The Empire of Brazil was established in 1822, when Prince Pedro declared Brazil's independence from Portugal and was acclaimed its first emperor. Portuguese resistance continued until 1824, and Portugal recognized Brazilian independence in 1825. Pedro I promulgated the Brazilian Constitution of 1824 after dissolving the constituent assembly. His reign was marked by political conflict and the Cisplatine War, and he abdicated in 1831 in favor of his young son, Pedro II.
During Pedro II's minority, Brazil was governed by a regency characterized by political instability, regional rebellions, and struggles over the balance of power between the central and provincial governments. Pedro II was declared of age in 1840, and the rebellions of the following years were suppressed. The subsequent period saw the consolidation of the Conservative and Liberal parties, greater political stability and economic growth, infrastructure development, and increasing international influence. Brazil also became involved in conflicts in the Río de la Plata basin, culminating in the Paraguayan War.
The Empire remained prosperous into the 1880s, but support for the monarchy weakened. Measures against slavery, including the Law of Free Birth of 1871 and the complete abolition of slavery by the Golden Law in 1888, contributed to political divisions, while Pedro II became increasingly disengaged from government and discontent grew within the military. Republican and Positivist influence among army officers increased, and on 15 November 1889 a military coup overthrew the monarchy and established a republic.
Independence
The land now known as Brazil was claimed by the Portuguese for the first time on 23 April 1500 when the Navigator Pedro Álvares Cabral landed on its coast. Permanent settlement by the Portuguese followed in 1534, and for the next 300 years they slowly expanded into the territory to the west until they had established nearly all of the frontiers which constitute modern Brazil's borders. In 1808 the army of French Emperor Napoleon I invaded Portugal, forcing the Portuguese royal family into exile. They established themselves in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro, which thus became the unofficial seat of the entire Portuguese Empire. On 12 December 1815 Dom João VI, then regent on behalf of his incapacitated mother, Queen Dona Maria I, elevated Brazil from colony to Kingdom united with Portugal.
In 1820 the Constitutionalist Revolution erupted in Portugal. The movement, initiated by liberals, resulted in a meeting of the Cortes (English: Courts, a Constituent Assembly) which had as its goal to draft the kingdom's first constitution. The liberals demanded the return of João VI, who had been residing in Brazil since 1808 and who had succeeded his mother as King in 1816. He named his son and heir Prince Dom Pedro (later Pedro I of Brazil and Pedro IV of Portugal) as regent and departed for Europe on 26 April 1821. The Portuguese Cortes enacted decrees which subordinated the Brazilian provincial governments directly to Portugal, abolished all superior courts and administrative bodies created within Brazil since 1808 and recalled Prince Pedro to Portugal.
Two groups emerged, both of which feared that the Cortes was attempting to return Brazil to the status of a mere colony: the Luso-Brazilians (then called Constitutional Monarchists) and the Nativists (then called Federalists). Members of both were mainly Brazilian-born gentry, landowners, farmers and rich business men, with a minority who were immigrants from Portugal. The Luso-Brazilians were men who graduated in the University of Coimbra in Portugal before 1816 and were led by José Bonifácio de Andrada. They called for a constitutional and centralized monarchy to prevent the possibility of provincial secessionism. A few, such as Bonifácio, had further goals which included abolishing the slave trade and slavery itself, instituting land reform, and economic development of the country free of foreign loans. The Nativists, men without a higher education who had lived their entire lives in Brazil, desired exactly the opposite. They opposed the end of slavery, wanted a democracy in which only they were enfranchised, preservation of the existing social hierarchy, a monarch who would be a mere figurehead, and a weak federal organization in which the provinces would be ruled by the local interests without interference from the central government.
Both groups convinced the Prince not to return to Portugal, and he replied on 9 January 1822: "Since it is for the good of all and the general happiness of the Nation, I am willing. Tell the people that I am staying."" He appointed José Bonifácio, leader of the Luso-Brazilians, as head of the Cabinet on 18 January 1822. Pedro traveled to São Paulo province to secure its loyalty to the Brazilian cause, but he received a letter from Bonifácio as he was returning to Rio de Janeiro on 7 September. The prince learned that the Cortes had annulled the remaining powers he had retained. Pedro turned to his companions, who included his Guard of Honor and said: "Friends, the Portuguese Cortes wants to enslave and pursue us. From today onward our relations are broken. No ties unites us any longer". Pulling off his blue and white armband which symbolized Portugal, he continued: "Armbands off, soldiers. Hail to independence, to freedom and to the separation of Brazil". In a moment which would become the most iconic in Brazilian history, he unsheathed his sword and affirmed that "For my blood, my honor, my God, I swear to give Brazil freedom", and then cried out: "Independence or death!"
