O second reign is the period of Brazilian history in which the country was ruled by D. Peter II. This period extended from 1840, when D. Pedro II was crowned emperor after the Coup of Majority, and ended in 1889, when the Proclamation of the Republic put an end to the monarchy in Brazil. It was a period of great transformations in the country and marked by important conflicts, such as the Paraguayan War.
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Context and Phases of the Second Reign
The Second Reign began in 1840 through the Coming of Age coup. Through this movement, Brazilian politicians, through the liberals, anticipated the majority of D. Pedro II so that he could assume the throne. This was because liberals wanted to regain power that was in the hands of conservatives and because they believed that the emperor's coronation would put an end to all the conflicts that took place in the parents.
Thus began the Second Reign, a period that spanned 49 years and can be divided as follows:
Consolidation (1840-1850): when the emperor was in power and established it, in his own way, over the country, placing rebellious politicians and provinces under his control.
peak (1850-1865): when the emperor's power was wide and his position was consolidated.
Decline (1865-1889): when disputes arise against the position of D. Pedro II, and the country's economy was not doing well.
Second Reign Policy
In the case of politics during the Second Reign, the first highlight to be made is the performance of existing political parties. The two parties that acted in Brazilian politics during this period were formed during the Governing Period and were known as BrokenConservative and BrokenLiberal.
The power struggle held by conservatives and liberals was intense and had negative impacts on Brazilian politics, as it generated a lot of instability. The solution found by the emperor was to promote a policy of alternation in which conservatives and liberals alternated in the leadership of the ministerial cabinet. This reduced conflicts a little.
Both parties had slight differences in the ideological position and class they supported. Conservatives were in favor of a great centralization of power in the hands of the emperor, while liberals advocated greater local autonomy for the provinces. In this sense, historians Lilia Schwarcz and Heloísa Starling say that conservatives supported themselves in the “alliance of bureaucracy with the great commerce and great export farming", and the liberals, in "urban liberal professionals united with market agriculture internal"|1|.
Despite this, a very strong criticism of the performance of the two parties, which was already being carried out at the time, is that the differences between liberals and conservatives were almost non-existent. It was also said at the time that there was nothing more like a conservative than a liberal in power.
The distribution of power during the Second Reign took place in such a way that the emperor had broad powers in politics. The emperor personally represented the PowerModerator and was ahead of the Executive. The Executive also included the Council of State. In the case of the Legislature, the positions of senator and deputy stand out.
Finally, in Brazilian politics, a last and important highlight to be mentioned is what became known as reverse parliamentarism. Brazil functioned as a parliamentary monarchy in which the emperor interfered in politics whenever necessary to guarantee his interests. Thus, if a prime minister was elected that he did not like, he would remove him, and if the Chamber took measures that he did not like, it was dissolved.
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Second Reign Economics
In economic terms, the highlight goes to the coffee economy, which was consolidated during the Second Reign as the main means of production of the Brazilian economy. There were three coffee producing areas in Brazil during this period: OKofParaíba (RJ/SP), WestPaulista (SP) and ZonegivesWoods (MG).
Coffee production took place (first in the Paraíba Valley) using mainly enslaved workers. In fact, as the number of slaves in the country was reduced, the coffee producing regions became great buyers of slaves. Oeste Paulista used, at first, slave labor, but throughout the 1880s, this was replaced by immigrants who came to arrive in large numbers in the country.
Another important moment of the Brazilian economy, during the Second Reign, was the one of great economic growth marked by some industrial development: the WasMaua. Such economic prosperity took place between 1840-1860, and in it Brazil's revenues increased fourfold.
The economic growth of this period is largely attributed to the reflection of the end of the slave trade in the country through the Eusébio de Queirós Law, from 1850. With this law, the slave trade was prohibited, and all the resources, which were previously used in the acquisition of slaves, started to be used for other investments. The country's exports have increased, and investment in railways, for example, has increased significantly.
abolition of slavery
During the Second Reign, the abolition of slavery was one of the central themes and the target of heated debates in political circles. The starting point for enacting abolition in Brazil was the Eusébio de Queirós Law, enacted in 1850 and which stipulated the prohibition of the slave trade in the country.
