Pedro II of Brazil

Pedro II of Brazil
Emperor of Brazil
Dom Pedro II, at age 25.
Reign	7 April 1831 - 15 November 1889
Coronation	18 July 1841
Born	December 2, 1825(1825-12-02)
Birthplace	Palácio Imperial, Rio de Janeiro
Died	December 5, 1891 (aged 66)
Place of death	Paris, France
Predecessor	Pedro I of Brazil
Successor	Isabel of Brazil
Consort	Teresa of the Two Sicilies
Offspring	Afonso de Bourbon e Bragança Isabel, Princess Imperial of Brazil Princess Leopoldina of Brazil Pedro de Bourbon e Bragança
Royal House	House of Braganza
Royal anthem	Independence Hymn
Father	Pedro I of Brazil
Mother	Maria Leopoldina of Austria

Pedro II, pronounced [ˈpedɾu seˈgũdu], or Dom Pedro de Alcântara; December 2, 1825 – December 5, 1891) was the second and last Emperor of Brazil, having ruled for almost 50 years. His name in full was Pedro de Alcântara João Carlos Leopoldo Salvador Bibiano Francisco Xavier de Paula Leocádio Miguel Gabriel Rafael Gonzaga de Bragança e Habsburgo, By the Grace of God and Unanimous Acclamation of the People, Constitutional Emperor and Perpetual Defender of Brazil.

When anglicised, his name would be Peter II of Brazil, full name Peter of Alcantara John Charles Leopold Salvador Vivian Francis Xavier of Paula Leocadio Michael Gabriel Raphael Gonzaga of Braganza and Habsburg.

He was born on December 2, 1825, in Rio de Janeiro, the seventh son of Emperor Pedro I of Brazil and Archduchess Maria Leopoldina of Austria.

The Regency

Pedro II at age 12

When he was a boy of five, Pedro became the Emperor of Brazil. His father Pedro I abdicated the Throne on April 7, 1831, after violent protests in Brazil against his careless handling of internal affairs, to fight a civil war in Portugal. The aim of the war in Portugal was to restore the throne of Portugal to Maria II, elder sister of Pedro II.

As a result of caring for his children's interests, in 1834, his father, Pedro I of Brazil (and Pedro IV of Portugal), had a daughter (who was only 15 years old) on the throne of Portugal and a son, Pedro II, who was Emperor of Brazil, at age 9.

During the Emperor's childhood, a series of regents administered the government, in accordance with the Constitution. On July 23, 1840, the Brazilian Imperial Parliament, or General Assembly, declared Pedro to be of age to govern and abolished the regency. Though only 14, Pedro already had a reputation as a judicious ruler, and the Imperial Parliament hoped that his popularity would quell the regional revolts that had rocked Brazil in the 1830s. Emperor Pedro II was consecrated and crowned on July 18, 1841.

Family life

Dom Pedro II was married on September 17, 1842, to his cousin Princess Teresa of the Two Sicilies (1822–1889), the youngest daughter of King Francis I of the Two Sicilies (1777–1830) and Maria Isabella of Spain. (Pedro I had been married to Leopoldina of Austria when he was Crown Prince of Portugal). Pedro II and Teresa Cristina had four children:

• Afonso de Bourbon e Bragança (1845–1847), Prince of Grão Pará and Prince Imperial of Brazil.
• Isabel de Bourbon e Bragança (1846–1921), who married Louis Philippe Marie Ferdinand Gaston, comte d'Eu, son of Louis of Orleans, Duke of Nemours.
• Leopoldina de Bourbon e Bragança (1847–1871), who married Prince Ludwig August of Kohary of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.
• Pedro de Bourbon e Bragança (1848–1850), Prince of Grão Pará and Prince Imperial of Brazil.

Emperor of Brazil

Emperor Pedro II in regalia, in the opening of the annual session of the Brazilian Imperial Parliament (General Assembly), 1873.

Pedro II reigned as Emperor of Brazil for 49 years. As emperor, he brought economic stability and progress by encouraging coffee production instead of sugar. The period saw the beginnings of industrialization: the first paved roads, the first steam-engine railway, a submarine telegraphy cable, and the introduction of the telephone. He fought against poverty and illiteracy by establishing primary schools and specialized secondary colleges and universities all over the country. By the end of his reign, there were 118 schools in Rio de Janeiro. He also set up the Brazilian Institute of History and Geography. Pedro II encouraged culture in his country as he subsidized artists and writers, and established libraries. Furthermore, having studied French political thought and being fond of the concept of constitutional governments, he wanted his people to be educated so that they would be able to self-govern.

Because of his strong intellectual passions, he traveled to the United States and attended the Philadelphia Exposition of 1876, where Alexander Graham Bell showed him his new telephone. Pedro II probably was the first Brazilian to use the invention. He recited Shakespeare's classic line from Hamlet, "To be or not to be" into it, and exclaimed, "This thing speaks!". His regime was supported for 40 years because of his leadership and compassion for the Brazilian people.

Liberal in outlook, Pedro II took steps to end slavery, after freeing forty slaves that he inherited when became legaly an adult in 1840.^[1] He knew that the Brazilian landowners would disagree with complete and immediate emancipation, therefore the process was gradual. In 1871, he passed the "free womb" laws that claimed that children born to enslaved women would be free upon birth; the law also claimed that all bondmen were declared free and a special bond was set aside to help slaves purchase freedom. The final abolition edict, the Golden Law, was signed in his absence by his daughter Princess Isabel, on May 13, 1888, freeing 700,000 slaves without any compensation for their owners.

Pedro II also tried to learn Guarani, the most widely spoken indigenous language in nineteenth-century Brazil.

