Empire of Brazil
This article is part of theHistory of Brazil Series. |
Colonial Brazil |
Empire of Brazil |
History of Brazil (1889-1930) |
History of Brazil (1930-1964) |
History of Brazil (1964-present) |
After its independence from Portuguese on September 7, 1822, Brazil became an independent monarchy, the Brazilian Empire, which lasted until the establishment of the Republican government on November 15, 1889.
The seeds of the Brazilian Empire may have been planted in 1808, when the French troops of Napoleon Bonaparte invaded Portugal, and king JoÃÂão VI, who was governing in place of his mother, Dona Maria I, ordered the transfer of the royal court to Brazil. The former colony then became part of the United Kingdom of Portugal and Algarve (1815), and obtained the right of having reppresentatives at the Portuguese Constitutional Court.
Flag of the Empire of Brazil
Pedro I abdicated in 1831, in favor of his 5-year old son, and went to Portugal to succeed his father as king Pedro IV of Portugal.
The coronation of Pedro II.
United Reign Period
The Empire of Brazil
Pedro I
After the Napoleonic menace was over, Joao VI returned to Portugal, and left his son and heir-apparent Pedro as regent. On September 7 of 1822, he declared the independence of Brazil from Portugal, and on October 12, 1822 he became its first Emperor, Pedro I of Brazil.
by Pedro Americo de Figueiredo, now at
the National Museum, Rio de Janeiro.Pedro II
Since Pedro I's son was only 5 years old at the time of his father's abdication, government was given to a succession of regents. In 1840 Pedro II ascended to the throne of his father, becoming the second and last Emperor of Brazil.The end of slavery
The most notable event during Pedro II's reign was the freeing of Brazil's numerous slaves. Princess Isabel of Brazil, regent of Brazil in the Emperor's absence, signed the Law of the Free Womb (Ventre Livre) that gave freedom for all children to be born of slave parents, on September 28 1871; and the Golden Law (Lei ÃÂÃÂurea), definitively abolishing slavery, on May 13 1888.The Constitutionalist Revolution
On November 15 1889, a military coup led by Marshall Deodoro da Fonseca deposed Pedro II and declared a provisional Republic, temporarily assuming the government of the country.
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Colonial Brazil
Empire of Brazil
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History of Brazil (1889-1930)