From Squatter to Seller: Applying the Lessons of Nineteenth Century U.S. Public Land Policy to Twenty-First Century Land Struggles in Brazil

Brazil's policies affecting its land in the Amazon region have assumed global significance, in part due to the pressing realities of deforestation and climate change.Domestically, the allocation and utilization of Amazonian land has important implications for Brazil's social and political stability, economic development, environmental conservation efforts, and cultural preservation efforts.The area known as the "legal Amazon" for planning purposes comprises more than 57 percent of Brazil's national territory; the manner of settlement and occupation of land in this region is a contentious issue.This Note explores the history of public land settlement in the Brazilian Amazon and the recent debates in Brazil over a federal law that enables about 300,000 current occupants of public land in the legal Amazon to acquire legal title.For perspective, the Note compares the potential consequences of this law to those of a series of retrospective titling laws passed in the United States during the half century leading up to the Homestead Act.