| 词条 | Draft:Second reign | ||||||
| 释义 |
The Second Reign is a period of the history of Brazil inherent to the Empire of Brazil, which comprises 49 years, beginning with the end of the regency period on July 23, 1840, with the declaration of majority of Pedro de Alcântara (The Emperor), and having it's ending on November 15, 1889, when the current parliamentary constitutional monarchy was overthrown by a coup that started the Republic of Brazil. The Second Reign was a time of great cultural progress and of great significance for Brazil, with the growth and consolidation of the Brazilian nation as an independent country, and as an important member among the American nations. At this time the solidification of the Brazilian army and the Brasilian navy was noted, culminating in the War of Paraguay in 1865, and profound changes in the social sphere, such as the gradual liberation of black slaves and the encouragement of European immigration in Brazil to join the Brazilian labor force. During this period occurred the expansion of the urbanization of large cities and the large-scale construction of the railways was carried out, with a view to mobilizing more efficient flows of consumer goods and interiorization of the country; in addition to the introduction of electric telegraphs, lines of steamships and, in 1877, the acquisition of the first telephones. The second half of the XIX century was marked by an incipient Brazilian modernization based on three pillars: the coffee economy in the southeast, the end of the slave trade and the gradual extinction of slavery, and the encouragement of industry. It is historically incorrect to refer to this period as a "second empire," since Brazil had a single continuous imperial period, divided into first and second reigns, and separated by a period of 9 (nine) years known as regency period, when there were numerous revolts in the provinces (the most troubled period in Brazilian history). Majority of Dom Pedro IITrina Regency and Una RegencyThe Provisional Trina Regency was convened on July 17, 1831, and had a representative of the three major political strands in the country: the Liberals (Senator Campos Vergueiro), the Conservatives (José Joaquim Carneiro de Campos) and the military (General Francisco de Lima and Silva, the Chico Regency). They would be responsible for holding elections for the choice of the Permanent Trina Regency. The three elected were Bráulio Muniz, Costa Carvalho, and the General Francisco de Lima e Silva himself. They ruled the country for 3 years. In the meantime Justice Minister Padre Diogo Feijó obtained sufficient political influence to, in 1834, create the Additional Act, which made the Trina Regency the Una Regency - that is, one regent only. He was elected as Uno regent in democratic elections. End of the RegencyRegent Feijó proved to be democratic and, in a sense, federalist, since he created Provincial Legislative Assemblies to give greater autonomy to the Brazilian provinces - decentralization. In addition, he gave the city of Rio de Janeiro the status of a neutral municipality. But by not being able to control the popular revolts, he was removed. In his place was Pedro de Araújo Lima, Marquis of Olinda, a more centralizing and less liberal politician. It was in his regency that the declaration of the majority of Pedro II was given. By 1840, "they had lost all faith in their ability to govern the country on their own. They accepted D. Pedro II as a figure of authority, whose presence was indispensable for the survival of the country." Some of these politicians (who would form the Conservative Party in 1840) believed that a neutral figure was needed, which could be above political factions and petty interests to address moderate discontent and disputes. They imagined an emperor who would be more dependent on the legislature than the constitutional monarch imagined by Dom Pedro I, but with more powers than had been defended at the beginning of the regency by his rivals (who later formed the Liberal Party). The liberals, however, managed to pass an initiative to anticipate the age of D. Pedro II from 18 to 14 years. The emperor was declared fit to rule in July 1840. "Inverse" parliamentaryism and first yearsAlves Branco ''Tariff''On August 12, 1844, the tariff policy was implemented which is known by its name (Tarifa Alves Branco), increasing customs rates to 30% on imported products without similar national, and 60% on products with similar national. This measure covered about 3,000 imported items, sparking lively protests not only from British businessmen affected by this measure, but also from importers in Brazil and from the wealthier classes, who began to pay more for the imported items on which they depended. Although the objective of the Alves Branco Tariff was only to generate more resources for the Government, the measure ended up favoring the growth of new national economic activities. This increase lasted until the mid-1860s, when the imperial government, pressured by the exporting groups, promoted a reduction in tariffs. Its objective was to reduce