D.PedroI(1798-1834)

D. Pedro de Alcântara Francisco Antônio João Carlos Xavier de Paula Miguel Rafael Joaquim José Gonzaga Pascoal Cipriano Serafim de Bragança e Bourbon was the first emperor of Brazil and a central figure in the independence process. D. Pedro was born on Portuguese soil in the year 1798 and was appointed prince regent of Brazil at the age of 22. His father, D. João VI, swore an oath to the Portuguese Constitution and returned to his homeland, leaving his firstborn son in charge of governing Brazil. D. Pedro was known for his fondness for the liberal and constitutionalist airs blowing strongly through the monarchies of the 19th century. “My husband, God help us, loves the new ideas,” confessed princess Leopoldina, astonished, in a letter to her father, emperor Francisco I of Austria.

Figure 1 – Medal with detail of D. Pedro I, Simplício Rodrigues de Sá, 1822. Museu Imperial de Petrópolis / Wikimedia Commons.

Image description: The image is a painting depicting a man. The figure is centered, with his face turned forward. The background features a landscape with buildings and trees, suggesting a city or locality. The painting is surrounded by a golden frame with scale-shaped details.

On the other hand, his interest in Voltaire and his admiration for Napoleon Bonaparte did not make this complex figure a properly republican character. With an authoritarian and centralizing profile, D. Pedro was raised in the manner of the old regime. And, despite being part of a post-French Revolution generation, he was brought up to be an absolutist monarch. “I will do everything for the people, but nothing by the people,” he said in a moment of profound political crisis, shortly before abdicating the throne in 1831.

The same monarch, who received the title of "Perpetual Defender of Brazil" and called himself "Constitutional Emperor," was responsible for suppressing and dissolving the General Constituent Assembly in 1823, and, the very next year, granting the first — and still, to this day, the longest-lasting — Constitution in our history.

Figure 2 – D. Pedro accompanied by D. Maria II, holding the constitution of the Brazilian Empire, Julien, 19th century. Fundação Biblioteca Nacional.

Image description: This is a black-and-white engraving. In the image, we see three main figures arranged in a scene that suggests a ceremony or celebration. The central figure is seated and dressed in a military uniform, likely representing D. Pedro I. To his left, there is a standing female figure, dressed in period clothing, holding a scroll. To the right, another female figure, also standing, wears similar attire and holds an object that appears to be a book or a scroll. Both women are looking toward D. Pedro I. In the background, we see an isolated column. On the ground, to the left, there is a terrestrial globe adorned with floral decorations and a wreath of flowers. Below the image, there is text in Portuguese, but its details cannot be fully read.

Dom Pedro's involvement in the defense of independence did not begin on September 7, 1822, but much earlier. The event on the banks of the Ipiranga River – depicted in bold colors and epic style by Pedro Américo in 1888 – can be considered a kind of interlude in the sequence of events that had been unfolding in 1822 and that would lead to his acclamation as Emperor of Brazil on October 12 of that year.

Figure 3 – Independence or Death or The Cry of Ipiranga, Pedro Américo de Figueiredo e Melo, 1888. Museu Paulista da USP.

Image description: This is a painting depicting a battle scene. The image shows an open field with a partly cloudy sky in the background. On the left, we see soldiers on foot and on horseback advancing toward the right. They are equipped with colorful uniforms and weapons. On the right, more soldiers are in motion, some on horseback and others on foot, also wearing varied uniforms. There is a modest house at the center of the image, surrounded by trees and vegetation. The terrain is predominantly sandy and covered with grass.

Furthermore, it is possible to perceive the political evolution of the prince regent toward the Brazilian cause. A stance that, in a certain sense, began hesitantly in the months after D. João VI's return to Portugal gave way to a determined conduct on the path that would lead to independence.

Only 8 months passed between the letter of October 4, 1821, in which he swore to his father to “always be faithful to Your Majesty, to the Portuguese nation, and to the Portuguese Constitution,” and the letter of July 26, 1822, in which he declared to D. João that it was “a physical and moral impossibility for Portugal to govern Brazil, or for Brazil to be governed by Portugal.” But a great deal happened. And one turning point deserves special attention in this whole process.

On December 9, 1821, the ship Infante Dom Sebastião arrived in Rio de Janeiro with news in the tone of a decree from the Portuguese courts: all government offices created by D. João VI since the arrival of the Portuguese Crown in 1808 would be closed. Furthermore, the prince regent was to embark immediately for Lisbon. In practice, the decision returned Brazil to the status of a colony of Portugal.

