Multimedia Mania/abacus-multimedia-mania.iso/dp/0011/00119.txt

Text File | 1993-07-27 | 38KB | 613 lines

$Unique_ID{bob00119}
$Pretitle{}
$Title{Brazil
Chapter 1B.   The Transition to Independence}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{Jan Knippers Black}
$Affiliation{HQ, Department of the Army}
$Subject{brazil
brazilian
dom
pedro
war
emperor
government
portugal
british
empire
see
pictures
see
figures
}
$Date{1982}
$Log{}
Title:       Brazil
Book:        Brazil, A Country Study
Author:      Jan Knippers Black
Affiliation: HQ, Department of the Army
Date:        1982

Chapter 1B.   The Transition to Independence

     During the late eighteenth century there were several unrelated movements
in the direction of independence. Most of these events emerged from a specific
local grievance, but they all reflected in part the circulation in Brazil of
the ideas of the Enlightenment and of the American Revolution. In Portugal
itself, the Enlightenment gave rise to a reformist movement that influenced
the administration of the Marquis of Pombal, the king's first minister from
1750 to 1777. Pombal tried to give effect to some ideas of the Enlightenment
in his administration without relinquishing the Portuguese hold on Brazil or
reducing Portugal's income from Brazil. In fact, with the loss of most of its
possessions in Asia, the kingdom had come to depend more and more on revenue
from Brazil.

     Pombal's Enlightenment ideas showed most clearly in his religious policy.
He ended discrimination against New Christians and made any sentences passed
by the Inquisition contingent on confirmation by the monarch. He was
responsible for the expulsion of the Jesuits from Portugal and Brazil and the
other Portuguese colonies. He finally ended the system of captaincies, which
had not until then been totally abolished in Brazil. Pombal also tried to
promote trade by establishing trade monopolies.

     Although the ideas of the Enlightenment were certainly not consistent
with the traditional teachings of Roman Catholicism, they did have their
impact within the church. The scion of a wealthy landowning family near Rio
de Janeiro, Jose Joaquim da Cunha de Azeredo Coutinho, attended the University
of Coimbra, which had just been reorganized by Pombal along new lines
reflecting Enlightenment ideas. Returning to Brazil as a bishop, Coutinho
organized the seminary of Olinda in Bahia, which taught mathematics and
mineralogy in addition to more traditional subjects. Coutinho's writings on
economics, influenced by the free-trade ideas of Adam Smith then beginning to
gain attention, were influential in promoting Brazilian opposition to the
trade monopolies established by the Portuguese.

The Flight of the Royal Family

     Napoleon's invasion of Spain began the train of events leading to the
independence of Spanish America from the motherland; with respect to Brazil,
the course of events was somewhat different. In 1806, after defeating the
armies of Prussia, Napoleon decreed the Continental System, a system of
economic blockade of Britain designed to produce its surrender. This put the
Portuguese in a difficult position. Portugal could hardly embargo trade with
Britain, on which its economic life depended, even if it could overlook the
centuries of alliance with Britain that had helped preserve its independence.
Nevertheless, Napoleon was triumphant in Europe, which would make it perilous
to defy his edicts. Under the circumstances Dom Joao, regent of Portugal
during his mother's mental disorder, chose an ambiguous and ultimately
unviable policy, which was to go through the motions of accepting the
Continental System while concluding a secret agreement with the British. This
agreement also provided that in the event of an invasion of Portugal, Britain
would provide naval protection for the regent and his family, who would flee
to Brazil. In fact, the terms of the treaty became known, Napoleon invaded,
and the royal family set sail.

     The arrival of the royal family in Brazil in 1808, first in Salvador,
then at Rio, permanently changed the relationship between Brazil and Portugal.
From then on, the Brazilian tail wagged the Portuguese dog, as it were. The
presence of the royal family distinguished Brazil from the neighboring
Spanish colonies; it also determined that independence, when it came, would be
peaceful, and the government of the independent state would represent
continuity and stability instead of anarchy and civil war, as was the case in
most of the newly independent Spanish-speaking republics.