the Brazilian fiscal deficit, caused mainly by the Cisplatina War. Creation of parliamentarismIn 1847, Emperor Dom Pedro II created the Council of Ministers, an organ that would advise the emperor to direct Brazil, to some extent mirrored in British parliamentarism, but the hierarchy of British classical parliamentarism and Brazilian parliamentarism were reversed, hence the name ''inverse parliamentarism". In 1847, the post of president of the Council of Ministers was created (basically the post of prime minister), who would be the head of the ministry, was in charge of organizing the Cabinet of Government. Thus, instead of appointing all the ministers, the emperor only appointed the President of the Brazilian Council, and the prime minister chose the other members of the Ministry, removing an element of political wear from the emperor, without diminishing his authority. British parliamentary modelIn England, the Crown, based on the majority of Parliament and on whom they advise, chooses the prime minister. After this, the parliament approves or not the decision of the crown. He will be the country's head of government, directing and managing England. As the prime minister is an elected member of parliament, he must account for his actions to the body which, if he chooses, can remove the prime minister from his post by summoning another. Or even the crown, which has the same power to remove the prime minister. Brazilian parliamentary modelIn Brazil, the emperor was the maximum power, accumulating functions of head of state and government, until the 1840s when Dom Pedro II decreed that the emperor no longer had the two powers, but only the Moderator power. The executive power would be in charge of the President of the Council of Ministers, chosen by the Emperor. The position of president of the Council is equivalent to that of prime minister, post created in 1847, by decree 523 of July 20, and that existed until the coup that began the Republic. The President of the Council chose the Cabinet, that is, the ministers who formed the Council of Ministers. Finally, he received the approval of parliament or not. What happened a lot in Brazil and in the rest of the world was that parliament often did not approve the decision of the Head of State, and this was forced to dissolve the parliament (both in Parliamentary Monarchies and in Parliamentary Republics of the time). Spain and France even came to use the army to placate the people at the time of dissolving the parliament. In Brazil, it was customary for the people to agree with the emperor's decision. England was an exception at the time, but mainly because of the House of Lords, which was all controlled by the Crown. Although the Brazilian parliamentary model did not seem very democratic, it was quite democratic for its time. The emperor possessed many powers, being this custom of the time and in several localities of the world, mainly in England. Dom Pedro II managed to create an efficient machine for Brazil's leadership, based on the exchange of favors, a fact that may be considered admissible in politics, but that made the Monarchy last only while the support of its economic elite lasted. As the agrarian elite held the power of Brazil in the nineteenth century, Dom Pedro II always ruled by allying with them, performing favors (such as building railways, dams, acquisition of machinery, etc.) in exchange for the structure Pedro II needed to keep in power. Thus Dom Pedro II succeeded, over the 49 years of his administration, to deal with a stable and, in a certain point of view, prosperous. The Conservative and Liberal partiesTwo important political parties were also consolidated: the Liberal (a defender of a strong local power with autonomy of the provinces) and the Conservative (defender of the strengthening of the central power), both representatives of the rural proprietors. Foreign policy was to be a priority for D. Pedro II, aiming at avoiding the strengthening of Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay, seeking the balance of the Region of Prata. Pedro II intervened, politically or militarily, in the neighbors of the Southern Cone region whenever he felt strategic importance for the interests of Brazil. The Conservatives preached a political system where government authorities should act impartially guaranteeing the freedom of all citizens. They advocated centralized government and wanted progress achievements. This party became known in the 1840s by the name of "Saquarema" of the name of the municipality of Fluminense where the agricultural properties of one of its main leaders, José Rodrigues Torres, Visconde de Itaboraí were located. The Liberals advocated the liberation of the provinces, with a better parliamentary government, with the abdication of moderating power, of the life of the senate, and still wanted the abolition of slavery and the biennial election of the deputies. The Liberals were called "Luzias", name derived from the Vila Santa Luzia of Rio das Velhas, in Minas Gerais, where they fought the battle in which the liberal revolt of Minas