Portugal's colony became a tropical empire under Pedro II
The Empire of Brazil spanned nineteenth-century lands of modern Brazil and, until 1828, Uruguay. Unlike many Spanish American republics, it kept relative stability, growth, and constitutional speech rights under monarchs—especially long-reigning Pedro II—before the crown faded by elite choice.
Pedro Alvares Cabral claimed the coast for Portugal on 22 April 1500, settlers arrived permanently in 1532, and over three centuries Portuguese control crept west to nearly today's borders. When Napoleon's army overran Portugal in 1808, the Braganza royal family fled to Rio de Janeiro, which became the effective capital of their empire. In 1815 the regent John raised Brazil from colony to kingdom within a united realm with Portugal, then sailed home in April 1821, leaving his son Pedro in charge. Lisbon's attempt to claw back Brazilian autonomy provoked fury, and with Jose Bonifacio de Andrada urging him on, Pedro proclaimed independence on 7 September 1822 and was acclaimed emperor on 12 October.
Troops loyal to Portugal fought on until March 1824, and Lisbon recognised the break in August 1825. Pedro I's reign was troubled: the Cisplatine War ended in 1828 with the loss of the province that became Uruguay, parliament clashed with him over the monarch's powers, and after inheriting Portugal's crown in 1826 he handed it to his daughter Maria, only for his brother Miguel to usurp her. On 7 April 1831 he abdicated in Brazil and sailed to Europe to fight for her.
His heir, Pedro II, was five. A feeble regency, subordinate to the legislature, could not contain factional feuds, and an 1834 amendment granting provinces more autonomy only fuelled rebellions. Liberals lowered the age of majority, and the boy was declared fit to rule in July 1840 at fourteen. By 1846 he had shaken off the courtiers who manipulated him, and in 1848 he called the conservatives to govern.
His long rule brought internal peace, victory in the Platine, Uruguayan and Paraguayan wars, European immigration including Protestants and Jews, a flowering of Brazilian art and letters, and the final abolition of slavery in 1888. Yet neither he nor the elite would accept his daughter Isabel as monarch, and on 15 November 1889, after 58 years on the throne, a military clique overthrew him and founded a republic.
Source: Empire of Brazil