Relations with Britain

     One of Dom Joao's first acts in Brazil was to decree the opening of
Brazilian ports to the trade of all nations not at war with the Portuguese
crown, thus honoring his commitment to Britain and at the same time preparing
the ground for the greater prosperity of the colony. Portuguese goods were
to be assessed 16 percent tariff ad valorem; the goods of other countries,
24 percent. Dom Joao also revoked his mother's decree against the development
of manufacturing in Brazil. Brazil's dependence on the protection of the
British fleet was now so absolute that the British secured further treaties
that implied that Brazil would continue to import manufactured goods from
Britain rather than develop its own industry.

     In 1810 the Treaty of Commerce and Navigation reduced the tariffs
applicable on goods from Britain to 15 percent ad valorem-slightly less than
goods coming from Portugal itself. British subjects in Brazil were guaranteed
religious liberty and extraterritorial treatment; that is, if charged with
crimes they were tried before specially appointed British judges. The Treaty
of Alliance and Friendship, signed in the same year, guaranteed that the
Inquisition would never be reestablished in Brazil and committed Brazil to the
gradual abandonment of the slave trade.

The Approach of Independence

     The modified situation was formally recognized in February 1815, when
Brazil's status was changed for that of a colony to that of an equal partner
in the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil, and Algarve. The change of status
made it reasonable for Dom Joao to remain in Brazil rather than to return to
Portugal. Upon the death of his mother in 1816, Dom Joao became Joao VI, but
he continued for a time to rule the empire from Rio. He was forced to return
to Portugal in 1821, however, when political disturbances broke out there;
liberals were demanding a progressive constitution. Before leaving Brazil, Dom
Joao reportedly told his son, Dom Pedro (who became Dom Pedro I), that should
a Brazilian movement for independence develop, he was to take its leadership
rather than lose his position by opposing it. Pedro was left in Rio as regent.

     In Portugal, meanwhile, the newly summoned parliament, the Cortes,
despite its liberal complexion, attempted to reestablish Portuguese hegemony
over Brazil. When the Cortes ordered Pedro to return to Portugal, he refused
and instead, on September 7,1822, proclaimed Brazilian independence. On
December 1, 1822, he was crowned emperor of Brazil. The establishment of an
empire echoed the recent Napoleonic interlude (Napoleon was actually related
to Dom Pedro by marriage), and it seemed appropriate for a new departure that
at the same time retained a politically conservative character.

Early Years of the Empire

     The separation from Portugal was not altogether peaceful. On September 9,
1822, two days after Dom Pedro had announced that he would stay in Brazil, a
commander of the Portuguese garrison in Rio attempted to enforce the order for
Dom Pedro's return to Portugal. The Portuguese troops were defeated by
Brazilian forces, however. Lord Cochrane, the Scot who had organized and
commanded the Chilean navy in its independence war, put together a Brazilian
fleet that became a critical factor in securing the surrender of Portuguese
garrisons at various points along the coast.

     Dom Pedro's major adviser was Jose Bonifacio de Andrada e Silva, who had
studied law at Coimbra and mining in other schools of Europe. He had been the
government official in charge of the regulation of mining activity for
Portugal at the time of the Napoleonic invasion. He subsequently fought in the
Portuguese resistance movement against the French, returning to Brazil in 1819
after an absence of 36 years. Jose Bonifacio, as he was known, also led the
conservative faction within the Grand Orient Masonic Lodge, a major political
force in Brazil.

     The liberal faction was led by Goncalves Ledo, a newspaper editor. He and
other liberals, some of whom would have preferred a republic to the monarchy,
proposed the adoption of a constitution that would limit royal power. Jose
Bonifacio regarded a strong monarchy as a guarantee of stability and
continuity, contrasting with the disorder that was developing in Spanish
America. Jose Bonifacio persuaded Dom Pedro to join the Masons; Pedro was
elected Grand Master of the Grand Orient Masonic Lodge, thereby strengthening
his position. Ledo attempted to bring pressure on Dom Pedro to guarantee the
adoption of a constitution that would circumscribe monarchic powers. Instead,
Pedro dissolved the Masonic lodges and deported the leadership; Ledo fled to
Buenos Aires.

