History of Brazil
This article is part of a series
Indigenous peoples
Colonial Brazil
United Kingdom with Portugal
Independence from Portugal
Empire of Brazil
Old Republic
Estado Novo
Second Republic
Military rule
Democratisation and recent history
Brazil Portal  v • d • e

The Empire of Brazil was a political entity that comprised present-day Brazil under the rule of Emperors Pedro I and his son Pedro II. Founded in 1822, it was replaced by a republic in 1889.

As a result of the Napoleonic occupation of Portugal, the Portuguese royal family, the Braganzas (Portuguese: os Braganças), went into exile in Brazil, the most important of the Portuguese colonies. What followed was a period when Brazil actually became the capital of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves, a whole new status, and enjoyed self-government under the Braganza dynasty, with no reference to the authorities in Lisbon. This nurtured a distaste for the idea of returning to status quo ante upon the overthrow of Napoleon's influence over Portugal. Therefore, Brazil came to be independent of Portugal, albeit under the rule of a member of the Portuguese royal family.

After its independence from the Portuguese on September 7, 1822, Brazil became a monarchy, the Empire of Brazil, which lasted until the establishment of the republican government on November 15, 1889. Two emperors occupied the throne in that period: Pedro I, from 1822 to 1831; and Pedro II, from 1831 to 1889. Also, King João VI of Portugal held the title of Emperor of Brazil as stipulated by the treaty recognizing Brazilian independence.

The end of the Empire in 1889 and the foundation of the republic was a reactionary development following the abolition of slavery in 1888, which had created a serious threat to the interests of the economic and political oligarchy.

[edit] Brazilian independence

[edit] Path to independence

On 1820 the Constitutionalist Revolution erupted in Portugal. The movement initiated by the liberal constitutionalists resulted in the meeting of the Cortes (or Constituent Assembly), that would have to create the kingdom’s first constitution.^[1][2] The Cortes at the same time demanded the return of King Dom João VI, who lived in Brazil since 1808, and whom nominated his son and heir prince Dom Pedro as regent on his place in 7 March 1821^[3][4] The king left to Europe in 26 April, while Pedro remained in Brazil governing it with the aid of the ministers of Kingdom and Foreign Affairs, of War, of Navy and of Finance.^[5][6] The headquartered Portuguese military officers in Brazil were completely sympathetic to the constitutionalist movement in Portugal.^[7] The main leader of the Portuguese officers, General Jorge Avilez, forced the prince to dismiss and banish from the country the ministers of Kingdom and Finance. Both were loyal allies of Pedro, who had become a pawn in the hands of the military.^[8] The humiliation suffered by the prince, that swore that it would never yield to the pressure of the military again, would have a decisive influence in his abdication ten years later.^[9] Meanwhile, in 30 September 1821, the Cortes approved a decree that subordinated the Brazilian provincial governments directly to Portugal. Prince Pedro became for all the effects only the governor of the province of Rio de Janeiro.^[10][11] Other decrees that came after ordered his return to Europe and also extinguished the judicial courts created by João VI in 1808.^[12][13]

Independence or death by Pedro Américo: Declaration of the Brazilian independence by Prince Pedro in September 7, 1822. His Guard of Honor greets him in support while some of them throw away the blue-white armband that represent their loyalty to Portugal.

The Brazilians and Portuguese’s (some of the ones that lived in Brazil) dissatisfaction soon became public known.^[14] Two groups that opposed the Cortes' actions to gradually undermine the Brazilian sovereignty appeared: Liberals led by Joaquim Gonçalves Ledo (which had the support of the Freemasons) and the Bonifacians led by José Bonifácio de Andrada. Both factions had nothing of common on their goals to Brazil, with the sole exception of their desire to keep the country united with Portugal as a sovereign monarchy.^[15] The Portuguese deputies of the Cortes shown no respect towards the prince and openly mocked him.^[16] Thus, the loyalty that Pedro had towards the Cortes gradually shifted to the Brazilian cause.^[17] His wife, princess Leopoldina of Habsburg, favored the Brazilian side and influenced him on remaining in the country.^[18] The Liberals and Bonifacians made open manifestations asking for his permanence.^[19] Pedro's reply came in 9 January 1822, who, according to newspapers, spoke: “As it is for the good of all and for the nation’s general happiness, I am ready: Tell the people that I will stay”.^[20]

After Pedro's decision to defy the Cortes, around 2,000 men led by Jorge Avilez rioted before concentrating on mount Castelo, which was soon surrounded by 10,000 armed Brazilians.^[21] Dom Pedro then "dismissed" the Portuguese commanding general and ordered him to remove his soldiers across the bay to Niterói, where they would await transport to Portugal.^[22] Jose Bonifácio was nominated minister of Kingdom and Foreign Affairs in 18 January 1822.^[23] Bonifácio soon established a father-like relationship with Pedro, who began to consider the experienced statesman his greatest ally.^[24] Gonçalves Ledo and the liberals tried to minimize the close relationship between Bonifácio and Pedro offering to the prince the title of Perpetual Defender of Brazil.^[25][26] For the liberals, the meeting of a Constituent Assembly for Brazil was necessary, while the Bonifacians preferred that Pedro granted the constitution himself to prevent a possible similar anarchy as the one that occurred during the first years of the French Revolution.^[27] The prince acquiesced to the liberals’ desires and signed a decree in 3 June 1822 calling for the election of the deputies that would gather in the Constituent and Legislative General Assembly in Brazil.^[28][29]

Pedro departed to São Paulo to assure the province’s loyalty to the Brazilian cause. He reached its capital in 25 August and remained there up to 5 September. When returning to Rio de Janeiro in 7 September he received mail from José Bonifácio and his wife Leopoldina. The prince learned that the Cortes had annulled all acts from the Bonifácio cabinet and removed the remaining power he still had. Pedro turned to his companions that included his Guard of Honor and spoke: “Friends, the Portuguese Cortes want to enslave and pursue us. From today and on our relations are broken. No lace unites us anymore” and continued after he pulled out his blue-white armband that symbolized Portugal: “Armbands off, soldiers. Hail to the independence, to freedom and to the separation of Brazil”. He unsheathed his sword affirming that "For my blood, my honor, my God, I swear to give Brazil freedom" and cried out: “Independence or death!”^[30]

[edit] War against Portugal

To consolidate his claim, Pedro — now Emperor Pedro I of Brazil — hired Admiral Thomas Cochrane, one of Britain's most successful naval commanders in the Napoleonic Wars, and the French General Pierre Labatut, who had fought in Colombia. These men were to lead the fight to drive the Portuguese out of Bahia, Maranhão, and Pará, and to force those areas to replace Lisbon's rule with that of Rio de Janeiro. The much-feared Cochrane secured Maranhão with a single warship, despite the Portuguese military's attempt to disrupt the economy and society with a scorched-earth campaign and with promises of freedom for the slaves. By mid-1823 the contending forces numbered between 10,000 and 20,000 Portuguese, some of whom were veterans of the Napoleonic Wars, versus 12,000 to 14,000 Brazilians, mostly in militia units from the Northeast. There is little information on casualties for both sides.