With this law, abolition was a matter of time, since it was the traffic that maintained the high number of slaves in Brazil. Here began a slow and gradual transition, in which the aim of the country's economic elite was to delay abolition as long as possible. During this transition period, several laws were enacted, such as the Lawinlands, LawofbellyFree and LawFromSexagenarians.
The abolition of slavery took place on May 13, 1888, when Princess Isabel signed the LawGolden. The end of slavery was the result of intense popular mobilization and the action of slaves rebelling against this institution. To learn more about the subject, we suggest reading this text.
Paraguay War
A remarkable event in the history of the Second Reign was the Paraguay War, a conflict that took place between 1864 and 1870. In this war, Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay, through the TripleAlliance, fought against Paraguay, ruled at that time by FranciscoSolanoLopez. Brazil won this conflict, but its consequences for the country's economy and for the monarchy were bad.
The conflict was the result of the clash of territorial, economic and political interests between the nations of the Platinum Basin (Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina and Brazil). The combat began when the Paraguayans imprisoned a Brazilian vessel, at the end of 1864, and ended in 1870, when the Paraguayan dictator was killed in the Battle of Cerro Corá.
Regarding the causes that led to the beginning of the Paraguay War, we suggest reading this text. To learn more about the main events of this war, we suggest reading this text.
end of the monarchy
Marshal Deodoro da Fonseca led the troops that overthrew the Ministerial Cabinet on November 15, 1889.
The end of the monarchy in Brazil was the result of the erosion of this form of government with the interests of the country's political and economic elite. Its downfall occurred through its break with three important groups in the country: the Church (a less relevant factor), the army and the slave elite.
The group that had the greatest involvement with this end was the Army. Dissatisfied with the monarchy since the end of the Paraguay War, the military began to conspire against it. So, in November 15, 1889, Marshal Deodoro da Fonseca, leading military troops, dismissed the Ministerial Cabinet, and, during that day, José do Patrocínio proclaimed the Republic in Brazil.
Summary
The coronation of D. Pedro II occurred through the Coup of Majority, in 1840.
The two parties that controlled Brazilian politics were the Liberal Party and the Conservative Party.
The Brazilian political system became known as “reverse parliamentarianism”.
In the economy, coffee established itself as our main product, and between 1840 and 1860 there was a period of prosperity known as the Mauá Era.
The abolition of slavery was the result of an intense popular and political mobilization allied with the resistance carried out by the slaves. It materialized with the signing of the Lei Áurea, on May 13, 1888.
The Paraguay War was a watershed in the history of the Second Reign. In this conflict, Brazil was involved in a fight against Paraguay between 1864-1870.
The military were the group most involved with the Proclamation of the Republic in Brazil. The de facto proclamation was carried out by José do Patrocínio on November 15, 1889.
Exercise solved
(Enem 2017) The abolitionist movement, which led to the liberation of slaves through the Lei Áurea on May 13, 1888, was the first campaign of national dimensions with popular participation. Never before had so many Brazilians mobilized so intensely for a common cause, not even during the Paraguayan War. Involving all regions and social classes, it carried crowds to rallies and public demonstrations and dramatically changed the political and social relations that until then prevailed in the country.
GOMES, L. 1889. São Paulo: Globo, 2013. (Adapted.)
The aforementioned social movement had as its main propagation vehicle (a)
a) written press
b) military officership
c) courtly court
d) Catholic clergy
e) chamber of representatives
Reply: LETTER A
The abolitionist campaign gained strength in the 1880s, and one of the means of greater publicity for this cause was the written press. Several newspapers published articles in favor of this cause, such as Jornal do Commercio, O Amigo do Escravo, A Gazeta da Tarde, A Liberdade, among others.
Grades
|1| SCHWARCZ, Lilia Moritz; STARLING, Heloisa Murgel. Brazil: a biography. São Paulo: Companhia das Letras, 2015. P. 282.
By Daniel Neves
Graduated in History
Source: Brazil School - https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/historiab/segundo-reinado.htm