On August 12, 1834, the members of the Chamber of Deputies established a set of changes that directly affected the guidelines of the Constitution of 1824. On that day, the so-called Additional Act approved a series of changes that well reflected the new political scenario experienced. Now, without the intervention of the royal power, the present political trends, represented by the liberal and conservative wings, tried to balance themselves in power.
At that time, the political role to be played by the provinces and by the Executive Power was the target of endless discussions that placed these two political groups in opposition. On the one hand, conservatives defended the molds of the constitutional monarchy and its centralizing political guidelines. In contrast, liberals believed that royal powers should be limited and that provinces should have greater autonomy.
In the dispute between these political factions, the Additional Act would be a way to establish a political commitment that would be above the feuds of each group. First, this reform of the constitution authorized each of the provinces to create a Legislative Assembly. Through this measure, local political representatives could institute the creation of taxes, control finances and determine the members of the civil service.
Initially, this achievement seemed to symbolize an express political victory of the liberals. assemblies were still subordinate to the orders of the president of the province, who was chosen by the nomination of the central government. Furthermore, there was a recommendation that the provinces should not oppose the deliberations coming from the regency administration. In this way, we observed that the autonomy of the provinces was surrounded by an endless series of limits.
This same contradictory feeling developed with the extinction of the Council of State, yet another of the determinations created by the Additional Act. Primarily, the extinction of the Council of State put an end to that group of political advisors who helped the emperor in the exercise of authoritarian Moderating Power. However, the preservation of the lifetime duration of the Senator's office pointed to the maintenance of a privilege that pleased conservative politicians.
Another important reform that the Additional Act stipulated was the extinction of the Trina Regency and the choice of only one representative to occupy the regency position. With the formation of the so-called Regência Una, several candidates were willing to occupy the new position of the executive branch. Organized through direct elections and census voting, the choice of the regent, despite being a manifestation of a liberal tendency, was marked by frauds denounced in several regions of the territory national.
A few years later, still feeling hampered by the freedoms offered by the Additional Act, conservatives stipulated a reaction to this first reform of the constitution. In 1840, under the domain of the conservative regent Araújo Lima, the Law of Interpretation of the Additional Act was instituted. According to its dictates, this law revoked the legislative right of the provinces and established that the Judiciary Police be controlled by the Central Executive Branch.
By Rainer Sousa
Graduated in History
Brazil School Team
Governing Period - Brazil Monarchy
history of Brazil - Brazil School
Source: Brazil School - https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/historiab/o-ato-adicional-1834.htm