Gerais of 1842 was choked by General Luís Aves de Lima e Silva, at the time Baron of Caxias. The two parties were not respected nor imposed public opinion, each had its own Press Office which used to attack the adversary. Both were created during the regency period (Conservative in 1836 and Liberal in 1831), but they reached the apogee of his fame during the second reign, with the Emperor remaining neutral between the two, while always vigilant, advising the conciliation of his ideas . Poder Moderador (The Moderating Power)The Moderating Power was a legal device present in the first Brazilian constitution (Article 98 of the Constitution of 1824), granted by the emperor Dom Pedro I in March 1824, which was based on the political ideals of Benjamim Constant (1767-1830) on a power neutral, able to adjust and regulate the other three classic powers: Executive, Legislative and Judiciary. Moderating power was the key to the political organization of the Empire and was initially considered an authoritarian and centralizing mechanism, causing revolts in some provinces during the regency. Although the moderating power has spread in Brazil from Constant, it is important to emphasize that the concept adopted here was distinct from that expressed in the book Cours de Politique Constitutionelle. On the basis of Montesquieu's theory of the system of English parliamentarism and the division of the three powers, Constant argued that there should be in the constitutional monarchy a neutral or moderating power that was not subject to political partisan dispute and exercised by the king. According to him, the moderating power was an important resource for moments of crisis, because it should be a conciliatory element of the conflicts between the other powers. The division of the powers instituted in the constitution of 1824 was quadripartite, that means that it was divided in four theoretically equal powers. The Moderating Power was exercised solely by the Emperor and had full autonomy over the other three powers. The definition of this power is described in Article 98 of the 1824 Constitution which reads as follows: "The Moderating Power is the key to every political organization, and it is privately delegated to the emperor, as Supreme Chief of the Nation, and its First Representative, to ceaselessly watch over the maintenance of Independence, balance, and harmony of the most Political Powers." In other words, the moderating power would serve as an element of brake and counterweight to ensure the harmonization of other powers to the welfare of the nation. Consolidation and military campaignsEnd of the Farroupilha RevolutionThe Farroupilha Revolution still prevailed in southern Brazil when Dom Pedro II took the throne. The Revolution took on frightening proportions, and was about to gain its independence from the rest of the country, such as the Cisplatina province (now known as Uruguay). In order to prevent this, Pedro II appointed as chief commander of the Army, Luís Alves de Lima e Silva, Barão de Caxias - who had previously suppressed the revolts in Minas Gerais and São Paulo. Besides the leadership in the Army, the Baron was awarded the title of President of the province of Rio Grande do Sul. Even though he was free to act with violence against the gauchos (habitants of Rio Grande do Sul), Caxias, in an intelligent attitude, used diplomacy, negotiating with leaders and making patriotic manifests to the insurgents. On several occasions he mentioned that their enemy was not Pedro II and the Brazilians, but Manuel Oribe and Juan Manuel de Rosas, the respective presidents of Uruguay and Argentina. These sought the union of the two republics, which would create a very powerful state in the Southern Cone. Negotiations and revolts came to an end in 1845, when the Treaty of Poncho Verde was signed. The Baron of Caxias was named "Peacemaker of Brazil" and received the title of Count. Praieira RevolutionGlobally, it entered the context of the liberal, socialist and nationalist revolutions that swept Europe in this period of the nineteenth century, including the Revolution of 1848 in France that promoted the extinction of absolutism in the country. At the local level it was influenced by the liberal ideas of those who complained of the lack of provincial autonomy, being marked by the repudiation to the monarchy, with manifestations in favor of the political independence, of the republic and by a radical reformism. The Praieira Revolution, also known as the "Praieira Insurrection", "Praieira Revolt" or simply "Praieira", was a liberal and separatist movement that broke out during the Second Reign in the province of Pernambuco between 1848 and 1850. The last provincial revolts is linked to the political-party struggles that marked the Regulative Period and the beginning of the Second Reign. Its defeat represented a demonstration of strength of the government of Pedro II of Brazil. In addition to discontent with the imperial government, a large part of the Pernambuco population was dissatisfied with the concentration of land and political power in the