     Nevertheless, Dom Pedro did summon a constituent assembly in May 1823,
but when it became apparent in November that the delegates intended to limit
his power, he sent troops to dissolve it. He had already forced the
resignation of Jose Bonifacio in July, Dom Pedro was now surrounded by
reactionary and pro-Portuguese ministers; nevertheless, he declined to return
Brazil to Portuguese authority when his father sent an emissary to invite him
to do so. Portugal recognized Brazil's independence in 1825. It had already
been recognized by the United States-the first country to do so-and by
Britain.

The New Constitution

     After the constitution had been approved by the municipal councils of
the country, it was proclaimed in effect on March 5, 1824. Although the
constitution did allow for an elected lower house of the legislature-the
Chamber of Deputies-it was clearly a conservative and absolutist document.
Elections were indirect: an electorate limited to those whose income was
above a certain level voted openly; that is, there was no secret ballot for
the electors at the local level, who in turn voted for provincial-level
electors. These provincial electors chose members of the Chamber of Deputies
and also proposed to the emperor names of candidates for the Senate, the upper
house. The emperor chose from among those names senators, who were to serve
for life. He also appointed for life members of the Council of State and
designated provincial presidents, the chief executive officers of each
province. Income qualifications were established for electors, deputies, and
senators.

     Although Roman Catholicism was declared the state religion, other sects
were tolerated. The emperor was to appoint bishops and veto papal decrees of
which he disapproved. The cabinet designated by the emperor constituted, under
his direction, the executive power, and the conventional distinction between
it and the legislative and judicial powers was established. The constitution
did innovate, by grouping the other attributes of the emperor's power in a
separate category, a so-called fourth branch of government, which was called
the "moderating power" (O Poder Moderador). This moderating power included the
emperor's right to appoint senators, to approve or disallow acts of the
legislature, and to appoint all officials.

The Emperor's Troubles

     Dissatisfaction with the new constitution and the appointed provincial
president, along with such other grievances as heavy taxes and submission of
the province to rule from Rio, led in July 1824 to revolt in Pernambuco. The
insurrection established the so-called Confederation of the Equator, which had
a republican constitution based on that of Colombia. Pernambuco was joined
immediately by the other northeastern provinces of Ceara, Rio Grande do Norte,
and Paraiba. The rebellion was put down by land and sea, however; the naval
forces were still under the command of Lord Cochrane. The rebel leaders fled,
except for a friar who was executed by a firing squad.

     The suppression of the revolt did nothing to help the popularity of the
emperor, which deteriorated steadily. He battled continuously with the Chamber
of Deputies over legislation and over control of the cabinet. He involved the
country in an unpopular war to try to retain control of Uruguay, which
ultimately became independent in 1828. He favored advisers and appointees born
in Portugal, and he continually intrigued over the succession to the
Portuguese throne. Moreover, the empress received a good deal of public
sympathy over the numerous infidelities of the emperor, which were widely
known. There was general dissatisfaction with the incompetent management of
the country's finances, and in 1830 the emperor was suspected of complicity in
the assassination of an opposition journalist. The growing disorder and
opposition led the emperor to try to assuage discontent by naming a cabinet
composed entirely of Brazilians, but he dismissed it after three weeks, thus
making his situation even more precarious. Finally, on April 7,1831, the
emperor, under pressure from aristocrats, popular agitators, and the military,
abdicated in favor of his five-year-old son, who was eventually to become
Pedro II.

