In the times of the Independence of Brazil: the "puzzle" and the "pieces" explaining the Independence process

“Independence or death”, Dom Pedro would have shouted on September 7, 1822, thus sealing the end of the union between Brazil and Portugal. What factors determined the outcome of this chapter in Brazilian history? What led the Prince Regent to declare the break with the metropolis? Some pieces from the Museu de Valores help us to assemble the "puzzle" of the Brazilian Independence process.

To answer these questions, we need to go back to 1808, when the Portuguese court left the Iberian Peninsula for Brazil.

Thousands of nobles landed in Brazilian lands, along with D. Pedro, still a child, his father D. João, then Prince Regent of Portugal, and his mother, Carlota Joaquina.

What did the arrival of the Portuguese Royal family mean for Brazil? This transfer marks the beginning of a profound transformation in the position of the then Portuguese colony in the world. Upon arriving, in January 1808, still in Salvador, D. João made a fundamental decision for the insertion of Brazil in world trade: the opening of ports to friendly nations.

Brazil thus became the seat of the Portuguese Empire. And what did that mean? That new laws emanated from here, public offices emerged and major public works were carried out. Dom João founded Banco do Brasil, installed the Casa de Suplicação and created the General Board of Commerce. In addition, he promoted the creation of three important new ministries: Finance and Interior, Navy and War, and Foreigners.

Among the works carried out in the period, we can highlight the Botanical Garden, in Rio de Janeiro, inaugurated on June 13, 1808. This medal celebrates the sesquicentennial of its foundation.

The importance assumed by the colony was so great that it began to play the role of a metropolis, thus reversing the roles previously held by Portugal and Brazil. In recognition of this state of affairs, D. João elevated Brazil to the status of the United Kingdom of Portugal, in December 1815. D. João then began to bear the title of Prince Royal of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves , an inscription found on coins from that period.

Other pieces are needed to assemble the independence puzzle. Determining factors for the declaration of independence 200 years ago were: the Enlightenment ideas spread to some thinking groups in Brazil, the demands arising from the Portuguese Courts, established after the Porto Revolution, and the influence of people with a strong personality over Dom Pedro.

In the propagation of Enlightenment ideas, Masonic lodges are of crucial importance. Have you ever heard of Freemasonry?

“In its early days, probably at the end of the Middle Ages, Freemasonry mainly gathered craftsmen linked to construction and hence its name derived from maçon, 'mason' in French. From the 17th century onwards, it took the form of a secret movement made up of groups of initiates, aiming to fight tyrannies and the Church. In Brazil, Freemasonry had the character of an anti-absolutist nucleus, whose most extreme members tended to defend the country's independence” (Fausto, 2006).

Freemasonry played an important role, for example, in the Pernambuco Revolution of 1817, the last independence movement that took place in the colonial period.

The year 1817 was also the year in which Dom Pedro married Leopoldina. She, together with José Bonifácio, exerted a strong influence on the course of events in 1822.

A correspondence they sent to Dom Pedro was decisive in encouraging him to stay in Brazil and declare a total break with Portugal.

What did Leopoldina and Bonifácio mean by “giving oneself up as a prisoner of the Courts”? They referred to the Courts established with a view to writing a new Constitution for Portugal. The Courts began their work after the Porto Revolution, which took place in Portugal in 1820. With this movement, dissatisfied Portuguese sought to reverse the metropolitan inversion, returning Portugal to the position of a metropolis.

Brazil had its place as a colony. There were many determinations received in the country in an ambiguous way: there were supporters and detractors of what was happening. Until the Courts demanded the return of Dom Pedro to Portugal. This was the determination that led Dom Pedro to the path of no return to independence, when he decided to remain in Brazil.

On September 7, 1822, then, Brazil became independent. And what form of government was established? Unlike other Latin American countries, which became independent republics, Brazil became a constitutional monarchy. On December 1, 1822, D. Pedro was crowned Emperor of Brazil, thus becoming D. Pedro I.

Two years after the proclamation of independence, on March 25, 1824, the first Brazilian constitution was granted. Brazil came to be governed, like so many other countries at that historic moment, by a constitutional charter. However, it is interesting to remember that the Independence of Brazil was only recognized by Portugal in 1825, in exchange for an indemnity of 2 million pounds sterling.