The United Kingdom and Portugal eventually recognized Brazilian independence by signing a treaty on August 29, 1825. Until then, the Brazilians feared that Portugal would resume its attack. Portuguese retribution, however, came in a financial form. Secret codicils of the treaty with Portugal required that Brazil assume payment of 1.4 million pounds sterling owed to Britain and indemnify Dom João VI and other Portuguese for losses totaling 600,000 pounds sterling. Brazil also renounced future annexation of Portuguese African colonies, and in a side treaty with Britain, promised to end the slave trade. Neither of these measures pleased the slave-holding planters.

[edit] Early years

[edit] From Kingdom to Empire

When arriving in the city of São Paulo in the night of September 7, 1822, Pedro and his fellow companions had spread the notice of the Brazilian independence from Portugal. The Prince was received with great popular celebration and was called “King of Brazil” but also “Emperor of Brazil”.^[31][32] Pedro returned to Rio de Janeiro in September 14 and in the following days the liberals had spread pamphlets (written by Joaquim Gonçalves Ledo) that suggested the idea that the Prince should be acclaimed Constitutional Emperor.^[33] In September 17 the President of the Municipal Chamber of Rio de Janeiro, José Clemente Pereira, sent to the other Chambers of the country the news that the Acclamation would occur in the anniversary of Pedro in October 12.^[34] In the following day the new flag and arms of the independent Kingdom of Brazil were created (The Imperial flag and arms created later in October 12 were identical to those with the exception of the crown that from Royal became Imperial).^[35]

Prince Pedro in São Paulo after announcing the independece in September 7, 1822.

The official separation would only occur in September 22, 1822 in a letter written by Pedro to João VI. In it, Pedro still calls himself Prince Regent and his father is considered the King of the independent Brazil.^[36][37] The animosity between the Bonifacians and the Liberals only grew after the formal declaration of Independence. Both groups had conflicting interests and perceived each other as an inevitable threat. The Bonifacians defended the existence of a strong, but constitutional and centralized monarchy (thus to prevent the possibility of provincial secessionism); and intended to abolish the traffic of slaves and also slavery itself; to make a land reform; and economically develop the country free of foreign loans.^[38]

The Bonifacians believed that that was a historical moment where they could "cure the vices" of the Brazilian society by "recreating" the nation. Brazil could thus become an equal nation where all segments of the society (the native Americans and blacks also) could be part of it.^[39] However, Jose Bonifácio opposed democracy as he believed that the Brazilians were not yet prepared for it. He feared that it could become instead a demagogy. Bonifácio defended the idea that the aristocracy had the moral obligation of civilizing the remaining less educated part of the population.^[40] The end of the slavery would be the first step for it as it was a necessary requirement for the creation of a modern State.^[41] The Liberals, on the other hand, desired exactly the opposite of the Bonifacians. As part of the provincial gentry formed by landowners, farmers and rich business men that owned slaves, the Liberals wanted a democracy where only they could be part of it, without harming the social hierarchy, and also a federal country where they could rule their provinces without bothering with the interference of a central power. Thus, the Bonifacians ideals were a serious threat to their own interests.^[42]

The excuse for the open conflict between both the groups appeared when the liberal João Soares Lisboa published in a newspaper the allegation that Prince Pedro had affirmed that he would accept the republican government if the Brazilians wanted it. Jose Bonifácio considered the journalist's attitude subversive and ordered him to leave Rio de Janeiro.^[43] He also accused the Liberals of conspiring against the monarchy. In September 21 Bonifácio convinced Pedro to forbid the freemasons meetings in the Masonic Lodges while the investigation on a possible republican conspiracy was occurring. The Prince did not approve the Bonifácio's easures as he considering them arbitrary and not only he pardoned João Soares Lisboa but also allowed the full functioning of the Masonic Lodges four days later.^[44]

Coronation of Emperor Pedro I in December 1, 1822.

In October 12, 1822, in the Field of Santana (later known as Field of the Acclamation) Prince Pedro was acclaimed Dom Pedro I, Constitutional Emperor and Perpetual Defender of Brazil. It was at the same time the beginning of Pedro's reign and also of the Empire of Brazil.^[45] However, the Emperor left clear that although he accepted the emperorship, if João VI returned to Brazil he would step aside from the throne in favor of his father.^[46] The reason for the imperial title was derived from the fact that the title of king would symbolically mean a continuation of the Portuguese dynastic tradition and perhaps of the feared absolutism. While emperor derived from the popular acclamation as in Ancient Rome. Thus, the constitutional aspect of the Brazilian monarchy with the social contract between the Nation and the Emperor would be strengthened.^[47]

Since the end of the persecution initiated after the release of the article written by João Soares Lisboa, the Liberals (led by Gonçalves Ledo) pressured Pedro I to dismiss Bonifácio and his cabinet. In October 27 José Bonifácio was fired, but a popular manifestation made Pedro (with great satisfaction) to call him back.^[48] José Bonifácio did not lose any time and in November 2 initiated a judicial inquiry (that would be known as "Bonifácia") against the Liberals that were accused of "conspiracy, plotting and demagogy". All the ones accused of conspiracy were imprisoned with the exception of Gonçalves Ledo, João Soares Lisboa and a few others that escaped towards Buenos Aires.^[49] With his enemies defeated, the Bonifacians believed that they were finally free to initiate their projects of government. In December 1, 1822 (anniversary of the acclamation of João IV, first King of the House of Braganza) Pedro I was crowned and consecrated.^[50]

[edit] Imperial Constitution

In March 3, 1823, the Constituent and Legislative General Assembly initiated its works towards approving the country's political Constitution.^[51] Its members (called general deputies) were adepts in their majority of the Liberalism and gathered “what it had of better and of more representative in Brazil”.^[52] They were indirectly elected by censitary suffrage and none belonged to political parties (there weren't any at that time).^[53] It had, however, factions in it: the Bonifacians, the Liberals and the Absolutists. These latter ones were Portuguese who defended a centralized and absolutist monarchy and also the maintenance of their economic and social privileges.^[54] Ideologically, the Emperor identified himself with the Bonifacians in matters related to their political, social and economic projects. Therefore he did not have interest nor in acting as an absolute monarch much less in serving as "a cardboard figure in the government", as the Absolutists and Liberals desired, respectively.^[55]

José Bonifácio de Andrada, leader of the Bonifacians.