Establishment of the Regency

     From 1831 to 1840 Brazil lived under a regency, and the period was one of
considerable political turmoil. Central authority was weak, and a series of
rebellions erupted. In general, these revolts were separatist in sentiment.
Separatism for some was also a nativist movement against continued Portuguese
influence. Difficult economic times, which attended a decline in exports, and
resentment of national taxation also contributed. These revolts were known as
the Cabanagem, which took place in the province of Para between 1835 and
1837; the Sabinada in the province of Bahia in 1837-38; the Balaiada in
Maranhao in 1838-41; and the most serious of all, the Farroupilha in Rio
Grande do Sul, which lasted from 1835 to 1845.

     This last war, the War of the Farrapos (ragamuffins), was influenced by
the fighting over the independence of Uruguay, which adjoined the province of
Rio Grande do Sul. The rebellious forces won a victory over the national
troops in 1838 and proclaimed the independent Republic of Piratini. In 1839 an
independent republic was also proclaimed in the neighboring province of Santa
Catarina. This revolt was finally suppressed by the son of the former regent,
General Francisco Lima e Silva; he proposed an amnesty and the incorporation
of rebel troops into the imperial army, terms that were accepted. The younger
Lima e Silva, who had also been instrumental in quelling the other revolts
against imperial authority, was named duke of Caxias and designated life
senator from Rio Grande do Sul.

     Affairs were hardly less chaotic in Rio de Janeiro than in the provinces.
Three political parties were active. The Restoration Party (Partido
Restaurador) was known as the Caramurus after the name of the leading
newspaper supporting that position. Caramuru, meaning "Man of Fire," had been
the name given to one of the degradados set ashore by the early explorers to
learn the language of the Indians; it was also the name of the epic poem
celebrating his exploits. The term was often applied to pro-Portuguese
politicians. This party espoused the return of Dom Pedro I, and it represented
Portuguese and major commercial interests.

     The Moderate Party (Partido Moderado) represented essentially the
provincial rural upper classes and supported Brazilian independence under the
emperor and with the maintenance of established institutions. The party's
major newspaper was A Aurora Fluminense, whose editor had taken the lead in
calling for the abdication of Pedro I.

     The third and most radical party, the Exalted Party (Partido Exaltado),
colloquially known as the Farroupilhas, preferred a federal republic to the
empire. Several newspapers also took this position. Most of the regents were
political moderates, but the popularly elected Chamber of Deputies tended to
be more radical and made a point of limiting the authority of the regents.
The Senate, however, was a center of restorationist sympathies. The more
revolutionary elements conspired continuously with military officers,
and several uprisings took place. In response, the regency government
organized a national guard that was politically a more reliable force. In
addition, a code of criminal law was adopted that strengthened local
authorities in the enforcement of the law.

Empire of Dom Pedro II

     In 1840 the contending political leaders agreed to advance the age at
which the heir-designate achieved maturity, and in 1841 the 15-year-old Dom
Pedro was crowned emperor; he reigned until 1889. To many people, his reign
was the Golden Age of Brazilian history. A man of intelligence, generosity,
and considerable learning, Dom Pedro chose to use judiciously the extensive
powers given the emperor by the constitution, bringing a special meaning to
the concept of "moderating power" that was fixed in the constitution. He
allowed full play to the parliamentary system, using his powers to ensure
that no single party dominated permanently at the expense of the others-or
at the expense of his own freedom of action. An imposing presence, 6 feet 4
inches in height, with a beard that soon turned white, he chose not to keep
his distance from his subjects but to be a frequent visitor to schools,
scientific meetings, hospitals, and museums. He was regarded with affection,
admiration, and indeed awe not only in Brazil but also in Europe and North
America, which he visited. Stability and prosperity in Brazil contrasted so
much with chaotic conditions in Spanish America that someone remarked that
the emperor in Brazil was the only real president in Latin America.

