Brasilia: Capital and Change

One of the oldest records concerning a change of capital is in the Autos da Inconfidência Mineira. The rebels led by Tiradentes said that the city of São João del Rei would become the political center of power if they were victorious. 

With the proclamation of Independence and the Constituent Assembly, José Bonifácio was one more voice advocating a change of capital. He even suggested the names Petrópolis (Pedro's town) or Brasilia for the new capital, which would be built in the municipality of Paracatu do Príncipe, Minas Gerais.

Deputy João Cândido de Deos e Silva presented a bill to identify the central point of the Empire and build the capital there.

Following approval of the amendments of Senator Virgílio Damásio and Deputy Lauro Müller, Article 3 of the Constitution of the Republic now read: "An area of 14,400 square kilometers on the central plateau of the Republic, which will be demarcated in due course to establish a future federal capital, belongs to the Union."     

Replica with the full text of Article 3 of the Constitution of the United States of Brazil, which established the country as a republic.

Deputy Nogueira Paranaguá proposed a bill to authorize exploration and demarcation of the land for the new capital.

Luiz Cruls, director of the National Observatory, was appointed by Floriano Peixoto to head a commission to explore and demarcate the area of the capital.    

Deputy Lauro Müller and others proposed a bill, subsequently passed, to establish the territory on the Central Plateau demarcated by the Exploration Commission.

Sá Freire proposed a bill to authorize the Executive to transfer the capital of the Republic of the United States of Brazil to the city of Minas or to another point that it considered convenient on the Central Plateau.

Deputy Eduardo Sócrates and others proposed a bill to open a public tender for the services and construction needed to establish the capital of the Republic on Brazil's Central Plateau.

Adolpho Leyret and Mário Teixeira Lopes Guimarães requested the advancement of an earlier request of September 1911, to construct the new capital of the Republic on Brazil's Central Plateau.

Corrêa de Freitas and others proposed a bill to authorise the loans necessary to realize the constitutional provision for the construction and relocation of the future capital of the Republic of the United States of Brazil.        

Francisco Gonçalves de Sequeira petitioned the National Congress for a law authorizing the government to issue notes convertible to gold as collateral for loans and acquire gold to replace paper currency in order to proceed with the new capital project.

A new Constitution determined that the capital of the Union be transferred to a central point in Brazil and that studies be carried out to define a suitable location.    

A bill proposed by Plínio Tourinho and Lacerda Pinto authorized the Federal Executive to make the necessary expenditure for the appointment of a technical commission to explore and demarcate, in the central region of the national territory, land for the construction of the future capital of Brazil.

The Constitution promulgated that year determined that the capital of the Union will be transferred to the Central Plateau of the country. The President of the Republic, Eurico Gaspar Dutra, was given 60 days to begin location studies.

President Eurico Gaspar Dutra appointed a Technical Commission for the Study of the New Federal Capital headed by General Djalma Polli Coelho and granted the Ministry of Justice and Internal Affairs a special credit of Cr$ 2,000,000.00 for the initial expenses of the Commission.

The Polli Coelho Commission concluded its work, confirmed the Cruls studies and its report, – the ”Mensagem de Corumbá” – was sent to Congress by President Dutra.  

Speech by Deputy Diógenes Magalhães.

Djalma Polli Coelho wrote an opinion on the report of the Special Commission on the Change of Capital. It was submitted to the Chamber of Deputies

General Caiado de Castro is appointed by Vargas to preside over a new commission for definitive studies on the location of the Republic's new capital. The approval of Law No. 1,803 authorizes the carrying out of definitive studies on the location of the new capital.

Marshal José Pessoa, who replaced Caiado Castro in the commission for definitive studies, presented its final report on the work.  

Juscelino Kubitschek, five days after his investiture as President of the Republic, called Marshal José Pessoa to find out what work had been done regarding the change and what should be the first steps to make the constitutional precept effective.