The project of the Constitution of 1823 was written by Antônio Carlos de Andrada and suffered strong influence from the French and Norwegian charters.^[56] It was sent to the Assembly where its members initiated the works for its promulgation. Since the beginning of the legislative work the Liberals desired at any cost to overthrown the cabinet presided by José Bonifácio de Andrada. They wanted to avenge the persecutions that they had suffered in the "Bonifácia" that had occurred in the previous year. The Absolutists, on the other hand, saw their interests threatened when José Bonifácio emitted two decrees: one in November 12, 1822 and another in December 11, 1822. In the first one he eliminated the Portuguese privileges and in the second one he arrested the goods, products and properties from all Portuguese who had supported Portugal during the Brazilian independence. Although with many ideological differences, the Absolutists and the Liberals allied themselves in order to remove from power their common enemy.^[57][58] Both groups held most of the seats in the Assembly and signed a petition to request the dismissal of José Bonifácio's Cabinet. Without any choice but to enter in an unnecessary conflict with the Assembly, Pedro I dismissed the cabinet.^[59]

The emperor appointed the liberal José Joaquim Carneiro de Campos to preside the new cabinet. Consequently the Bonifacians became the opposition and created newspapers to attack their enemies in the cabinet and also in the Assembly.^[60][61] Small incidents aggravated the dispute for power in it. In one of them, the Liberal Estêvão José Carneiro da Cunha accused the Bonifacians of being behind the physical violence suffered by the liberal journalist Luis Augusto May, editor of the periodic Malagueta ("Chili pepper") who had criticized the José Bonifácio's cabinet. Antônio Carlos de Andrada almost punched Carneiro da Cunha, aggravating the situation.^[62][63]

The crisis became more serious when an event that normally would be treated by the Justice ended up being used for political ends. A Brazilian apothecary suffered physical aggressions from two Portuguese officers who served in the Brazilian Army that erroneously believed that he had been the author of an injurious article to their honor. The Bonifacians used to their advantage the chance to allege that the aggression suffered by the apothecary was in fact an attempted against honor of Brazil and of the Brazilian people. Antônio Carlos de Andrada and Martim Francisco de Andrada were taken on the shoulders of crowd and it was followed by a wave of lusophobia in Rio de Janeiro. Riots were incitated all over the city by the factions against their political enemies. The members of the Assembly did not pay much attention in the project of the Constitution, but instead on taking down their enemies.^[64][65][66] They had only analyzed 24 articles of a total of 272.^[67]

An 1863 copy of the Brazilian Constitution of 1824.

The military officers felt attacked by the insults directed to them and to the Emperor by the Bonifacians and demanded their punishment. The monarch feared that Portuguese officers (the majority in the officer staff) would cause problems and ordered the troops to leave Rio de Janeiro and camp in the São Cristóvão Field. The minister Francisco Vilela Barbosa, representing the cabinet, went to the Assembly to explain the reason of the movement of the troops. The congregated members of the Assembly decided to debate the matter and remained in session during the dawn. But in the following day when Vilela Barbosa returned to give more explanations, some Bonifacians deputies cried out demanding that Pedro I should be declared an outlaw. After the Emperor heard about it he signed a decree dissolving the Assembly^[68][69] (something that he had the right to do).^[70] Six deputies, including the three Andrada brothers, were banished to France.^[71] However, they received pension from the Brazilian Government as long as they lived there.^[72] The Liberals that were persecuted during the "Bonifácia" were pardoned and Gonçalves Ledo, João Soares Lisboa and others returned to Brazil. Also, that was not the end of the members (deputies) of the Assembly: 33 would later become senators, 28 ministers of State, 18 presidents of provinces, seven members of the first State Council and four regents.^[73]

In November 13, 1823, Pedro I, who had no desire to reign as an absolutist monarch,^[74] puted the newly established State Council in charge of writing a new project of Constitution that was later finished in only fifteen days. It was a "remarkable Council" in the opinion of historian Ronaldo Vainfas.^[75] The State Council was formed by ten famous Brazilian-born jurists, such as: José Joaquim Carneiro de Campos (later Marquis of Caravelas and the main author of the new Charter), Francisco Vilela Barbosa (later the first Marquis of Paranaguá), João Severiano Maciel da Costa (the ex-president of the dissolved Constituent Assembly), Manuel Jacinto Nogueira da Gama (later the Marquis of Baependi), Luís José de Carvalho e Melo (later the Viscount of Cachoeira), amongst others.^[76][77]

The Council used the project written by Antonio Carlos de Andrada as base to a new Charter. After finishing it, a copy was sent to all Municipal Chambers to vote if they would accept or not that the new Charter should be used as a project to be promulgated by another Constituent Assembly.^[78] However, some Municipal Chambers suggested that instead it should become immediately the Brazilian Constitution.^[79][80][81] After that, the vast majority of the Municipal Chambers (composed by councilmen elected by the Brazilian people as their representatives) voted in favor of its instantly adoption as the Constitution of the Empire.^{[82][83][84][85][86][87]} The first Brazilian Constitution was then promulgated by Pedro I and solemnly sworn in the Cathedral of Rio de Janeiro in March 25, 1824.^[88]

[edit] The Confederation of the Equator

The dissolution of the Constituent Assembly was well received in Pernambuco. The two greatest liberal leaders in the province, Manuel de Carvalho Pais de Andrade and Joaquim do Amor Divino Caneca (better known as Friar Mug) supported it and blamed the Bonifacians for its outcome.^[89] Both, as well as other of their coreligionists, were republicans who participated in the revolt of 1817 and had been pardoned.^[90] They had accepted the monarchy for believing that at least there would be more provincial autonomy. The promulgation of the Constitution in 1824, with its highly centralized regime, frustrated their desire, however.^[91][92] Pernambuco was divided between two political factions: a monarchist, led by Francisco Paes Barreto and a republican, led by Manuel de Carvalho Pais de Andrade.^[93] The province was governed by Paes Barreto, who was appointed President by Pedro I, in accordance with the law promulgated by the Constituent Assembly in October 20, 1823 (and that would be later kept by the Constitution).^[94][95][96] In December 13, 1823, Paes Barreto resigned under the pressure of the Liberals that illegally elected in his place Paes de Andrade.^[97] Neither Pedro I nor the Government were informed of the election and requested the return of Paes Barreto to the office, something that was ignored by the Liberals.^[98][99]

A street in Recife, capital of Pernambuco, 1820s.