     The stability and well-being of the reign of Dom Pedro II were based
on a solid foundation of economic prosperity. Sugar exports increased as
European markets expanded because of population growth. Cotton experienced
a boom when supplies to Europe from the United States were interrupted by
the Civil War. The development of the vulcanization process made rubber an
important export. Tobacco, leather, and cacao exports grew throughout the
nineteenth century. But coffee was the major success story in Brazilian
exports. From 1850 on, Brazil contributed more than half of the world's
coffee supply, and coffee provided about half of Brazil's export income.
Exports increased from an annual average of 19,000 tons in the 1820s to
58,000 tons in the 1830s; 100,000 tons in the 1840s; and 158,000 tons in
the 1850s (see Growth and Structure of the Economy, ch. 3).

     After the abolition of the slave trade in 1850, it became clear that
the old slave-labor basis of the economy would have to change, and foreign
immigration was encouraged. European immigrants surged into the
coffee-producing areas, especially the province of Sao Paulo; 90,000 European
immigrants came to Sao Paulo in 1887, the last year before slavery was
abolished (see Immigrants of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, ch.2).
The domestic economy grew also. The development of the railroads and
telegraphs gave a powerful impetus to internal trade as well as to
exportation.

Problems of Foreign Policy

     The foreign policy of the empire was dominated by two main issues:
the slave trade and the balance of power in southern South America. In 1810
Brazil had already agreed to the British demand that the slave trade be
discontinued, but it had not complied, nor did it abide by the renewal of the
commitment in 1827. In 1844 the imposition of a new tariff took Brazil on a
protectionist path that prejudiced relations with Britain. The passage by the
British Parliament in 1845 of the Aberdeen Bill, whereby Britain committed
itself to putting down the slave trade, led to further tension until Brazil
renounced the slave trade in 1850. Relations with Britain continued to be
difficult. Disputes broke out over Brazilian salvage of a wrecked British
ship in 1861 and over British pretensions to extraterritoriality for their
sailors arrested on Brazilian soil. Brazil cut off diplomatic relations with
Britain between 1863 and 1865 as a result of one such incident; the British
had refused to accept an arbitration decision of the Belgian king, Leopold I,
that Britain should apologize to Brazil over reprisals taken in an
extraterritoriality case.

     In the Rio de la Plata area-Uruguay, Paraguay, and northeast
Argentina-the Brazilian government became involved in attempts to defend its
commerce in the region and to back up its citizens in the problems of cattle
rustling across the frontier. It may also have been the case that Brazil had
not given up completely on ideas of territorial expansion in the region.

     Uruguay was frequently in a state of civil war between the Blancos,
representing the more affluent social classes, and the more radical Colorado
Party. Fearful that the intervention of the Argentine dictator Juan Manuel
de Rosas on the side of the Blancos would lead to the extension of Argentine
influence in the area, in 1851 Brazil sent in troops under the command of
the Duke of Caxias to aid the Colorados. Allying themselves with General
Justo Jose de Urquiza, an Argentine military chief who opposed Rosas, the
Brazilian forces were successful in overthrowing the Blanco government and
installing the Colorados. The Brazilians, with British naval support, went
on to overthrow Rosas and help install Urquiza as the Argentine president.
In 1864 after irregular gaucho (see Glossary) forces from Rio Grande do Sul
had invaded Uruguay, supposedly in retaliation for Uruguayan raids against
gaucho ranches, Brazilian troops were sent in and again succeeded in
removing the Blanco government and imposing a pro-Brazilian Colorado one.
Matters did not rest there, however; the train of events was started that
led to the terrible Paraguayan war, or the War of the Triple Alliance
(1864-70).

The War of the Triple Alliance

     Foreign scholarship has generally accepted the Brazilian view of the
war, which is that it was the responsibility of the Paraguayan dictator
Francisco Solano Lopez. Lopez was believed to have been influenced by the
example of Napoleon III into thinking he could build a Paraguayan state
that would dominate the region. There is certainly plenty of support for
this view. He built armament factories, introduced military conscription,
and built an army of 80,000 the largest in the region (the Brazilian army
at that time had about 17,000 troops). According to the Brazilian history
books, Lopez intended to use this army to annex Uruguay, the Argentine
provinces of Corrientes and Entre Rios, and the Brazilian province of Rio
Grande do Sul and part of the province of Mato Grosso (see fig. 1).

