We explain how the independence process of Brazil was, its causes and consequences. Also, what the War of Independence was like.
When and how was the independence of Brazil?
The birth of Brazil as an independent nation took place at the beginning of the 19th century. Independence was proclaimed on September 7, 1822 in the context of a series of conflicts that began in 1821. On the one hand, there were the supporters of the independence of Brazil, which had been a Portuguese colony since the 16th century, and on the other, there were those who defended the colonial order of the Portuguese Crown, under the authority of King John VI of Portugal.
As with the independence processes of the rest of Latin America at the same time, the independence of Brazil was initially caused by discrepancies in the management of economic relations between the colony and the mother country. Added to this was the invasion of the Iberian Peninsula by Napoleon Bonaparte’s troops, which forced the Portuguese royal family to temporarily establish its Court in Rio de Janeiro and gave greater political relevance to Brazil, which added tension to relations between the colony and the mother country. You must read about Paralympic Games once.
However, unlike the Spanish American independences, the Brazilian independence process was not as long or as violent, and did not lead to the establishment of a republic. Instead, a liberal-style constitutional monarchy was established, known as the Empire of Brazil, whose first emperor was the crown prince of Portugal, Pedro I.
The Brazilian War of Independence took place between 1822 and 1824, and pitted supporters of Pedro I and Brazilian independence against troops loyal to what had until then been the Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves.
It was a short war with minor clashes, culminating in the surrender of the last Portuguese soldiers in 1824 and the recognition of Brazilian sovereignty by the Kingdom of Portugal in 1825, following the signing of an agreement mediated by Great Britain. With this agreement, the new South American nation agreed to compensate for the damage caused to the Portuguese Crown and to reestablish its commercial relations with Portugal. In addition, another agreement granted commercial advantages to the British.
KEY POINTS
- The independence of Brazil was the process by which this country ceased to be a Portuguese colony and became an independent nation.
- It was promoted by Brazilian independence fighters led by Prince Regent Pedro, son of the King of Portugal.
- One of its causes was the Napoleonic invasion of Portugal, which forced the royal family to settle in Brazil and reinforced the political identity of Brazilians.
- The declaration of independence took place on September 7, 1822 and led to the birth of the Empire of Brazil, under the authority of Pedro I.
Characteristics of the independence of Brazil
The Brazilian independence process was characterized by the following:
- It was less violent than the independence process of neighboring Spanish-American nations, although it was not free of military confrontations and fatalities. In addition, it was led by a member of the Portuguese royal family, Crown Prince Pedro, who as a result became Emperor Pedro I of Brazil.
- It took place between 1821 and 1824, although the declaration of independence took place on September 7, 1822. However, its antecedents can be traced back to 1808, after the installation in Brazil of the Portuguese royal authorities, fleeing the Napoleonic invasion of the Iberian Peninsula.
- The Braganza dynasty of Portugal played a decisive role in the process, since the independence faction was led by Prince Pedro (future Pedro I), regent of Brazil on the instructions of his father John VI of Portugal, who in 1821 had been forced to return to Portugal, after having held his Court for several years in Rio de Janeiro. Likewise, the influence of Great Britain was important in the recognition of independent Brazil.
- Its culminating stage was marked by the Brazilian War of Independence, which took place between the beginning of 1822 and March 8, 1824. However, the independence of Brazil is celebrated every September 7, in commemoration of the so-called “Grito de Ipiranga”, considered the precise moment of the declaration of independence.
Causes of the independence of Brazil
The independence of Brazil had the following causes and antecedents:
- The Napoleonic invasion of the Iberian Peninsula in 1807, which forced the royal family of Portugal to flee to its colony in Brazil and install the Court of the Portuguese Empire there. This deteriorated the relationship between the colony and the metropolis, as it gave a notable political and economic prominence to the Brazilians. The transformation of Brazil into a kingdom within the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarve, carried out in 1815 by the regent John, who the following year was crowned King of Portugal as John VI and in 1821 appointed Crown Prince Pedro (future Pedro I) as regent of the new Kingdom of Brazil. These events consolidated a political identity of their own among the Brazilian inhabitants.
- The political instability in the Portuguese Empire following the outbreak of the Porto Revolution in 1820, a liberal uprising that led to the Cortes meeting to create the first Constitution of the Portuguese monarchy. These Cortes demanded the return of King John VI to the peninsula in 1821 and abolished Pedro’s regency in Brazil, in an attempt to return the status of a colony to the Brazilian kingdom. This led Prince Pedro to support the independence cause defended by many Brazilians.
The Brazilian independence process
The Brazilian independence process began in 1821, when John VI returned to Portugal and left his son Pedro as regent of the Kingdom of Brazil. According to some interpretations, the king asked his son Pedro to remain in America with the instruction to lead any independence movement that might arise, so that his lineage would remain in power.