The news served as the spark that lit the powder trail in the reaction of Brazilians. “It is incredible how the measures of the courts managed, in so short a time, to completely disorganize this country and create a deep hatred against the Portuguese name, together with a spirit of independence impossible to hold back any longer,” noted Baron Wenzel de Mareschal, Austria's chargé d'affaires in Brazil.

Pamphlets, newspapers, and manifestos began popping up and circulating through the city's streets, demanding that D. Pedro remain. A petition – organized in a small cell of the Convento de Santo Antônio, at Largo da Carioca – received eight thousand signatures and reached the hands of the prince regent. On January 9, 1822, he declared his defiance of the orders coming from Portugal and published in an edict the words that would keep that date etched in the national memory: “As it is for the good of all and the general happiness of the nation, I am ready: tell the people that I am staying!”.

Image description: This is a painting depicting a large crowd in front of a building with classical architecture. From left to right, we see a large gathering of people wearing varied clothing, some with hats. In the center, there is a building with a white facade and pink details, with decorative arches. On the upper part of the building, several people are standing, looking down. The sky above is clear, with a few clouds. In the background, there are other, smaller buildings. In the lower corner of the image, there is an inscription that reads: "ACCLAMACAO DE S.M.O. S.S. D.PEDRO I IMPERADOR C. DO BRASIL. No dia 12 de Outubro 1822."

From the so-called “Dia do Fico” to his acclamation as emperor of Brazil, by way of the 7th of September, D. Pedro was caught up in a series of disputes over different projects for the country. He was involved, of course, in the projects that were conceived from the gravitational center of power that Rio de Janeiro had become, where the Brazilian cause had become a conviction, and the defense of a constitutional monarchy was practically unchallenged. “From Portugal nothing, nothing; we want nothing!”, wrote D. Pedro I to D. João VI, on September 22, 1822, when Independence had already been consummated.

On one side, it was possible to see the project of an elite that wanted to make Brazil the seat of the Luso-Brazilian empire, with intense action in the Cortes of Lisbon; on the other, the project of an elite with a republican calling, which had accepted the monarchy as the definitive solution for Brazil, but would not give up the effort to make it more liberal. On one side, a Coimbra-trained elite, represented by José Bonifácio; on the other, a Brazilian-born elite, represented by Joaquim Gonçalves Ledo.

This dispute of projects would culminate in the Constituent General Assembly of 1823, about which Empress Leopoldina noted: "Here we live in a true confusion, in every place modern principles reign, new and popular (...) work is underway on the creation of a popular Assembly, conceived in the democratic fashion as in the free States of North America; my husband, who unfortunately likes all novelties, is enthusiastic (...)."

The enthusiasm didn't last long. On November 12, 1823, in the episode known as the "Night of Agony," D. Pedro I ordered the Constituent Assembly dissolved, cracked down on the parliamentarians, and moved to appoint a new Council of Ministers to draft a constitution. The document – which divided power into the Executive, Legislative, and Judiciary branches, but established the monarch's Moderating power over all of them – was hastily approved and granted by His Imperial Majesty on March 25, 1824.

This is how the newborn Empire of Brazil received its identity document. All of this, among many other power relations, largely due to the political actions of a Portuguese figure who, upon signing his letter of abdication from the throne in 1831, declared that he was returning to Europe, but was leaving behind “a country that I loved and still love.”

Figure 5 – Oath of His Majesty the Emperor D. Pedro I to the Constitution of the Empire, March 25, 1824. Arquivo Nacional / Fund Secretary of the State of Brazil.

Image description: The image is a photograph of an old document, with borders decorated by floral and foliage elements in shades of pink, red, and gold. The background is beige, and the document is signed at the bottom. In the center, there is a round seal with text in black. The main text is written in Portuguese and mentions oaths and political constitutions related to the independence of Brazil. The date mentioned in the document is "Rio de Janeiro, the twenty-fifth of March, eighteen hundred and twenty-four."

Bibliographic References

SOUZA, Octávio Tarquínio de. The Life of D. Pedro I .. Belo Horizonte; São Paulo: Itatiaia; Edusp, 1988. Vol. 1.

LUSTOSA, Isabel. D. Pedro I: a hero with no character whatsoever. São Paulo: Companhia das Letras, 2006.

GOMES, Laurentino. 1822. Rio de Janeiro: Nova Fronteira, 2010.

SCHWARCZ, Lilia M.; STARLING, Heloisa M. Brazil: a biography. São Paulo: Companhia das Letras, 2015.