The Guanabara Confession, an early statement of the Reformed faith, was written in “Antarctic France,” a sixteenth-century French colony in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. After the discovery of Brazil in 1500, Portugal was slow to protect and settle its new territory. Only in 1549 did the Portuguese crown take direct control of its South American domains by appointing the first governor general. For decades other European nations had set their eyes upon the new land and its natural resources. Among those nations was France, whose ships came continuously to the Brazilian coast in order to smuggle dyewood and other products.