province, the most important in the Northeast. It was in this context that the Praia Party emerged, that was created to oppose the Liberal Party and the Conservative Party, both dominated by two powerful families who were making political agreements among themselves. There were a series of disputes over power, until, on November 7, 1848, the armed struggle began. In Olinda, the prairie leaders launched the "Manifesto to the World", and began to fight against the troops of the imperial government, who intervened and put an end to the greatest and last insurrection in the Second Reign. Christ IssueAntecedentsBill Aberdeen's application for the abolition of the Slave Trade Suppression Act of August 8, 1845, and the approval of the Eusébio de Queirós Act (September 4, 1850) designed to curb the slave trade to Brazil, have resulted in the practice of an intensification of trade and the growth of anti-British sentiment in Brazil. Although the conservative leader Eusébio de Queirós had argued before the legislators the necessity of taking for themselves the decision to end trafficking and thus preserve the image of a sovereign nation, the role of Great Britain was not hidden from public opinion. Although with the treaty the tensions between the two countries had diminished the root of the slave trade (or rather reduction), the perception of the agreement as a national humiliation would influence future events. In 1861, the British merchant Prince of Wales shipwrecked off the coast of Rio Grande do Sul. Much of the cargo shipped with carbon, ceramics, textiles, olive oil and wine was looted. The British ambassador demanded that Brazil pay the indemnity. In 1862, 3 british were arrested for drunkenness in Rio de Janeiro, then capital of Brazil. Upon being arrested, they were identified as British sailors and, because of the relationship between England and Brazil, the sailors were released. Even so, the English ambassador to Brazil, William Dougal Christie, demanded that the Empire indemnify England for the embarrassing arrest of the English ship Prince of Wales, looted near the province of Rio Grande do Sul in 1861, the dismissal of the police officers who detained British seamen and an officiaw apwause of de emperor to de British crown. The following year, as Brazil had not given in to the pressures, British ships blocked the port of Rio de Janeiro and seized five anchored ships. Dom Pedro II, in agreement with the popular pressure, tried a diplomatic exit, calling to the king Leopold I of Belgium to conduct an impartial arbitration. Leopold I favored Brazil and, as England refused to apologize, the emperor severed diplomatic relations with England in the same year of 1863. England only apologized in 1865, when it showed support to Brazil in the War of Paraguay, resuming the diplomatic relations. The victory of the government in the dispute ended up strengthening the image of Brazil abroad, because the country was still 40 years old, and feared not to have recognition with the European countries. The other countries in South America had similar problems. Coffee Economy and ImmigrationDuring the First Reign the great agrarian elite (barões da cana (barons of sugarcane)) of Brazil was concentrated in the Northeast. But, at the same time, coffee began to be introduced in Baixada Fluminense and in Vale do Paraíba, and began to make a rapid success in the 19th century. With the end of the Brazilian gold era, the coffee pioneers realized that it was a highly profitable investment, as the region's land was very cheap (sometimes free), the labor force was slave and, after being planted, the coffee was for twenty years. The international consumer market was also prosperous, and coffee sales were almost certain. Thus, in a few years a new elite began to emerge in southeastern Brazil. The coffee elite, in a short time, became more powerful and richer than the Northeastern elite. The development of international trade based on the export of coffee was due to external and internal factors. Among the external factors, we highlight the growth of the international demand for Brazilian coffee, as a result of the increase in the standard of living of the North American and European population, which stimulated an increase in consumption levels; the industrialization of the United States and Europe, which needed raw materials for their processing industries; the technical improvement, which benefited international trade, both by means of transportation and in the new organization of the mercantile and financial sectors. And, above all, the great moment that the end of the nineteenth century gave to international trade, through economic liberalism, which gave all countries the opportunity to trade. Internally, what most favored economic growth was the solution of the labor problem through European immigration; the expansion of credit through bank reform, which provided resources for the formation of new coffee plantations; and the expansion of the rail networks in São Paulo, which reduced the cost of transportation to the owners of the new plantations