One Imaginary Line Split a Continent
Spain and Portugal agreed to divide newly discovered lands with the Treaty of Tordesillas. Everything west of the line would belong to Spain, and everything east would go to Portugal.South America and European Colonization
But the Line Would Not Hold
Accurate longitude measurements were impossible at the time. That made the border hard to enforce, and Portugal expanded Brazil across the meridian. A meridian is an imaginary north-south line used on maps.South America and European Colonization