Pedro's decision to defy the Cortes was met with armed opposition across Brazil by troops loyal to Portugal. The ensuing Brazilian War of Independence spread throughout most of the country, with battles fought in the northern, northeastern, and southern regions. The last Portuguese soldiers surrendered on 8 March 1824, and independence was recognized by Portugal on 29 August 1825. In addition to those Brazilians and Portuguese who fought in the war, much of the credit for this victory is credited to Bonifácio's cabinet. It created an army and a navy practically out of nothing, greatly improved government finances, and unified the provinces under a single, cohesive leadership.
On 12 October 1822 Prince Pedro was acclaimed Dom Pedro I, Constitutional Emperor and Perpetual Defender of Brazil. It was concurrently the beginning of Pedro's reign and the birth of the independent Empire of Brazil. He was later crowned on 1 December. Meanwhile, Bonifácio initiated a judicial inquiry (which would become known as the "Bonifácia") against the Nativists, who were accused of conspiracy against the monarchy. Many were arrested.
Early years
The Constituent Assembly Before declaring independence, Pedro had called for holding Brazilian elections to select delegates to a Constituent and Legislative National Assembly. On 3 May 1823, the Constituent Assembly initiated work towards framing a political Constitution for the new nation. Its members, called national deputies, numbered 100 although only 88 actually sat on its sessions. They were indirectly elected by censitary suffrage and none belonged to political parties (these having yet to be formed). There were factions within it: the Luso-Brazilians, the Nativists, the Absolutists (then called Hunchbacks) and the Republicans. The latter were a few individuals with little influence or support. The remaining deputies were all monarchists. The Absolutists were mostly Portuguese who initially opposed Brazilian independence, although they accepted self-determination once it became inevitable. They opposed constitutional government and supported an absolutist form of monarchy. The Luso-Brazilians and Nativists supported a constitutional monarchy, with the former preferring a centralized government and the latter a loose federation.
The proposed Constitution was sent to the Assembly, where its members began working towards its promulgation. From the outset, the Nativists made attempts to overthrow the cabinet headed by Bonifácio at any cost. They wanted to avenge the persecution they had experienced during the "Bonifácia" in the previous year. The Absolutists, on the other hand, saw their interests threatened when Bonifácio issued two decrees which eliminated privileges reserved for those of Portuguese birth. Although holding many ideological differences, the Absolutists and the Nativists formed an alliance in order to remove their common enemy from power. Bonifácio himself had begun to lose support inside his own faction due to his arbitrary actions. A far more important factor which fueled the ever-increasing number of dissidents was reaction to the radical, if prescient, ideas he held—including the abolition of slavery. Eventually, disaffected members constituted a majority of the seats in the Assembly and signed a petition requesting the dismissal of Bonifácio's Cabinet. With the only alternative being to enter into an unnecessary conflict with the Assembly, Pedro I complied.
The emperor appointed a member of the Nativists to head a new cabinet. Consequently, the Luso-Brazilians who had supported Bonifácio were recast as the opposition and created newspapers to attack adversaries in the Cabinet and the Assembly. Minor incidents continued to aggravate the internal struggle for power. The members of the Assembly paid little attention to completing work on the Constitution and instead concentrated on taking down their enemies. After several months, they had only approved 24 articles out of a total of 272.
The Emperor signed a decree dissolving the Assembly (something that even Bonifácio believed was the monarch's prerogative). Six deputies, including Bonifácio, were banished to France. However, they received a pension from the Brazilian government as long as they lived there. The Nativists who were persecuted during the "Bonifácia" were pardoned. But the dissolution of the Assembly did not signify an end to the careers of other deputies: 33 would later become Senators, 28 would be appointed Ministers of State, 18 would serve as provincial presidents, 7 would sit as members of the first State Council, and 4 would act as regents.
On 13 November 1823, Pedro I placed the newly established Council of State in charge of writing a proposal for a new Constitution—which was finished in just fifteen days. The Council of State was formed by men from both the Luso-Brazilians and the Nativists. The Council used the partly completed project which had been crafted in the Constituent Assembly as a model for the new charter. After finishing it, a copy was sent to all Municipal Chambers for a decision as to whether or not to accept the new charter and present it to a new Constituent Assembly for endorsement. But some of the Municipal Chambers suggested that, instead, it should immediately be approved as the Brazil's Constitution. Once the idea had been aired, the vast majority of the Municipal Chambers, composed of councilmen elected by the Brazilian people as their local representatives, voted in favor of its instant adoption as the Constitution of the Empire. The first Brazilian Constitution was then promulgated and solemnly sworn in the Cathedral of Rio de Janeiro on 25 March 1824.
The liberal opposition