     The Paraguayans, for whom Lopez is a great national hero, see things
rather differently. From the Paraguayan viewpoint, Lopez was concerned for
the maintenance of a balance of power in the region, especially between
Argentina and Brazil. He feared that without such a balance Brazil could
dominate Uruguay and eventually extinguish Paraguayan independence. The
first line of defense for Paraguay, from this point of view, was the
maintenance of an independent Uruguay. Accordingly, Lopez had guaranteed
Paraguayan support for the maintenance of Uruguayan independence to the
Blanco president of Uruguay, Atansio Cruz Aguirre. With pro-Colorado
governments in Brazil and Argentina at the time, the Blancos had nowhere to
turn but to Paraguay, and they encouraged Lopez' fears that Brazilian
intervention in Uruguay constituted a threat to Paraguayan independence as
well as to Uruguay's.

     Aguirre had come to power in March 1864; at the end of August, Paraguay
warned Brazil that it would consider any Brazilian occupation of Uruguayan
territory as a threat to its own integrity. Brazil nevertheless invaded and
removed Aguirre from the presidency of Uruguay, apparently after reaching an
understanding with President Bartolome Mitre of Argentina. This understanding
was formalized by the Treaty of the Triple Alliance, signed on May 1, 1865,
by the Brazilian and Argentine governments with the Uruguayan government that
had been installed by Brazilian troops. In a secret clause of the treaty,
Argentina and Brazil agreed to divide Paraguayan territory between them.

     By this time, however, Lopez had reacted to Brazil's failure to heed
his warning; he had captured a Brazilian ship and attacked the Brazilian
province of Mato Grosso, where he had been able to seize weapons from a
Brazilian arsenal. In order to fight in Uruguay, however, Lopez' troops had
to cross the Argentine province of Corrientes. Mitre refused to give his
permission, but the Paraguayan troops crossed anyway, not only precipitating
war against Argentina but also alienating the local caudillo of that region,
General Urquiza, who might otherwise have been persuaded to join Lopez
against Mitre. A British diplomatic agent secured a copy of the Treaty of
the Triple Alliance and had it published. Its provision for the seizure of
Paraguayan territory aroused much international sympathy for Paraguay.

     The Paraguayan forces attacking Rio Grande do Sul were defeated and
surrendered at Uruguainia, and the Paraguayan navy was defeated at the
Battle of Riachuelo. General Mitre was nominal commander of the faces of
the Triple Alliance, but the Brazilians soon sent Caxias, who effectively
became the field commander. The Paraguayans were again defeated, with great
loss of life, at the Battle of Tuiuti on May 24, 1866, one of the most costly
battles in human lives fought on American soil. The Paraguayans defeated
Brazilian forces in Mato Grosso, however, and domestic difficulties led to
the withdrawal of Argentine and Uruguayan troops, leaving the Brazilians to
fight on alone. Paraguay might have ended the war on the allies' terms
except that Dom Pedro insisted on Lopez' resignation and departure from the
country, which Lopez was unwilling to accept.

     The war continued, and Paraguay suffered terrible losses, until the
major Brazilian victory at the Battle of Humaita. Nevertheless, Lopez
fought on, drafting women and boys for his army, even after the allied
forces took Asuncion, the Paraguayan capital, in January 1869. Caxias
declared the war concluded and returned to Brazil. Lopez, however, continued
to fight until he was killed in March 1870 at Cerro Cora.

     The effects of the war on Brazil's government, quite apart from the
loss of life, were also disastrous. To finance the war the country had gone
into debt to European powers, which thereafter were able to exert pressure
on the government. The armed forces were strengthened and began to become
more involved in politics. The participation of ex-slaves in the army was
one of the factors undermining arguments for slavery. The demobilization of
soldiers after the war created problems of economic dislocation.

