Editing Pará (section)

===Formation of Grão-Pará and Maranhão===
{{see also|State of Grão-Pará and Maranhão}}
The region of the Amazon valley, by the [[Treaty of Tordesillas]] (1494), was in possession of the Spanish Crown, the Portuguese expeditionaries, with the purpose of consolidating the region as Portuguese territory, founded the Fort of the Nativity ([[Forte do Presépio]]) in 1616, in [[Belém|Santa Maria de Belém do Grão-Pará]] (Saint Mary of Bethlehem of the Great Pará). The building was the first of the model on [[Amazon region|Amazon]] and the most significant in the Amazon territory until 1660. Despite the construction of fort, the occupation of territory was marked by early Dutch and English incursions in search of spices, hence the need of the Portuguese to fortify the area.<ref name="Bueno1" />

In the 17th century, the region, integrated into the [[State of Maranhão (colonial)|captaincy of Maranhão]], was prosperous with crops and livestock. In 1616 the captaincy of Grão-Pará was created, belonging to the Portuguese colonial state of Maranhão. In the same year the state of Grão-Pará and Maranhão transferred capital to [[Belém, Brazil|Belém]], forming and attaching the captaincy of Rio Negro in 1755 by creating the [[State of Grão-Pará and Rio Negro]].

In 1751, with the expansion to the west, the colonial state of Grão-Pará, which besides the captaincy of Grão Pará would host the captaincy of São José do Rio Negro (today the [[Amazonas (Brazilian state)|State of Amazonas]]).

In 1823, the Pará decided to join the independent Brazil, which had been separated during the colonial period, reporting directly to Lisbon. However, political infighting continued. The most important of them, the [[Cabanagem]] (1835), decreed the independence of the province of Pará. This was, along with the [[Ragamuffin War]], the only to lift the [[Regency period (Empire of Brazil)|regency period]] when the power was taken. Cabanagem was the only revolt led by the popular strata.