The greatest conquerors/explorers/adventurers of the Americas! Proof!

[JMack]

Much has been said about Cortés, Pizarro, North American colonists, pioneers in the North American West and similar explorers. But when we see the history of the European enterprise in the New World, all these aforementioned adventurers pale in comparison to the biggest explorers and colonizers of America: The Portuguese Bandeirantes, men that have faced the most dangerous jungles and environments and have a created a massive country in this big enterprise.

As I said in another thread:

''The first ''Brazilians'' were intrepid men who expanded the territory of the then very small Portuguese colony in America to become the biggest country of Latin America. As Spaniards settled in regions already urbanized or full of Amerindians, our forefathers were devastating and exploring unknown lands, going by foot from the Rio de La Plata to the Andes or the Amazon river. These were big men, superhuman, far removed from any moral considerations of the known ''civilization'', forging new paths inside the heart of America, the unexplored jungle, these paths they were forging were just seeds that one day will germinate in an amazing civilization. These men were known as Bandeirantes, the first creators of anything you can call ''Brazilian''. Some were full Portuguese and some mixed, but what matters the most is the impressive scale of their enterprise and how every single Amerindian tribe and Spaniard colonist feared these brutal savages, teached by the depths of the forests these were the biggest monsters of the XVIIth century.''





Some of these guys have done amazing things like the greatest expedition by foot ever made in the American continent, led by the Alentejano António Raposo Tavares:



In these expeditions the main objective maybe was not so noble, the capture of Amerindians to become slaves in São Paulo, but the Bandeirantes have been the main responsible to subtract to the Spaniards most of the actual territory of Brazil and to basically ''cleanse'' a good portion of Brazilian territory of Amerindian hostile tribes. Many expeditions threatened to invade or destroy Spanish or Amerindian settlements, and they were basically the most feared warriors in South America in all times. The bandeiras existed from XVII century until the beggining of XIX century and they were responsible for the conquest of the most part of South American territory. Just imagine, a bunch of individual enterprises responsible for the conquest of thousands of kilometers, it's something beyond the mere human concerns. Historically they are associated with city of São Paulo (the place where most of them have been born) and are called ''paulistas'' despite the fact many have been born in another Brazilian provinces or in Portugal.

In this thread I will post a short biography of the most important ones and the most important expeditions and battles.

[JMack]

bump

[Sebastianus Rex]

By those times, Portuguese were so tough and adventurous that if we had the population and manpower 3 or 4 times bigger we would have taken it ALL.

[JMack]

Bu those times, Portuguese were so tough and adventurous that if we had the population and manpower 3 or 4 times bigger we would have taken it ALL.

Probably, the great problem of Portugal as an empire was always the lack of population and manpower.

[Sebastianus Rex]

Probably, the great problem of Portugal as an empire was always the lack of population and manpower.

There's a good website about historical populations, very informative and helps to understand alot.

http://www.tacitus.nu/historical-atlas/population/

For example, in 1500 Portugal population was estimated to be 1 million. In comparison Spain had 6 to 10 million (7-8 million is the most widely accepted) and France between 15-18 million (wich was huge for the time).

[Cristiano viejo]

Much has been said about Cortés, Pizarro, North American colonists, pioneers in the North American West and similar explorers. But when we see the history of the European enterprise in the New World, all these aforementioned adventurers pale in comparison to the biggest explorers and colonizers of America: The Portuguese Bandeirantes, men that have faced the most dangerous jungles and environments and have a created a massive country in this big enterprise.

I dont know why you could think that what Bandeirantes did in their jungles was different than what the Spanish explorers/conquistadores did in theirs
In fact it was not at all.

[JMack]

bump

[Joso]

unfortunatelly they exterminated the Charruas, though

[Joso]

unfortunatelly they exterminated the Charruas, though

It was not them, i thought, i might be confused

[JMack]

It was not them, i thought, i might be confused

The charruas were exterminated by the Spaniards and by the Brazilian government in the 19th century.