The warships Niterói and Piranga led by the British Captain John Taylor^{[disambiguation needed]} were sent to Recife to compel the Liberals to obey the law without success.^[100][101] The Liberals vehemently refused to bring back Paes Barreto and boasted: "We shall die! Let Pernambuco be destroyed! There will be war!".^[102][103] Friar Mug, José da Natividade Saldanha and João Soares Lisboa (that had recently returned from Buenos Aires) were the intellectuals behind the rebellion^[104] and desired to preserve the interests of the gentry that they represented.^[105] Although Recife (or to be more precise, the Liberals) had clearly rebelled, Pedro I tried to prevent a conflict that he considered unnecessary and appointed a new president the province, José Carlos Mayrink da Silva Ferrão. Mayrink was natural of the province of Minas Gerais, but was related to the Liberals and it could act as a neutral entity to conciliate the two local factions. However, the Liberals did not accept Mayrink, which made him return to Rio de Janeiro.^{[106][107][108]} The rumors of a great Portuguese naval attack (Brazil was still in war for its independence) compelled John Taylor to leave Recife.^[109][110]

In July 2, 1824, only one day after the departure of Taylor, Manuel Paes de Andrade made use of the chance and announced the independence of Pernambuco. Paes de Andrade sent invitations to the others provinces of the north and northeast Brazil so that they could join Pernambuco and form the Confederation of the Equator. In thesis, the new republican State would be formed by the provinces of Grand Pará (current Amazonas, Roraima, Rondônia and Pará), Maranhão, Piauí, Ceará, Rio Grande do Norte, Alagoas, Sergipe, Paraíba, Pernambuco and Bahia. However, none of them adhered the secessionist revolt, with the exception of a few villages in southern Ceará and in Paraíba.^{[111][112][113][114]} However, in Ceará the situation became more serious with the deposition of the President Pedro José da Costa Barros that was substituted by the confederate Tristão Gonçalves de Alencar Araripe. The other cities and villages of the province refused to accept the act and counterattacked. Alencar Araripe left to the countryside where he tried to defeat the loyalist troops. While he was absent the capital of the province, Fortaleza, reaffirmed its loyalty to the Empire.^[115] In Pernambuco, Paes de Andrade could only count with Olinda, as the remaining of the province did not join the revolt. The confederate leader prepared his troops for the inevitable attack from the central Government^[116] and recruited by force even children and old men.^[117] Pedro I, after knowing of the secessionist revolt, spoke: “What are the demands of the insults from Pernambuco? Certainly a punishment, and such a punishment that it will serve as an example for the future”.^[118]

The Brazilian Army fighting the Confederate troops in Recife, 1824.

Paes Barreto gathered himself troops to quell the revolt but was defeated which made him keep his forces in the countryside waiting for reinforcements.^[119] In August 2 the Emperor sent a naval division commanded by the Admiral Thomas Cochrane, composed of a ship of the line, a brig, a corvette and two transports and also 1,200 soldiers led by Brigadier General Francisco de Lima e Silva.^[120][121] The troops disembarked in Maceió, capital of Alagoas, from where they travelled by land toward Pernambuco. The loyalist forces soon met with Paes Barreto and his 400 men who joined the march. Throughout the way, the army was strengthened by militians that increased their numbers to 3,500 soldiers.^[122][123] Most of the population of Pernambuco, that lived in the countryside, including partisans of Paes Barreto and the neutral or indifferent to the disputes between both factions, remained faithful to the monarchy.^[124]

Meanwhile, Cochrane, that was already making a siege by sea to Recife, tried to convince Paes de Andrade to surrender and thus to prevent unnecessary deaths. Andrade arrogantly refused the offer alleging that he preferred to die fighting "in the field of glory".^{[125][126][127]} In September 12, the army led by Brigadier General Lima e Silva and Paes Barreto attacked Recife.^[128] Manuel Paes de Andrade, who had sworn that would fight to death ran away secretly with José da Natividade Saldanha without informing his companions and departed in a British ship.^[129][130] The rebels, without leadership and unmotivated, were completely defeated five days later in Olinda.^[131] A few led by Friar Mug managed to escape towards Ceará. They believed that they would be able to join the confederates in that province. Few weeks later they were defeated by loyalist troops. Some died, such as João Soares Lisboa^[132] and Alencar Araripe (murdered by his own men)^[133] while others were imprisoned, such as Friar Mug.^[134] The rebels in Paraíba did not fare better and were quickly overhelmed by troops of the province (each side had 2,000 men)^[135] without the aid of the central Government.^[136] The legal persecution against the confederates initiated in October 1824 and lasted until April 1825. Of the hundreds who participated in the three provinces rebellion only sixteen were condemned to death, amongst them, Friar Mug.^{[137][138][139]} All the others were pardoned by Pedro I in March 7, 1825.^[140]

[edit] The Independence of Uruguay

In 1825, war flared again over Argentina's determination to annex the Cisplatine Province (present-day Uruguay, on the East bank of the Plata River). The empire could little afford the troops, some of whom were recruited in Ireland and Germany, or the sixty warships needed to blockade the Río de la Plata. A loan from London bankers was expended by 1826, and Pedro had to call the General Assembly to finance the war. The blockade raised objections from the United States and Britain, and defeats on land in 1827 made it necessary to negotiate an end to the US$30 million Argentina-Brazil War. The war, at least, left Uruguay independent instead of an Argentine province. That was possible because, following the wars lead by José Gervasio Artigas against the centralist government of Buenos Aires, many people neither wanted to submit to Buenos Aires, nor to Brazil. In June 1828, harsh discipline and xenophobia provoked a mutiny of mercenary troops in Rio de Janeiro; the Irish were shipped home and the Germans sent to the South. The army was reduced to 15,000 members, and the anti-slavery Pedro, now without military muscle, faced a Parliament controlled by slave-owners and their allies.

Flag of the Brazilian Cisplatine

[edit] The slavery question

As coffee exports rose steadily, so did the numbers of imported slaves; in Rio de Janeiro alone, they soared from 26,254 in 1825 to 43,555 in 1828. In 1822, about 30%, or one million, of Brazil's population consisted of African-born or -descended slaves.

Pedro had written that slavery was a "cancer that is gnawing away at Brazil" and that no one had the right to enslave another. He wanted to abolish slavery, but his own liberal constitution gave the law-making authority to the slavocrat-controlled Parliament. In Brazil, liberal principles and political formulas were given special meaning. The language of social contract, popular sovereignty, supremacy of law, universal rights, division of powers, and representative government was stripped of its revolutionary content and applied only to a select, privileged white minority.

After 1826, the slavocrat agenda was to control the court system; to provide harsh punishments for slave rebellion, but mild ones for white revolt; to reduce the armed forces, cleansing them of foreigners unsympathetic to slavery; to keep tariffs low and eliminate the Bank of Brazil in order to deny the central government the ability to stimulate a rival, finance-based industrial capitalism; and to shape immigration policy in such a way as to encourage servile labour instead of independent farmers or craftsmen. Led by Bernardo Pereira de Vasconcelos of Minas Gerais in the assembly, slavocrats argued that slavery was not demoralizing, that foreign capital and technology would not help Brazil, and that railroads would only rust. Others, such as Nicolau de Campos Vergueiro of São Paulo, argued in favour of replacing slavery with free European immigrants. In the end, the Parliament established a contract system that was little better than slavery. There would be no liberal empire. Laws and decrees unacceptable to the slavocrats simply would not take effect, such as the order in 1829 forbidding slave ships to sail for Africa. These items of the slavocrat agenda were the roots of the regional rebellions of the nineteenth century.

