Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

Prince Regent Dom Pedro's dramatic cry of “Independence or Death” on September 7, 1822 marked the beginning of South America's only enduring constitutional monarchy. The Brazilian empire lasted for just over 67 years, ending with a rapid and nearly bloodless republican coup on November 15, 1889. Traditional historical interpretations highlighted Brazil's unique qualities compared to its contemporaneous Spanish American neighbors – a transition to independence that was swift and relatively peaceful, the perpetuation of crown rule, the preservation of territorial integrity, and an unusual degree of political stability and economic prosperity. Subsequent revisionist literature, however, has emphasized regional cleavages and political rivalries that made Brazil's lauded stability more contingent. Brazil's successful transition to unified nationhood is all the more surprising given its regional and social heterogeneity. At independence, Brazil was divided into 18 captaincies that maintained more regular and easy communications with Lisbon than they did among themselves. Transportation from interior to coast was limited largely to navigable river systems or primitive trails traversable only by foot or by mule. The population was unevenly distributed, as were the colony's sources of wealth. The slave population, amounting to at least one-third of Brazil's total population of four to five ... log in or subscribe to read full text