He was widely respected by Brazilians of all social levels as an enlightened monarch who ruled in a principled, rational, moderate fashion. His relations with the Roman Catholic Church were strained due to his opposition to their 1872 anti-Masonic laws. Historian Thomas Skidmore has compared Pedro II to Queen Victoria, another nineteenth-century monarch who was popular for similar reasons.

Though an enlightened monarch, Pedro II nonetheless retained extensive power over the Brazilian government, as he presided over 36 cabinets. Under the Brazilian Constitution of 1824, the Emperor possessed Poder Moderador ("Moderating Power"), i.e. the power to temper the will of Brazil's representative government. In practice, this meant that Pedro II had the right to veto legislation, dissolve the lower house of the legislature (the only one that was elected), and call new elections at his pleasure. Pedro II generally respected the wishes of the electorate, and did all that he could to alternate support between the Liberal and Conservative parties so that each would have a fair amount of time in power. These parties represented the landowning class, causing tensions within other classes of Brazilian society and often leaving them displeased. The unexpectedly long and costly Paraguayan War of 1865-1870 also diminished his popularity. Regardless of its negative impacts, the war had significant impacts on politics, as it strengthened and solidified relations with Argentina, while establishing the Brazilian army's power.

Photograph of Emperor Pedro II in 1876.

In the wake of the Paraguayan War, a war not started by Brazil, the monarchy was seen by some to be an obstacle to modernization and economic growth. Liberals called both for greater regional autonomy. The abolition of slavery in Brazil, the last place where it still existed in the Americas, irritated the wealthy elite. A military coup d'etat on November 15, 1889 overthrew the monarchy. The Emperor and his family went into exile in Europe, and Brazil created a new federalist, republican government under the Brazilian Constitution of 1891.

Pedro II died on December 5, 1891, in Paris, France. The government of France gave a state funeral to the old emperor. At the same time, the Brazilian Republic censored the details of Pedro's death and funeral.

His and his wife's remains were taken to Brazil in 1920, and were placed in a chapel in the city Petrópolis.

The Imperial Mausoleum at Petrópolis Cathedral.

Ancestry

Books

• Barman, Roderick J. Citizen Emperor: Pedro II and the Making of Brazil, 1825–1891. 1999.
• Brown, Rose. American Emperor: Dom Pedro II of Brazil. 1945.
• Crow, John A. The Epic of Latin American: Fourth Edition University of California Press, 1992.
• da Costa, Emilia Viotti. The Brazilian Empire: Myths and Histories. 2000; 1985.
• Harding, Bertita. Amazon Throne. London: Harrap, 1942.
• Schwarcz, Lilia Moritz. The Emperor's Beard: Dom Pedro II and His Tropical Monarchy in Brazil. Trans. John Gledson. 2003.
• Skidmore, Thomas. Brazil: Five Centuries of Change. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.
• Skidmore, Thomas. Modern Latin America. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005

See also

• Empire of Brazil
• History of Brazil

External links

• Pedro II and America
• [1]
• Historical Text Archive
• Brazilian Senate webpage (in Portuguese)
• Museu Imperial - Brasil

Pretenders to the Brazilian throne since 1899 Empire of Brazil Emperor Pedro II 1889–1891 Princess-Imperial Isabel 1891–1921 Vassouras branch Prince Pedro Henrique 1921–1981 Prince Luís since 1981 Petrópolis branch Prince Pedro Gastão 1940–2007 Prince Pedro Carlos since 2007 See also Brazilian Imperial Family

The Brazilian Imperial Family Main Line Forefathers: John VI of Portugal  · Queen Charlotte (née Infanta of Spain) First generation: Emperor Pedro I  · Empress Leopoldina (née Archduchess of Austria)  · Empress Amélie (née Princess of Leuchtenberg) Second Generation: Emperor Pedro II  · Empress Teresa Cristina (née Princess of Bourbon-Two Sicilies)  · Maria II of Portugal  · Januária, Princess Imperial of Brazil  · Princess Francisca of Brazil, Princess of Joinville Third generation: Afonso, Prince Imperial of Brazil  · Isabel, Princess Imperial of Brazil  · Prince Gaston of Orléans, Count of Eu  · Princess Leopoldina of Brazil, Princess of Koháry Fourth generation: Prince Pedro de Alcantara of Orléans-Braganza  · Princess Elisabeth of Orléans-Braganza (née Countess Dobrzensky)  · Luís, Prince Imperial of Brazil  · Princess Maria Pia of Orléans-Braganza (née Princess of Bourbon-Two Sicilies)  · Prince Antônio Gastão of Orléans-Braganza The Vassouras Branch Fifth generation: Prince Pedro Henrique of Orléans-Braganza  · Princess Maria Elisabeth of Orléans-Braganza (née Princess of Bavaria) Sixth generation: Prince Luís of Orléans-Braganza  · Prince Bertrand of Orléans-Braganza  · Prince Antônio of Orléans-Braganza  · Princess Christine of Orléans-Braganza (née Princess of Ligne) Seventh generation: Prince Pedro Luís of Orléans-Braganza  · Prince Rafael of Orléans-Braganza  · Princess Amélia of Orléans-Braganza  · Princess Maria Gabriela Fernanda of Orléans-Braganza The Petrópolis Branch Fifth generation: Prince Pedro Gastão of Orléans-Braganza  · Princess Isabel of Orléans-Braganza, Countess of Paris  · Princess Francisca of Orléans-Braganza  · Prince João of Orléans-Braganza  · Princess Maria de la Esperanza of Orléans-Braganza (née Princess of Bourbon-Two Sicilies) Sixth generation: Prince Pedro Carlos of Orléans-Braganza  · Princess Maria da Gloria of Orléans-Braganza  · Princess Cristina of Orléans-Braganza Seventh generation: Prince Pedro Thiago of Orléans-Braganza  · Prince Filipe of Orléans-Braganza