     The war was also the beginning of the end for the emperor. Although he
had initially believed that the war would be a constructive force in building
a sense of national unity, Dom Pedro aged visibly during the conflict.
Moreover, his personal standing deteriorated as his conduct of the war was
criticized. The military especially, which emerged from the war with more
personnel, greater prestige, and a newly acquired habit of meddling in
political questions, expressed increased dissatisfaction with the emperor's
management of affairs. The image of a gallant little Paraguay, fighting for
its national existence against the powerful slave-holding imperialists of
Brazil, led to a decline in Brazil's international prestige.

The Economy under the Later Empire

     The period was nevertheless a time of great economic growth, led by the
development of the coffee industry. Coffee was already the leading single
export at the time of the coronation of Dom Pedro II, constituting 43.8
percent of the country's exports by value during the decade 1831-40, with
sugar and cotton the runners-up. That remained approximately the situation
until the 1870s, when coffee became an even more important factor in the
country's exports, reaching the proportion of 61.5 percent by value for the
decade 1881-90. The country's growth was also stimulated by technical
advances in communications and transportation. Railroads, the telegraph and
the telephone, the adaptation of steam power and electricity to shipping and
manufacturing, electric lighting, and municipal tramways were the leading
sectors, financed by West European and North American investments. Banking
and insurance expanded to keep up with the new level of economic activity.
Mining and production of natural gas also prospered.

     The leading figure in the growth of the economy during this period was
Irineu Evangelista de Sousa, later Baron Maua, who went from railroads and
shipping into gas lighting, streetcars, and the construction of the first
transatlantic cable connection between Brazil and Western Europe, to banking,
including banking overseas. A self-made man of humble background, Maua's
dynamism and imagination were typically Brazilian in scope and
self-assertiveness. His meteoric career as entrepreneur came to an abrupt end,
however, when he overextended himself by expanding into banking in Uruguay and
Argentina and was unable to weather the world financial crisis of 1876.

The Slavery Question

     It was the abolition of slavery that finally brought the empire to an
end. Slavery had been under attack throughout the nineteenth century,
beginning with the Treaty of Alliance and Friendship with Britain in 1810,
in which Brazil had undertaken to end the slave trade. That promise and a
similar one in 1827 were not honored, nor were later decrees and laws. It
was not until 1845 when the British Parliament authorized British ships
to treat slave traders as pirates and bring them to trial in British
Admiralty courts that Brazil was galvanized into action. A large increase
in the slave trade, designed to bring the maximum number of slaves to the
country before the British could act, was the first reaction; in 1848
some 60,000 slaves were imported, a vast increase over previous years. In
1850, however, the government promulgated a law requiring ships sailing
to Africa to post bonds covering the value of the ship and its cargo,
which would be forfeited if the ship were found to be involved in the slave
trade. An 1854 law provided for severe fines and a system of police
enforcement of the law. The legislation proved effective in terminating the
slave trade.

     The abolition movement, which had always existed, became stronger,
concentrating all its efforts on total abolition. The emperor took a
favorable position and proposed in 1864 the provision enacted in 1871 as
the "law of free birth," under which children born to a slave would be
legally free except that they would owe an obligation to work for their
mother's master between the ages of eight and 21; alternatively, the
master could reject the child's labor and be indemnified by a cash payment
from the government. Meanwhile, some provinces had on their own decreed
the abolition of slavery, especially provinces that had few slaves or
whose economies were not dependent on slave labor. In 1885 a bill was
passed that freed slaves aged 60 or above, although they were expected
to work, albeit as free men, for their former owners for one subsequent
year. This was clearly only a palliative by which pro-slavery forces
hoped to postpone the day of reckoning.

     That day was not long in coming. In 1887 a governmental decree
prohibited the recovery of runaway slaves. Princess Isabel, acting as
regent while the emperor was on a European trip, asked a conservative
leader to form a new government that would submit a bill abolishing slavery.
The bill, the "Golden Law," which provided no compensation to slave owners,
easily passed both Senate and Chamber of Deputies and was signed by Isabel
on May 13, 1888. Ironically, like other antislavery laws, the abolition
bill had been passed under a conservative government. That fact-the
gradualness of the process that had seen a sequence of laws limiting slavery
over a period of years-and the fact that abolition had already taken place
elsewhere (including the United States) made the slave owners resign
themselves to the inevitability of the process, instead of attempting to
mount last-ditch resistance to it. About 700,000 slaves were freed.
Abolition alienated the planters from the empire and ensured that the
empire would have no defenders when the time came for its own abolition.