In 1835, the Malê Revolt, perhaps the most significant slave rebellion in Brazil, took place in the city of Salvador da Bahia.^[141]

[edit] Turmoil and abdication

After Dom João's death (1826), despite Pedro's renunciation of his right to the Portuguese throne in favor of his daughter, Brazilian nativist radicals falsely accused the emperor of plotting to overthrow the constitution and to proclaim himself the ruler of a reunited Brazil and Portugal. They raised tensions by provoking street violence against the Portuguese of Rio de Janeiro and agitated for a federalist monarchy that would give the provinces self-government and administrative autonomy. Brazil's fate was in the hands of a few people concentrated in the capital who spread false stories and undermined discipline in the army and police. It would not be the last time that events in Rio de Janeiro would shape the future. When Pedro dismissed his cabinet in April 1831, street and military demonstrators demanded its reinstatement in violation of his constitutional prerogatives. He refused, saying: "I will do anything for the people but nothing [forced] by the people." With military units assembled on the Campo de Sant'Anna, an assembly ground in Rio de Janeiro, and people in the streets shouting "death to the tyrant", he backed down.

Pedro I abdicated by his own free will in the dawn of 7 April 1831. He did not ask for any advice nor warned the Cabinet of his intention.^[142] When he delivered his abdication document, he spoke: “Here it is my abdication; I wish you all happiness! I depart to Europe, and I leave a country that I loved very much, and still love”.^[143] The surprise was general, as neither the liberals nor the Brazilian people desired the emperor’s abdication, but only the restitution of the March’s Cabinet.^{[144][145][146]} However, for at least two years he was planning to leave the country and reclaim his daughter’s crown.^[147][148] The emperor “was not a tyrant; no one, but only a calumniator, ever considered him as such; however, his errors were great and of different kinds”.^[149] However, he always respected the constitution.^[150] His reign lasted less than nine years, but “it was of intense transformation to Brazil, due to its politic, economic and social development”.^[151] In this period, the country developed more than in its three hundred years of Portuguese dominion.^[152]

[edit] Regency

[edit] Unrest in the provinces

Charge of the Cavalry from Guilherme Litran (exposed in Júlio de Castilhos Museum, Porto Alegre, Brazil), depicting Farroupilha revolution.

From 1831 to 1840, the country was ruled by three appointed regents, in the young Emperor's name. This was a period of turmoil as local factions struggled to gain control of their provinces and to keep the masses in line. Out of desperation to weaken the radical appeals for federalism, republicanism, and hostility toward the Portuguese, and to protect against calls for Pedro I's restoration, the regency in Rio de Janeiro gave considerable power to the provinces in 1834. Brazil took on the appearance of a federation of local pátrias (autonomous centres of regional power) with loose allegiance to the Rio de Janeiro government, whose function was to defend them from external attack and to maintain order and balance among them. The government's ability to carry out that function was impaired, however, by the low budgets allowed the army and navy, and by the creation of a National Guard, whose officers were local notables determined to protect their private and regional interests. The rebellions, riots, and popular movements that marked the next years did not spring as much from economic misery as from attempts to share in the prosperity resulting from North Atlantic demand for Brazil's exports.

Many of the disturbances were so fleeting they were all but forgotten. For example, in Rio de Janeiro alone there were five uprisings in 1831 and 1832. Another eight of the more famous revolts in the 1834-49 period included the participation of lower-class people, Indians, free and runaway blacks, and slaves, which accounts for their often fierce suppression. Republican objectives were apparent in some of these revolts, such as the War of Tatters (1835-45), also known as the Farroupilha Revolution ("farroupilha" is a Portuguese word that means "one who wears tatters"), in Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul. Others, such as the Cabanagem in Pará in 1835-40, the Sabinada in Salvador in 1837-38, the Balaiada Rebellion in Maranhão in 1838-41, and the ones in Minas Gerais and São Paulo in 1842, were propelled simultaneously by antiregency and promonarchial sentiments. Such unrest dispels the notion that the history of state formation in Brazil was peaceful. Instead, it shows the confrontation between the national government and the splintering motherlands (pátrias), which would continue in varying degrees for the next century.

[edit] Pedro II as the focus of unity

Pedro I's death from tuberculosis in 1834 had sapped the restorationist impulse and removed the glue that held uneasy political allies together. With the regency attempting to suppress simultaneous revolts in the South and North, it could not easily reassert its supremacy over the remaining provinces. Brazil could well have split apart in those years. It did not for three reasons. First, the military was reorganized as an instrument of national unity under the leadership of Luís Alves de Lima e Silva, who was ennobled as the Duke of Caxias (Duque de Caxias) and who was later proclaimed Patron of the Brazilian Army. Second, the specter of slave revolt and social disintegration had become all too real. And third, the "vision of Brazil as a union of autonomous pátrias", in Roderick J. Barman's phrase, was replaced by the vision of Brazil as a nation-state. Rather than risk their fortunes and lives, the elites, longing for a focus of loyalty, identity, and authority, rallied around the boy-Emperor to raise him to power in 1840. The Houses of the Brazilian General Assembly (the Imperial Parliament), meeting in joint session, in defiance of a decree from the Regency proroguing the annual legislative session, sent a Commission to ask the boy-Emperor whether or not he would agree to be declared of age immediately. The Emperor agreed. Then, the Regent, under pressure, revoked the decree that had prorogued the Legislature. Within hours, the General Assembly passed a resolution declaring the Emperor of age, at age of fourteen instead of the constitutionally specified age of eighteen. The Emperor then appeared before the General Assembly, took the constitutional oath, and a proclamation was issued declaring the end of the regency and the beginning of the personal rule of Pedro II. He was subsequently crowned on July 18, 1841. Thus, the second reign was born in the hope that it would be an instrument of national unity, peace, and prosperity.

[edit] Consolidation

[edit] Reunification and centralization

In the 1840s, the Brazilian nation-state coalesced as authorities suppressed revolts and rewrote Brazilian law. These laws, however, did not bode well for democracy because they shaped an electoral system based on government-controlled fraud. In 1842, on the advice of conservative courtiers, Pedro II used his constitutional moderating power to dismiss the newly elected liberal Chamber of Deputies and called new elections, which the conservatives won by stuffing the ballot boxes. In so doing, he set a pattern of favoring conservatives over liberals.

The "moderating power" granted to the emperor by the constitution of 1824 — to balance the traditional executive, legislative, and judicial branches — gave him the right to name senators, to dismiss the legislature, and to shift control of the government from one party to the other. In theory, he was to act as the political balance wheel. The parties at this time were more groupings of members of Parliament than ideologically based movements dependent on distinct electorates. Historian Richard Graham observed that "No particular political philosophy distinguished one group from another." The political system had an artificial aspect to it; it did not relate openly to the real power structure of the country—the senhores da terra ("landowners") who ran local affairs.