located in the interior of São Paulo. In addition, the development of the rail network was part of one of the major consequences of the country's economic growth, which was the diversification of economic activities. Diversification, on the other hand, stimulated urbanization, since all commercial activity, the first one induced by the expansion of coffee, was concentrated in the port cities. Um problema da plantação do café é a situação do solo após o fim da vida útil do cafezal. Uma vez finda essa vida útil, o solo fica muito pobre, e inútil para a replantagem. Desse modo, os cafeicultores eram obrigados a abandonar terras, para encontrar novas para sua plantação. Assim, em alguns anos, os cafeicultores passaram a migrar para o oeste da província de São Paulo. Em poucos anos, o oeste paulistano vivia em função do café, e o governo imperial também, graças à alta taxa que era cobrada sobre o café. On the other hand, coffee had relations with the industry, that is, part of the profits generated in the production of coffee was also used in the assembly of factories. Production had fallen due to the Bill Aberdeen Act (slave trade ban). However, Brazil continued to export the product to the British. The Eusébio de Queirós Act of 1850, which ended the slave trade in Brazil, brought development to industries. The process, which had already begun with the repeal of the Law on the Prohibition of Manufactures - dating from 1785, and one of the fuses for the outbreak of the Inconfidência Mineira (an unsuccessful separatist movement in Minas Gerais) -, when the royal family arrived in Brazil, improved, since at that moment , the high investments made in the purchase of slaves were directed toward the mechanization of industry and payment of wages. Thus, we can say that the Brazilian industry begins effectively with the investments made by the great slaveowners. Before the creation of the law, and even with the economic opening of 1822, the business manifestations were small, and it is not possible to speak of a Brazilian industrialization. From the 1870s, the Brazilian economic structure underwent major changes, which reflected on existing social and political relations. Progressively, black slave labor was loosing room for immigrant wage labor in Brazilian agricultural crops. Coffee was consolidating as the main Brazilian product for export, provoking a wave of economic growth that had never appeared in independent Brazil. European immigration contributed to the urbanization of Brazilian society, and together with the salaried labor, led to the emergence of an incipient domestic market for popular consumer goods in the country, which eventually led to the emergence of the first industrial units in Brazil . In short, capitalism was implanted in Brazilian socioeconomic structures, surpassing the old mercantile-slave system. The transformations in the Brazilian productive structure began with the accumulation of capital provided by the international coffee trade, allowing reinvestment of the profits obtained with the commercialization in the productive sector itself, as well as the substitution of slave labor for the wage labor in productive activities, motivated, among other factors, by the end of the slave trade in the Atlantic Ocean and by international pressure against slave exploitation in Brazil. The salary was given from the introduction of European emigrant labor in the productive activities of the country, thus creating a national market for consumer goods. On the other hand, since not all European immigrants in Brazil were engaged in coffee plantations, dedicating themselves to commercial activities, services and handicrafts, there was room for the process of urbanization of Brazilian society, especially in the Southeast such as the creation of commercial banks in the country. All these factors, as well as the imperial public investments in infrastructure, mainly in railroads and highways in the central region of the country (São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais), were decisive for the emergence of the first industries in the country. Slavery IssueInternational PressureSince the end of the eighteenth century, Europe has undergone reforms in terms of individual freedoms and labor relations (see Industrial Revolution) and, by extension, the end of slavery. England was the country that most pressured Brazil. In agreements signed in 1810 and later as a clause to recognize Brazil's independence, England called for the abolition of slavery in the country in the medium term. But until Dom Pedro II came to the throne, nothing effective had been done. With the signing of the Alves Branco tariff (1844), which increased rates on imports and exports, the British crown decided to react by signing the Bill Aberdeen Act. This law allowed British ships to seize slave ships crossing the Atlantic. In fact, several slave ships were boarded. The British came to invade territorial waters and sometimes landed in Brazilian lands. Dom Pedro II found himself in a delicate situation. Either he took a stand against slavery or went