rei, São João Marcos (1733), Nossa Senhora da Conceição da Paraíba Nova (1756) and Itaguaí (1818).