A good example of how the real power-holders manipulated the system to protect their narrow interests to the detriment of the national interest was the Land Law of 1850, which set the pattern for modern landholding. The Land Law ended the colonial practice of obtaining land through squatting or royal grants and limited acquisition to purchase, thereby restricting the number of people who could become owners. By creating obstacles to land ownership, the law's framers hoped to force free labor to work for existing landlords. However, proprietors sabotaged the law by not surveying their lands and not resolving their conflicting claims in order to keep titles cloudy and hence in their hands. One result of the uncertain titles was that slaves were used as collateral.

[edit] Growth

Unknown Brazilian slave, ca. 1865

[edit] End of the slave trade

In 1850, British and domestic pressure finally forced the Brazilian government to outlaw the African slave trade. London, tiring of Brazilian subterfuge, authorized its navy to seize slave ships in Brazilian waters, even in ports. Rather than risk open war with Britain, paralyzation of commerce, widespread slave unrest, and destabilization of the empire, the government outlawed the African slave trade. It deported a number of Portuguese slavers and instructed the provincial presidents, police, judges, and military to crack down. Over the next five years, even clandestine landings stopped, and despite the tempting rise of slave prices in the coffee districts of Rio de Janeiro Province, the trans-Atlantic trade ended. Although the British claimed credit, for the first time a Brazilian government had the power to enforce a law along the length of the coast. Also, internal support for the trade had weakened. Most slave importers were Portuguese^{[citation needed]}, who had been selling the ever more expensive Africans to landowners on credit at climbing interest rates, in some cases forcing the latter into insolvency and loss of property. Xenophobia and the debts of the landed classes combined to support the government action.

Ending the slave trade had a number of consequences. First, because labor needs increased in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo as the world demand for coffee rose, Northeastern planters sold their surplus slaves to Southern growers. In addition, Parliament passed laws encouraging European immigration, and the Land Law of 1850. Second, ending the slave trade freed capital that could then be used for investment in transport and industrial enterprises. Third, it ensured that Britain did not interfere in Brazil's military intervention to end the rule in Buenos Aires of Juan Manuel de Rosas (who was governor of Buenos Aires province, 1829-33, 1835-52).

[edit] War of the Triple Alliance

Allied forces in the War of the Triple Alliance, 1866.

The empire had lost the East Bank of the Río de la Plata (in Portuguese: Rio da Prata) with the founding of Uruguay in 1828, but it continued to meddle in that republic's affairs. Brazil's most important businessman, Irineu Evangelista de Sousa, the Visconde de Mauá, had such heavy financial interests there that his company was effectively the Uruguayan government's bank. Other Brazilians owned about 400 large estates (estancias) that took up nearly a third of the country's territory. They objected to the taxes the Uruguayans imposed when they drove their cattle back and forth to Rio Grande do Sul, and they took sides in the constant fighting between Uruguay's Colorado and Blanco political factions, which later became the Colorado Party and the National Party (Blancos). Some of Rio Grande do Sul's gauchos did not accept Uruguayan independence in 1828 and continually sought intervention.

In the mid-1860s, the imperial government conspired with Buenos Aires authorities to replace the Blanco regime in Montevideo with a Colorado one. The Blancos appealed to Paraguayan dictator Francisco Solano López (president, 1862-70), who harbored his own fears of the two larger countries and who regarded a threat to Uruguay as a menace to Paraguay. A small landlocked country, Paraguay had the largest army in the region: 64,000 soldiers compared with Brazil's standing army of 18,000. In 1864, Brazil and Argentina agreed to act together should Solano López attempt to save the Blancos. In September 1864, wrongly convinced that he would not be so foolish, the Brazilians sent troops into Uruguay to put the Colorados in power. Each side miscalculated the intentions, capabilities, and will of the other. Paraguay reacted by seizing Brazilian vessels on the Rio Paraguai and by attacking the province of Mato Grosso. Solano López, mistakenly expecting help from anti-Buenos Aires caudillos, sent his forces into Corrientes to get at Rio Grande do Sul and Uruguay, and found himself at war with both Argentina and Brazil. In May 1865, those two countries and Colorado-led Uruguay signed an alliance that aimed to transfer contested Paraguayan territory to the larger countries, to open Paraguayan rivers to international trade, and to remove Solano López. By September 1865, the allies had driven the Paraguayans out of Rio Grande do Sul, and they took the war into Paraguay when that country spurned their peace overtures.

Brazilian military in the War of the Triple Alliance, 1868

Fiercely defending their homeland, the Guaraní speaking Paraguayans defeated the allies at Curupaity in September 1866. The Argentine president, General Bartolomé Mitre (1861-68), took the bulk of his troops home to quell opposition to his war policy, leaving the Brazilians to soldier on. The famed General Lima e Silva, Marquis and later Duke of Caxias, took command of the allied forces and led them until the fall of Asunción in early 1869. With stubborn determination, the Brazilians pursued Solano López until they cornered and killed him. They then occupied Paraguay until 1878.

The war dragged on for several reasons. First, the Paraguayans were better prepared at the outset and conducted an effective offensive into the territories of their adversaries, immediately handing them defeats. Even later, when pushed back onto their own land, they had the advantages of knowing the ground, of having prepared defenses, and of fielding stubbornly loyal troops. Second, it took the Brazilians considerable time to marshal their forces and considerable effort and cost to keep them supplied. Third, the Argentines, hoping to improve their postwar situation in relation to Brazil, delayed operations partly to force the empire to weaken itself by expending its resources. Fourth, this was the era of "unconditional surrender". It was militarily fashionable to pursue Francisco Solano López to the bitter end.

[edit] Aftermath of the war

The war had important consequences for Brazil and the Río de la Plata region. It left Brazil and Argentina facing each other over a prostrate Paraguay and a dependent Uruguay, a situation that soon turned into a tense rivalry that repeatedly assumed warlike postures. Historians debate the number of Paraguayan casualties, some asserting that 50% of Paraguayans were killed, others arguing that it was much less, possibly 8 to 9% of the prewar population total. Nonetheless, the losses from battle, disease, and starvation were severe and disrupted the development of the republic. In Brazil, the war contributed to the growth of manufacturing, to the professionalization of the armed forces and their concentration in Rio Grande do Sul, to the building of roads and the settling of European immigrants in the southern provinces, and to the increased power of the central government. Most important for the future, the war brought the military firmly into the political arena. Military officers were keenly aware that the war had exposed the military's lack of equipment, training, and organization. Officers blamed these shortcomings on civilian officials. In the next decades, reformist officers seeking to modernize the army would criticize the Brazilian political structure and its peculiar culture as obstacles to modernization.