to war against England. Personally, the emperor was an abolitionist declared, facing slavery as a "national shame." Dom Pedro II in 1850 threatened to abdicate the throne if the General Assembly did not declare illegal the slave trade in the Atlantic. In the same year, when the law of repression of the slave trade was discussed, and the Emperor was shown the dangers to which the law would expose the throne, D. Pedro II, then 25 years old, replied with energy: "I prefer to lose the crown to tolerate the continuation of the slave trade ". And so, in 1850, the Eusébio de Queirós law was approved by the Minister of Justice Eusébio de Queirós, which prohibited the slave trade in Brazil. With the new law, the situation in Brazil changes, because it becomes very difficult to acquire slave labor. Thus, the price to buy slaves from other latifundia becomes very high, and the barons who feel the most are the coffee barons in the southeast. As their coffee plantations were expanding, they needed more slaves to continue their production. Thus, they acquired thousands of slaves from sugarcane producers in the northeast. The Emperor Dom Pedro II wished for an end to slavery gradually to little impact the national economy and not cause uprisings. He consciously ignored the growing political prejudice to his image and to the monarchy as a result of his support for slavery, since the figure of the monarch needed to be neutral in any matter. The Emperor had no constitutional authority to directly intervene and put an end to slavery, and opponents often said that "abolition was his personal desire and not the desire of the nation". Vale do ParaíbaCoffee was introduced in Brazil in 1717, but its production only became important at the beginning of the nineteenth century, having as its main cause the decline of the production of gold, where the attention of the economy of the colony was directed. Coffee was the economic-financial recovery factor of the country: it reinstated the Brazilian economy, essentially agricultural, in the expanding sectors of the world market. In addition to the European markets, Brazilian coffee begins to invade the North American market, making it the main consumer of Brazil in this century. By 1870, coffee accounted for 56% of exports, reaching 61% in the 1880s. The organization of coffee farms in the Paraíba Valley and Minas Gerais was confronted with the lack of labor. The expansion of the coffee plantations increased the need for workers in such a way that it was necessary to buy slaves from abroad, although the British, on whom the Empire of Brazil depended economically, exerted pressure to eliminate the slave trade. In the face of so many unfulfilled promises in connection with the extinction of traffic, the British decreed Bill Aberdeen, a decree by which England gave herself the right to imprison any slave ship and to prosecute the smugglers. This decree, besides not diminishing the slave trade, increased its price considerably. Finally, in 1850, it was yielded to the English pressures and was promulgated theLaw Eusébio de Queirós, extinguishing definitively the traffic. The solution to the lack of labor in the coffee plantations was based on the encouragement of immigration. The currency from coffee, the main product of the economy, made it possible to pay the financing of government works and later in the industrial sector. From 1850, the empire achieved budgetary balance and exchange rate stability. Capital was accumulated, and large administrative works were carried out. In a short time, debts forced the immigrant to submit to a regime of semi-slavery. In 1857, the settlers of the Ibicaba Farm revolted, causing the German authorities to prohibit immigration to Brazil. Failing the partnership system, farmers began to pay either a fixed price per bushel worked, or a fixed monthly wage: wage labor was introduced into the country. With the implementation of the coffee economy on capitalist bases, a new ruling class emerged: the coffee bourgeoisie. Coffee-related landowners commanded all sectors of the economy, which was not the case with sugar mills, where the owners only took care of the production, with commercialization and the financial sector in charge of other sectors. The situation of the coffee eliteAlthough the importation of slaves from the northeast had eased in the 1860s, the situation of the coffee barons was decadent. The idea of adopting wage labor was the only way out, and it was even imagined where the workforce would come from: the Europeans experienced new internal conflicts in the late nineteenth century, such as the unification wars of Italy and Germany. The problem was that, because of the slave rule, Brazil chased away most of the immigrant candidates (who preferred other countries, such as the United States). Even so, the government did not take further measures for abolition. This was due to the current favors policy in the country. A large part of the Liberal and Conservative parties, the National Congress and other government agencies had links with the Northeastern elite, which strongly