The Brazilian Independence Movement The Brazilian path to independence occurred in a relatively peaceful manner compared to the independence movements of other Latin American countries during the same time period. New enlightenment principles had been sweeping across Latin America throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, this and a growing sense of nationalism incited many countries to move towards independence. With the arrival of the Portuguese monarchy in Brazil, came these new ideas and more foreign influences. The fascination of the Brazilian elite with the French independence also incited ideas of autonomy in Brazil. After the Portuguese monarchy departed, As one of these countries, Brazil managed to gain independence from its mother country , Portugal, in 1822 with the help of its new emperor Dom Pedro I. With Napoleonic wars raging throughout Europe the emperor of Portugal, Dom Joao, attempted to stay neutral. However, the neutrality of Portugal proved hard to maintain when Napoleon established the "continental blockade" in 1806 (Martin 183). In 1807, Napoleon declared the Braganza dynasty's surrender of the throne and the division of Portugal between France and Spain (183). The news forced Dom Joao to make a decision, he and his entire court fled to Brazil with the help of British fleets in order to escape Napoleon's army. The royal family arrived in 1808 and established their rule in Rio de Janeiro at the heart of Brazil. Upon arrival, Dom Joao found a colony that was commercially and economically backwards compared to Portugal. One of the only manufacturing opportunities encouraged by the Portuguese monarch prior to arrival was ship building as well as the processing of sugar (Macaulay 87). The Portuguese had not even allowed them to partake in metallurgy and the use of textiles (Macaulay 87). Dom Joao immediately abolished Portugal's commercial monopoly and opened up the ports to foreign trade once he saw the poor conditions of their economy (Levine 88). However, most of the benefits from foreign trade went to Britain due to the fact that they moved the entire Portuguese royal court to Brazil. The monarch established a series of agreements that allowed Britain many advantages in Brazil. The agreements gave Britain the lowest tariffs on all goods entering Brazil, forced the Portuguese to gradually abolish the African slave trade, and guaranteed all British subjects in Brazil the right to a trial by British appointed judges (34) This created much anger amongst the Brazilian elite, who resented the extra privileges given to the British. Dom Joao also successfully attempted to authorize and encourage industry, this combined with the new foreign trade elevated Brazil's colonial status that of a kingdom (Burns, 84). Despite the discontent among the elites, Brazil soon transformed into a thriving empire and with that came the psychological transformation of the Brazilians themselves.

The Brazilians enjoyed their new found freedom under the exiled Portuguese monarch. He established new institutions such as a national library, a national museum, and a botanical garden in the capital (Skidmore and Smith 34). He also attempted to speed up the professionalization of sculpture, painting, and architecture by inviting many French artists to settle in Brazil (Martin, 151). The foreign influence opened Brazil to new ideas and brought about enlightenment to the people as they grew accustomed to their new self-government. Their new place in the world made it impossible for Brazilians to even imagine returning to their old status of colonial dependency (156). After the defeat of Napoleon in 1815, many of Portugal's internal conflicts increased with the absence of the royal family ("movement" par. 3). Feeling the pressure from the Portuguese liberals, the royal court returned to Portugal in 1821 after thirteen years in Brazil (pars. 3-4). The emperor left behind his son Dom Pedro as the regent of Brazil. Back in Lisbon, the newly assembled Parliament, the Cortes, sought to restore Brazil to its original colonial subservience. They attempted to re- establish trade monopoly in Brazil by lowering tariffs for imports arriving in Portuguese ships (Skidmore and Smith 35). They absolutely hated the thought of Brazil's move towards self-rule and did everything they could to prevent it. They took away most of the institutions established by Dom Joao, such as the library, and other freedoms the Brazilians had become accustomed to. In September, 1821, the Cortes voted to abolish the Kingdom of Brazil and force the provinces of Brazil to become subordinate to Lisbon ("empire" pars. 4-5). They also insisted on Dom Pedro's immediate return to Portugal. There was quickly a movement against he return of Dom Pedro which soon turned into a movement for independence ("movement" par. 6). For the Brazilians, independence seemed like the only way to gain salvation. Listening to the views of the mazombo, Dom