[edit] Apogee

This section has no content. You can help Wikipedia by introducing information to it. (December 2009)

[edit] Decline

[edit] The republican movement

The end of the war coincided with the resurgence of republicanism as disenchanted liberals cast about for a new route to power. The 1867 collapse of the short-lived, French-sponsored Mexican monarchy of Maximilian left Brazil as the only Latin American monarchical regime. And because Argentina appeared to prosper in the 1870s and 1880s, it served as a powerful advertisement for republican government. The republican ideology spread in urban areas and in provinces, such as São Paulo and Rio Grande do Sul, where the people did not believe they benefited from imperial economic policies. The republican manifesto of 1870 proclaimed that "We are in America and we want to be Americans." Monarchy was, the writers asserted, hostile to the interests of the American states and would be a continuous source of conflict with Brazil's neighbors.

The republicans embraced the abolition of slavery to remove the stigma of Brazil's being the only remaining slaveholding country (save for Spanish Cuba) in the hemisphere. It was not so much that they believed that slavery was wrong as that it gave the country an image distasteful to Europeans. Abolition, which would come in 1888, did not imply that liberals wanted deep social reform or desired a democratic society. Indeed, their arguments against slavery were weighted toward efficiency rather than morality. Once in power, the republicans looked to discipline the legally free work force with various systems of social control.

The Brazilian social system functioned through intertwined networks of patronage, familial relationships, and friendships. The state, capitalist economy, and institutions such as the church and the army developed within what historian Emília Viotti da Costa has called "the web of patronage." Contacts and favor rather than ability determined success in virtually all occupations. Brazilian society was one in which a person could not advance without friends and family; hence, the continued importance of kinship networks (parentelas) and military school classes (turmas). Such a social system did not lend itself to reform.

[edit] Crisis with the Church

In the 1870s and 1880s, there was a crisis in each of the three pillars of the imperial regime – the Church, the military, and the slaveholding system. Together, these crises represented the failure of the regime to adapt without alienating its base. In the 1870s, Rome pressured Brazil's Roman Catholic Church to conform to the conservative reforms of the First Vatican Council, which strengthened the power of the pontiff by declaring him infallible in matters of faith and morals. This effort by Rome to unify doctrine and practice worldwide conflicted with royal control of the Church in Brazil. The Crown had inherited the padroado, or right of ecclesiastical patronage, from its Portuguese predecessor. This right gave the Crown control over the Church, which imperial authorities treated as an arm of the state. Although some clerics had displayed republican sentiments earlier in the century, a church-state crisis exploded in the mid-1870s over efforts to Europeanize the Church.

[edit] Crisis in the army

The importance of the military crisis is clearer because it removed the armed prop of the regime. After the War of the Triple Alliance (1864-70), the monarchy was indifferent to the army, which the civilian elite did not perceive as a threat. The fiscal problems of the 1870s slowed promotions to a crawl, salaries were frozen, and officers complained about having to contribute to a widows' fund from their meager salaries. Moreover, the soldiers in the ranks were considered the dregs of society, discipline was based on the lash, and training seemed pointless. The gulf between the military and the civilian oligarchies broadened. The political parties were as indifferent as the government to demands for military reform, for obligatory military service, for better armament, and for higher pay and status. During the 1870s, the discontent was checked by the National Guard's reduced role, by an unsuccessful but welcomed attempt to improve the recruitment system, and, especially, by the cabinet service of war heroes, including the Duke of Caxias as prime minister (1875-78) and Marshal Manuel Luís Osório, the Marquis of Herval, as minister of war (1878). But the latter died in 1879 and Caxias the year after, leaving leadership to officers less committed to the throne. The junior officer ranks were filled with men from the middle classes who had entered the army to obtain an education rather than to follow a military career. They were more concerned than their predecessors with social changes that would open opportunities to the lower middle class.

The officer corps was split into three generations. The oldest group had helped suppress the regional revolts of the 1830s and 1840s, had fought in Argentina in 1852, and had survived the War of the Triple Alliance. The numerous mid-level officers were better schooled than their seniors and had been tested in combat in Paraguay. The junior officers had missed the war, but had the most education of the three groups and had experienced the empire only when its defects had become clearly apparent. They were the least attached to the old regime and the most frustrated by the lack of advancement in a peacetime army cluttered with veterans of the great war.

Brazilian political tradition permitted officers to hold political office and to serve as cabinet ministers, thereby blurring the civil-military roles. As parliamentary deputies and senators, officers could criticize the government, including their military superiors, with impunity. In the 1880s, officers participated in provincial politics, debated in the press, and spoke in public forums. In 1884, a civilian minister of war attempted to impose order by forbidding officers to write or speak publicly about governmental matters. The subsequent punishments of offending officers led Field Marshal Manuel Deodoro da Fonseca and General José Antônio Correia de Câmara (Visconde de Pelotas) to head protests that eventually forced the minister to resign in February 1887 and the cabinet to fall in March 1888.

[edit] Abolition of slavery

Even as the church and military crises were unfolding, the slavery issue shook the support of the landed elite. Members of the Liberal and Conservative Parties came from the same social groups: plantation owners (fazendeiros) made up half of both, and the rest were bureaucrats and professionals. The ideological differences between the parties were trivial, but factional and personal rivalries within them made it difficult for the parties to adjust to changing social and economic circumstances. As a result, the last decade of the empire was marked by considerable political instability. Between 1880 and 1889, there were ten cabinets (seven in the first five years) and three parliamentary elections, with no Parliament able to complete its term. The repeated use of the moderating power provoked alienation, even among traditional monarchists.

German immigrants in Petrópolis, province of Rio de Janeiro, ca.1874.

Attitudes toward slavery had shifted gradually. Pedro II favored abolition, and, during the War of the Triple Alliance, slaves serving in the military were emancipated. In 1871, the Rio Branco cabinet approved a law freeing newborns and requiring masters to care for them until age eight, at which time they would either be turned over to the government for compensation or the owner would have use of their labor until age twenty-one. "The Law of 1871 also liberated state owned slaves, codified the right of slaves to purchase their own freedom, established an Emancipation Fund to facilitate manumission by individual initiative and declared the need for a register (matricula) of all Brazil's existing slaves." (Bethell p. 80) In 1885, a law freed slaves over sixty years of age. "However, as a form of compensation to their owners the slaves were obliged to serve for a further three years, or until they reached the age of 65 and remain in employment in the same municipio for a further five years." (Bethell p. 86) By the 1880s, the geography of slavery had also changed, and the economy was less dependent on it. Because of manumissions (many on condition of remaining on the plantations) and the massive flight of slaves, the overall numbers declined from 1,240,806 in 1884 to 723,419 in 1887, with most slaves having shifted from the sugar plantations in the Northeast to the south-central coffee groves. But even planters in São Paulo, where the slave percentage of the total population had fallen from 28.2% in 1854 to 8.7% in 1886, understood that to continue expansion they needed a different labor system. The provincial government therefore actively began subsidizing and recruiting immigrants. Between 1875 and 1887, about 156,000 arrived in São Paulo. Meanwhile, the demand for cheap sugarcane workers in the Northeast was satisfied by sertanejos (inhabitants of the sertão) fleeing the devastating droughts of the 1870s in the sertão.