defended the maintenance of slavery in the country. The Empire tried to soften the internal and external pressure, signing two laws: the Law of the Free Womb (1871) and the Law of Sexagenarian (1885). It was at this time that the Empire began to finance the immigration of Europeans to agriculture in Brazil. Many Italians went to the state of São Paulo, tending coffee. Germans, Poles, and Italians, too, immigrated to the south to found colonies. And, at the beginning of the XX century, already in the Republic, began the immigration of Japanese. Although the two laws prior to the Golden Law can be considered flimsy, one must consider the conditions of society at the time. Both laws were promulgated under intense criticism from parliamentarians. The Golden LawIn 1823, slaves made up 29% of the Brazilian population, but this percentage fell to 15.2% in 1872 and approximately 5% in 1888. The abolition of slavery was a sensitive issue in Brazil, since slaves were used by all, rich to the poorest. And the abolitionist movement gained more and more strength in a society accustomed to the 'normality' of slavery. Thus, the daughter of the Emperor and heir to the throne, Princess Isabel, as regent, signed on May 13, 1888, the Golden Law, which declared slavery to be extinguished in Brazil and repealed any other law that said otherwise. Even with the Golden Law, many of the slaves continued to have no work because they were considered vandals. However, since 2006, unpublished letters from Princess Isabel have been released that reveal their intentions, should there be a third reign, to promote the indemnification of the former slaves, a broad agrarian reform for the distribution of land to newly freed blacks, besides the suffrage female. The Princess was awarded the Golden Rose by Pope Leo XIII. João Mauricio Wanderley, Baron of Cotegipe, the only senator of the empire who voted against the abolition of slavery project, greeted the princess shortly after signing the Golden Law, prophesied: "You have just redeemed a race and lost the throne!" she having answered him: "A thousand thrones had, a thousand thrones I would give to liberate the slaves of Brazil!". Extending the Abolition of SlaveryBrazil was a constitutional monarchy, and as such, the emperor did not have enough constitutional powers to intervene and extinguish slavery in the country. During the reign of Dom Pedro II, he and his family fought against the powerful coffee farmers for the abolition of slavery, through personal examples, for example, even in 1840, when he took the throne, the emperor freed all slaves who he had inherited. He needed to convince politicians of the importance of abolition, that is, he would have to use all his efforts to convince, influence and gain support among politicians to reach his goal. Slavery was gradually extinguished in the country to little shake the national economic structure and not cause uprisings. In the past Dom Pedro I was similarly against slavery (having once declared, "I know that my blood is the same color as that of blacks"), and he held the power to declare the extinction of slavery still in 1823, during the constituent that structured the constitution of 1824. However, Jose Bonifacio de Andrada warned him that if the slaves were suddenly released, there could be a revolutionary rupture throughout the country capable of fragmenting the great Brazil into countless smaller republics, since at that time the tendency of some Brazilian provinces was separatism. In the 1860s Jose Bonifacio's fears were confirmed in the United States when Abraham Lincoln, in his efforts to extinguish slavery in the country, became one of the main factors that fostered the beginning of the American Civil War. T |
| “ | The Empire was not the ruin. It was conservation and progress. For half a century it maintained intact, tranquil and united colossal territory. The empire converted a backward and little populous country into great and strong nationality, the first South American power, considered and respected throughout the civilized world. The Empire effectively abolished the death penalty, extinguished slavery, gave Brazil immortal glories, internal peace, order, security, and, more than anything else, individual liberty as there has never been in any country. What are the faults or crimes of D. Pedro II, who in almost fifty years of his reign never persecuted anyone, never remembered an ingratitude, never avenged an injury, ready always to forgive, forget and benefit? What errors have been made that made him worthy of deposition and exile when, old and sick, he ought to count on the respect and veneration of his fellow citizens? The Brazilian Republic, as proclaimed, is a work of iniquity. The Republic has risen on the brocades of the mutinied soldiery, comes from a criminal origin, was carried out by means of an attack unprecedented in history and will have an ephemeral existence! | ” |
| Precedido por Período regencial | Segundo reinado 1840 — 1889 | Sucedido por Proclamação da República |
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