Shortly afterwards, an express order arrived from the metropolis from the Cortes of Lisbon, which ended the regency in Brazil and requested the return to Portugal of the crown prince. This unleashed new tensions and discontent in Brazil, since it went from being a participating kingdom of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and Algarve to being a Portuguese colony again. On January 9, 1822, Pedro received a petition with more than 8,000 signatures from Brazilian personalities asking him to stay in Brazil.
The future Emperor of Brazil then announced to his followers: “If it is for the good of all and the general happiness of the nation, I am ready. Tell the people that I am staying.” This act of disobedience to the Portuguese Cortes was an important step in consolidating the independence sentiments in Brazil.
This unleashed the first clashes between politicians loyal to the Portuguese Crown and those who preferred Pedro’s government. Pedro formed a new government together with Minister José Bonifácio de Andrada e Silva, who was later known as the “Patriarch of Independence.”
Pedro and José Bonifácio called for a Constituent Assembly. In addition, they announced that the instructions issued by the Portuguese Cortes would only be followed in Brazil if they had the express approval of Pedro, which was practically equivalent to independence. In response, the Cortes declared the Brazilian Constituent Assembly and the government of the Prince Regent illegitimate, and requested their immediate return to Portugal.
Upon learning of this, on September 7, 1822, while on the banks of the Ipiranga River, Pedro announced the formal severance of ties between Brazil and Portugal, invited the soldiers accompanying him to remove their armbands bearing the colors of the metropolis and, after unsheathing his sword, proclaimed: “Independence or death.” This event is known as the Cry of Ipiranga and is considered the moment when Brazil’s independence was proclaimed.
The separation was made official on September 22, in a letter from Pedro to his father John VI of Portugal. On October 12, Pedro I was proclaimed emperor and the Brazilian Empire was formally born, in the midst of the War of Independence. The coronation took place on December 1. Maybe you should definitely read about Badminton once.
Brazilian War of Independence
The Brazilian War of Independence was brief and consisted mainly of minor clashes, with less bloodshed than the Spanish American wars of independence. Its first moments took place before the proclamation of independence, with the mutiny in January 1822 of some 2,000 Portuguese soldiers against Prince Pedro in the city of Rio de Janeiro, where the seat of government was located.
Surrounded by 10,000 armed Brazilians, the Portuguese soldiers had no choice but to abandon the city and commit to returning to Portugal. The military delayed their departure, waiting for reinforcements from the mother country, but these were not allowed to disembark, so the Portuguese troops had to leave, which avoided bloodshed.
The Brazilian political situation was complicated, as not all citizens agreed with the idea of independence, or not on the same terms as it was being put forward in 1822. There were clashes in Pernambuco and especially in Bahia, whose capital Salvador de Bahia was under Portuguese control and rejected the authority of Rio de Janeiro.
Minas Gerais and São Paulo, on the other hand, joined troops in the independence cause, as did the Freemasons, excited by the possibility of a new parliamentary government.
Pedro won the provinces of Piauí and Maranhão for his cause, although he had to fight important battles there against the sectors favourable to Portugal. In addition, he hired the British admiral Thomas Alexander Cochrane, who had been in command of the Chilean independence forces against Spain, and the French general Pierre Labatut, who had fought alongside the army of Gran Colombia.
In 1823 the situation of the Portuguese troops was desperate. Then came the news from the metropolis of the dismissal of the Cortes of Lisbon after a revolt in Portugal that reinstated absolutism. Without the hope of receiving reinforcements, the Portuguese soldiers besieged in Salvador de Bahía, led by General Inácio Luís Madeira de Melo, began to retreat towards Portugal and left the city in the hands of the independentists.
After the successive independence victories in Pernambuco, Maranhão and Pará, the War of Independence was practically won. Soon the rest of Brazil joined the newly founded empire and the conflicts ended in March 1824.
On August 29, 1825, the Empire of Brazil was formally recognized by Portugal with the mediation of Great Britain. The agreement that made this recognition official forced Brazil to pay an indemnity of two million pounds sterling to Portugal and grant commercial advantages to Great Britain. In addition, it stipulated that it should renounce any future annexation of Portuguese colonies in Africa and end the slave trade business, although the latter did not end slavery in Brazilian territory.
Consequences of the independence of Brazil
The independence of Brazil had the following consequences:
- The proclamation of the Empire of Brazil, an independent constitutional monarchy under the authority of Pedro I and then his son Pedro II, which lasted until 1889. This monarchy had a certain liberal spirit, but at the same time retained some colonial elements, such as the slavery of people of African origin.
- The recognition of the independence of Brazil by Great Britain and Portugal, which had a high economic cost, given that the new empire agreed to compensate the Portuguese Crown and assumed a significant foreign debt. In addition, it was forced to guarantee British economic interests in its territory.
- The outbreak of the Brazilian War or Cisplatine War, which faced the Brazilian Empire with the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata between 1825 and 1828. This war began after the consolidation of the independence of Brazil, when some military personnel of the Cisplatine Province (part of the Brazilian Empire, formerly called Banda Oriental) decided to separate their territory from the empire and incorporate it into the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata. The war culminated with the proclamation of Uruguay as an independent nation.