The economic picture was also changing. Slavery immobilized capital invested in the purchase and maintenance of slaves. By turning to free labor, planter capital was freed for investment in railroads, streetcar lines, and shipping and manufacturing enterprises. To some extent, these investments offered a degree of protection from the caprices of agriculture.

Crowd gathered around the Imperial Palace during the Golden Law´s promulgation, 1888

Meanwhile, slaves left the plantations in great numbers, and an active underground supported runaways. Army officers petitioned the Regent Princess Isabel to relieve them of the duty of pursuing runaway slaves. Field Marshal Deodoro da Fonseca, commander in Rio Grande do Sul, declared in early 1887 that the military "had the obligation to be abolitionist". They were no longer willing to defend slavery, or be responsible for finding runaway slaves and returning them to their owners. The São Paulo assembly petitioned the Parliament for immediate abolition. The agitation reached such a pitch that to foreign travelers, Brazil appeared on the verge of social revolution. The system was coming apart, and even planters realized that abolition was the way to prevent chaos.

"The Brazilian slave system began to unwind in 1887-1888: as slaves began to revolt and flee (and as slave prices collapsed) slaveowners in São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Pernanbuco, for example-began voluntarily to liberate their slaves, sometimes unconditionally but more often in return for labour contracts of one, two or three years. Many owners were influenced by the Church which for the first time openly favored abolition. But most were simply attempting to bring what was happening all around them under some sort of control and prevent a total disorganization of labour on the plantations." (Bethell p.87) "It should also be mentioned that there was a Brazilian Popular movement in favor of abolition during the years of 1880-85, which was very similar to the anti-slavery movement in North America. Public rallies were held in theaters and concert halls as well as newspaper articles printed against slavery. Many people were also involved with the "overground railway" where whole plantations were simultaneously abandoned." (Drescher p. 450)

The so-called Golden Law of May 13, 1888 abolished slavery. The country's economy revived rapidly after a few lost harvests, and only a small number of planters went bankrupt. Slavery ended, but the plantation survived and so did the basic attitudes of a class society. Many former slaves stayed on the plantations in the same quarters, receiving paltry wages. They were joined by waves of immigrants, who often found conditions so unbearable that they soon moved to the cities or returned to Europe. No freedmen's bureaus or schools were established to improve the lives of the former slaves; they were left at the bottom of the socioeconomic scale, where some of their descendants remain. "Some of the effects that occurred in response to aboliton was that power was shifted from the sugar zone of the northeast to the new coffee zone of São Paulo. Also the monarchy was weakened since they had strong ties with the elite landowners and they were no longer as powerful as before." (Graham p. 136)

[edit] Fall

[edit] The republican coup

Brazilian provinces by the end of the Empire

In the end, the empire fell because the elites did not need it to protect their interests. Indeed, imperial centralization ran counter to their desires for local autonomy.

After the abolition of slavery in 1888, the economic system of the north led to serious economic problems. Widespread famine soon resulted in the death of many former slaves in the northern states with slave-based economies. As a result of both the loss of slaves, their major resource, and the economic problems that followed abolition, the rich oligarchical elements of Brazilian society found their economic interests in considerable danger. Consequently, the elite responded to the liberalising tendencies of the imperial government by supporting the creation of an oligarchical republic, with local elites being able to control dominate their areas through a decentralized federal system.

Unlike the foundation of many republics, the foundation of the Brazilian republic can therefore be seen as a reactionary development.

In the early republic, the oligarchies quickly accumulated the power and skills to control the new governmental system. Taking advantage of cabinet crises in 1888 and 1889 and of rising frustration among military officers, republicans favoring change by revolution rather than by evolution drew military officers, led by Field Marshal Fonseca, into a conspiracy to replace the cabinet in November 1889. What started as an armed demonstration demanding replacement of a cabinet turned within hours into a coup d'état deposing Emperor Pedro II.

[edit] See also

• Empire of Brazil

[edit] Bibliography

[edit] References

• Armitage, John. História do Brasil. Belo Horizonte: Itatiaia, 1981. (Portuguese)
• Bueno, Eduardo. Brasil: uma História. 1. ed. São Paulo: Ática, 2003. (Portuguese)
• Cabral, José Gomes Cabral. Nossa História. Year 3 issue 35. São Paulo: Vera Cruz, 2006. ISSN 16797221 (Portuguese)
• Carvalho, José Murilo de. A Monarquia brasileira. Rio de Janeiro: Ao Livro Técnico, 1993. (Portuguese)
• Diégues, Fernando. A revolução brasílica. Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, 2004. (Portuguese)
• Dolhnikoff, Miriam. Pacto imperial: origens do federalismo no Brasil do século XIX. São Paulo: Globo, 2005. (Portuguese)
• Enciclopédia Barsa. Volume 5: Camarão, Rep. Unida do – Contravenção. Rio de Janeiro: Encyclopaedia Britannica do Brasil, 1987. (Portuguese)
• Holanda, Sérgio Buarque de. O Brasil Monárquico: o processo de emancipação. 4. ed. São Paulo: Difusão Européia do Livro, 1976. (Portuguese)
• Lima, Manuel de Oliveira. O Império Brasileiro. São Paulo: USP, 1989. (Portuguese)
• Lima, Manuel de Oliveira. O movimento da independência. 6. ed. Rio de Janeiro: Topbooks, 1997. (Portuguese)
• Lustosa, Isabel. D. Pedro I. São Paulo: Companhia das Letras, 2007. (Portuguese)
• Scantimburgo, João de.O Poder Moderador. São Paulo: Secretaria de Estado da Cultura, 1980. (Portuguese)
• Souza, Adriana Barreto de. Duque de Caxias: o homem por trás do monumento. Rio de Janeiro: Civilização Brasileira, 2008. (Portuguese)
• Vainfas, Ronaldo. Dicionário do Brasil Imperial. Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, 2002. (Portuguese)
• Vianna, Hélio. História do Brasil: período colonial, monarquia e república. 15. ed. São Paulo: Melhoramentos, 1994. (Portuguese)

[edit] Footnotes

v • d • e Empire of Brazil General topics History  · Politics · Economy · Armed Forces Wars Brazilian War of Independence (1822-1824) · Argentina-Brazil War (1825-1828) · Platine War (1851-1852) · Uruguayan War (1864-1865) · War of the Triple Alliance (1864-1870) Emperors Dom Pedro I · Dom Pedro II Statesmen José Bonifácio de Andrada · Honório Carneiro Leão, Marquis of Paraná · José Paranhos, Viscount of Rio Branco Military Luís Alves de Lima, Duke of Caxias · Manuel Luís Osório, Marquis of Erval  · Manuel Marques de Sousa, Count of Porto Alegre Abolitionists Isabel, Princess Imperial of Brazil  · André Rebouças  · Joaquim Nabuco