The End of the Empire

     The imperial system was approaching a crisis phase. In addition to the
problems already described, further difficulty was created by a papal bull
issued in 1864 that prohibited Catholics from belonging to Masonic lodges.
This ruling, based on the anticlericalism of European Masonic lodges, had
little immediate relevance to Brazil. Nevertheless, enforcement of the
prohibition became an issue of principle, and various bishops closed
religious orders that refused to exclude the Masons. The bishops persisted
in this attitude even though the emperor had refused to authorize the
validity of the papal bull, which was his right under the constitution.
For their defiance of the government, two bishops were sentenced to four
years in prison at hard labor. Although Isabel, acting on the advice of the
Duke of Caxias, pardoned them, the episode left a legacy of bad feeling
between the empire and the church and helped to alienate devout Catholics from
the empire.

     Military officers likewise became alienated from the imperial systems.
The war had expanded the size of the army and had made it an important factor
in national life. Military commanders had become prestigious public figures.
Moreover, the army had been politicized during the course of the campaign for
the abolition of slavery, and it had also been permeated by the progressive
social and political ideas of the philosophy of positivism, then much in
fashion. One of the leading positivist thinkers in Brazil was an instructor
at the Military Academy, Benjamin Constant Botelho de Magalhaes. The Duke of
Caxias was able to maintain some restraints on the involvement of politicians
in military affairs and that of soldiers in politics, but after his death in
1880 civil-military relations deteriorated.

     Relations between military officers and civilian politicians worsened
when two abolitionist officers, whose conduct had been criticized by
conservative politicians (one had allegedly permitted abolitionist propaganda
to circulate in his unit; the other had taken disciplinary action against a
subordinate who proved to be the friends of a  conservative politician),
attempted to defend themselves in the public press in contravention of the
regulation against the public discussion of political matters by officers on
active duty. Various former army officers, most notably Manoel Deodoro da
Fonseca, a retired army marshal and the dominant military figure after the
death of Caxias, spoke out in their defense. After considerable turmoil, the
punishments of the two officers were revoked. A further imbroglio developed in
1888 out of the arrest of a naval officer and attempts made by the navy to get
him released. The net outcome of the "military question" was to alienate
military officers from the empire and enlist them in favor of the declaration
of a republic.

     Attempting to save the empire by accepting demands for reform, in June
1888 Dom Pedro appointed as prime minister the liberal Afonso Celso, Viscount
of Ouro Preto. Celso proposed limited terms for members of the Senate,
provincial and local autonomy, government credit institutions, complete
religious freedom, and the extension of the suffrage to all literate males. He
also attempted to build up the national guard and the Rio police, sensing the
army's doubtful loyalties. This threat to the army's position and rumors that
the government planned to cut the size of the army precipitated a crisis.
Marshal Fonseca long resisted pressure to join the republican cause, but his
reservations were overcome by rumors that he was to be arrested. Fonseca's
adherence to the pro-republican revolutionary movement was influenced by the
news that the emperor intended to appoint an enemy of his to be prime minister
when parliament refused to accept Celso's program.

     The head of the armed forces, Marshal Floriano Peixoto, had assured
Celso that he need not worry about the army's loyalty but in fact did nothing
to oppose the uprising, which took place on November 14, 1889. The leadership
of the movement was then assumed by Fonseca. The republic was proclaimed on
November 15. Fearing that a counterrevolution might restore the empire, the
revolutionaries insisted that Dom Pedro and his family leave the country,
which they did on November 17. Dom Pedro lived in Paris until his death in
December 1891.