Brazilian Independence Day
In Brazil, national independence is celebrated every September 7, in commemoration of the Cry of Ipiranga, the day on which Pedro I proclaimed the breaking of Brazil’s relations of submission to the Portuguese Crown. As it is the day on which the declaration of independence is celebrated, September 7 is a national holiday.
We explain what is celebrated on Brazil’s Independence Day and the historical events that led to it. Also, when and how the celebrations are.
What is celebrated on Brazil’s Independence Day?
On September 7th of each year, Independence Day is celebrated in Brazil, that is, the commemoration of the day on which the then regent of the Kingdom of Brazil, Dom Pedro de Braganza, later known as Pedro I of Brazil, formally broke the ties that united the Brazilian territory with the Portuguese metropolis. From that day on, Brazil, which had been a colony since the 16th century, began to exist as an autonomous political entity: the Empire of Brazil.
More precisely, it is remembered for what happened on September 7, 1822: the formal declaration of the Independence of Brazil, today known as the Cry of Ipiranga, which took its name from having occurred on the banks of the Ipiranga River, near São Paulo. There, the regent Pedro of Brazil received notification that the Cortes of Lisbon had declared both his government and the Constituent Assembly he had convened illegitimate, and also demanded his immediate return to Portugal.
These decisions of the Cortes of Lisbon implied the end of the regency and the recolonization of Brazil, which since 1815 had acquired the status of a participating kingdom of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarve, by decision of John VI of Portugal. This generated much discontent in Brazil.
Consequently, Dom Pedro de Braganza called his aides and invited them to remove their blue and white armbands, which represented Portugal. Then, according to the traditional account, he pronounced the following words: “Friends, the Portuguese Cortes want to enslave us and persecute us. From now on, our relations are broken. No ties unite us anymore.” And, unsheathing his sword, he shouted: “By my blood, my honor, my God, I swear to give freedom to Brazil. (…) Independence or death!” (Taken from Ótavio Tarquino de Sousa, História dos Fundadores do Império do Brasil, vol. 2, t. 2).
With the Cry of Ipiranga, the decisive moment of the independence struggle of Brazil began, which culminated two years later, with the expulsion of the last Portuguese troops from American territory. In 1825, the recognition of Brazilian independence by the Portuguese Crown took place. From then on, the Brazilian Empire was consolidated as a constitutional monarchy governed by Pedro I.
Today, September 7 is a national holiday in Brazil. This day pays tribute to the independence struggle and seeks to strengthen the national collective memory. There are often military parades, especially in large cities such as Brasilia, the capital city, where acrobatic displays are carried out by the Brazilian Air Force Air Demonstration Squadron, popularly known as Esquadrilha da Fumaça.
What were the causes of Brazil’s independence?
Brazilian independence was, in general terms, due to the following causes:
- The transfer of the regent John VI and the rest of the Portuguese royal family to Brazil in 1808, after the Napoleonic invasion of the Iberian Peninsula, which generated a climate of tension between the colony and the mother country.
- The granting of the status of kingdom to Brazil in 1815 by the regent John VI (crowned king a year later), before he was summoned to Portugal by the Cortes of Lisbon and left his son, Pedro, as regent of Brazil, possibly with the instruction to lead any independence attempt.
- The attempt by the Cortes of Lisbon to return the status of colony to Brazil, by deciding to end the regency and demanding the transfer of Pedro to Lisbon. Faced with this, more than 8,000 Brazilians signed a petition in which they asked Pedro to disobey this instruction and remain in Brazil.
- The political and military weakness of Portugal after the outbreak of the liberal Revolution of Porto in 1820, which was taken advantage of by the independentists to promote a relatively peaceful liberation.
How long did the Brazilian War of Independence last?
Compared to the violent independence struggles in Spanish America, the Brazilian War of Independence was quite brief and caused fewer fatalities. It began in 1822, when Pedro I disobeyed the mandate of the Cortes of Lisbon and decided to remain in Brazil, and ended two years later, with the expulsion of the last Portuguese troops from Brazilian territory.
It is difficult to calculate the losses of each side, but it is estimated that in this war there were no major clashes between the two armies that left many fatalities, as occurred in other cases with battles such as Maipú, Carabobo or Ayacucho. On the contrary, in general there were tactical confrontations, sieges and guerrilla wars. By the end of 1823, the independence movement had practically achieved victory. The last Portuguese soldiers surrendered in March 1824.
Other important dates in Brazil
Other important dates in Brazilian history are the following:
- November 15: Celebration of the Day of the Proclamation of the Republic of Brazil in 1889, which was achieved through a coup against the monarchy of Pedro II.
- April 21: Celebration of Tiradentes Day, in honor of the independence fighter Joaquim José da Silva Xavier, who was a dentist by profession and died on that date.
- November 20: Celebration of the National Day of Black Consciousness, which commemorates the Afro-Brazilian cultural and historical contribution and the death of Zumbi dos Palmares, a warrior of African origin born in the northeast of Brazil.
