The History of Brazil

In the pre-colonial era, Brazil was inhabited by aborigines, who penetrated from today’s Siberia on the then related Bering Strait in this country south of the Equator between 55000 and 9000 BC. At that time, people organized themselves into tribes or tribes that fed on products of fishing, agriculture, and hunting. Wild boars and capybaras have been kept as pets since horses, cows, and chickens were not known at that time. Arable land made the people using deforestation fruitful. In particular, corn, yucca, and beans were cultivated by indigenous people. Discovered in the 1500, Brazil was created and colonized by the Portuguese and proclaimed its independence on September 7, 1822.

The country was approached by the Portuguese navigator Pedro Alvares Cabral in 1500, following a navigation error. With the Pope’s permission, he became the main South American land that escapes Spanish colonization. When the kingdom of Portugal was occupied by the troops of Napoleon I, in 1807, the prince regent, of the dynasty of Braganza, fled on an English ship and took refuge on the other side of the Atlantic (Pappas). He settled in Rio de Janeiro, then capital of the colony of Brazil. Separated from its mother country by the war, it learns to fend for itself (Pimenta). He became King of Portugal in 1816, after the death of his mother, Queen Mary the Fool, the Prince Regent takes the name of Joao VI (John VI). But although the French occupation troops have long since left the metropolis, the new sovereign extends his stay in Brazil which he appreciates the charms. It grants the colony its autonomy within the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil, and the Algarves. This gentle decolonization is for the exclusive benefit of the Carioca (Rio) bourgeoisie.

However, in 1820, the best things come to an end with a liberal revolution took place in Spain.  The new government, pushed by the army, urgently reminds King Jean VI and calls for an end to the autonomy of Brazil. Regretfully, Jean VI returns to the metropolis but he entrusts the regency of Brazil to his youngest son Dom Pedro (Pierre), 18 years old (Pappas). While the northern and central provinces are attracted by the liberal revolution in Lisbon and are reluctant to submit to Rio, the capital begs the regent to vote for independence. In order to maintain the unity of the colony and to avoid the troubles that plague the neighboring Spanish colonies at the same time, Dom Pedro, therefore, chooses to remain against all odds and launches this simple cry, on January 9, 1822: “Fico” (”I remainder”).

As the Cortes claim to send troops to Brazil and appoint new military governors in the provinces, the regent takes the lead. On September 7, 1822, near São Paulo, on the banks of the Ipiranga River, he proclaimed ”Independence or death”. This ”cry of Ipiranga” consecrates the independence of Brazil (Pimenta). A little later, on October 12, 1822, the regent was named constitutional emperor of the country under the name of Pedro I and solemnly crowned in Rio de Janeiro on December 1 of the same year. He is 24 years old. Alas, turning his back on the hopes he has raised, the new ruler is becoming more and more authoritarian and is in conflict with the Constituent Assembly of Brazil. It also provokes a war with Argentina that results in the secession of Uruguay.

On April 7, 1831, Pedro I finally had to abdicate in favor of his 5-year-old son, Pedro II, while his daughter went on the throne of Portugal under the name of Mary II. The ex-emperor returned to Portugal after confiding to José Bonifácio de Andrada e Silva the task of governing Brazil until the majority of his son (Pappas). The reign of Peter II is marked by the economic and political modernization of the country, including the granting of universal suffrage. In 1888, slavery was finally abolished. These liberal reforms cause a revolt of the oligarchy and the impeachment of the emperor by soldiers on November 15, 1889. After a period of unrest comes the Republic.

Work Cited

Pappas, Dale. ”The Napoleonic Wars and Brazilian Independence”. Napoleon-Series.Org, 2009,        https://www.napoleon-series.org/research/government/Brazil/c_Independence.html.          Accessed 27 Nov 2018.

Pimenta, João Paulo. Brazilian Independence: Change and Continuity. 2016, http://oxfordre.com/latinamericanhistory/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199366439.001.00            1/acrefore-9780199366439-e-278. Accessed 27 Nov 2018.