Pedro refused to return to Portugal and even appointed a nationalistic mazombo Jose Bonifacio de Andrada e Silva to his cabinet (Burns 82). It was Bonifacio who had the most influence in persuading Pedro to defy the orders of the Cortes and observe mazombo opinion, which "refused to allow Lisbon to dictate policies for Brazil" (83). Many of the mazombos, or Brazilian elites, had studied in France and become familiar with the enlightenment ideas as well as from books by French intellects such as Rousseau. They were also fascinated with the French revolution, and such influences became noticeably prominent in Brazil. The influences of the English also became apparent in Brazil. Since much trade went on between Brazil and Britain, the enlightenment ideas circulated between the merchants and the people. Books and pamphlets by Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Paine all cropped up in Brazilian libraries. The new enlightenment ideas spurred nativism amongst Brazilian elites, who began resenting the exploitation overseas of the colonies (72). It was from these ideas that the elites realized that the only way to gain status and influence involved taking matters into their own hands. The growing nativism among the mazombos was also caused by the creation of colonial militias. With this came the new found obligation to defend the colonies from foreign attack, and the ability to rise in the ranks of the militia further encouraged mazombo ambitions (73). Many petitions had been passed around the public and presented to Dom Pedro as a sign of Brazil's desire for autonomy by such groups as Minas Gerais and Sao Paulo ("movement" par. 6). So, after receiving the orders from the Cortes restricting his authority in Brazil, Pedro declared the independence of Brazil and on September 7, 1822 became Dom Pedro I. The course of independence on which Brazil traveled provided a stability and unity that was quite unusual for other former viceroyalties of the time. However, like most outcomes of Latin American independence movements, only the elite class gained any true benefits from the changes. Since the elites had been used to over thirteen years of rule from the Braganza Dynasty the transition from colony to monarchial nation gained very little opposition. Very few battles took place, partly due to the fact that Portugal had a weak military. Pedro managed to keep all of Brazil unified throughout the journey for independence. Two years later, Dom Pedro and ten other Brazilians established a constitution with a monarchy as their ruling power. Portugal refused to acknowledge Brazil as independent and this caused many other countries to hesitate in doing so as well. Great Britain and the United States were the first to recognize Brazil as an independent nation. It wasn't until 1825 that Portugal first acknowledged Brazil's independence by signing a treaty. In order to gain retribution, Brazil had to pay 1.4 million pounds sterling owed to Britain and reimburse Dom Joao VI and other Portuguese for losses of over 600,000 in sterling ("empire" par. 16). Despite the support that Pedro gained throughout the journey for independence he became increasingly unpopular with the people whom he ruled. His increased involvement in Portuguese matters caused many to question his sincerity in ruling Brazil. The elite class also had many problems with Pedro's decisions as emperor. Many of the elites opposed the constitution that he wrote and enacted in 1824. They were also discontented when he chose to surround himself with Portuguese advisors, disregarding the decisions of the Brazilian parliament. He also received much opposition due to his poor dealings with foreign affairs. Dom Pedro I chose to renew an old war against Argentina in order to regain the Cisplatine province, it became known as the Cisplatine War. However he lost the province when Uruguay became independent in 1828 and Brazil gained another defeat from Argentina (Levine 62). Eventually, Pedro abdicated his thrown in 1831 surrounded by much widespread opposition to his rule. He returned to Portugal and left the thrown to his five year old son Dom Pedro II. The transition of Brazil from a subservient colonial state to an independent empire occurred smoothly and without much blood shed. With the enlightenment and the growing nativism inducing ideas of independence in the minds of Brazilians, they sought the help of Dom Pedro in order to gain sovereignty. The rule of Pedro's father allowed the people of Brazil to get a small taste of independence, it was during those thirteen years of rule that the people of Brazil prospered. After the return of Dom Joao to Portugal, the Portuguese parliament tried to take away what few rights Brazilians were allowed. With Dom Pedro as their leader, Brazil declared independence and fought to keep it. They eventually went on to discover their own national identity and gain world wide recognition of their independence.