During the regency period, the formation of liberal and conservative parties determined the content of the main political disputes of that period. On the one hand, the liberals called for the expansion of the autonomy of provincial governments and the reform of some aspects contained in the Constitution of 1824. On the other hand, conservatives were in favor of maintaining the centralized political structure and preserving the powers reserved to the emperor.
It was through this difference in perspectives that the regency political scenario was taken by a series of crises that destabilized the government at the time. The greatest proof of this was in the very outbreak of the regency rebellions, where several of the protest movements questioned the regency's determinations. It was in this context that, in 1840, the young emperor Dom Pedro II took over the Brazilian government through the outbreak of the Coup of Majority.
In principle, the monarch was supported and honored the presence of liberal figures in his ministry. However, in the following year, the scandals of violence and corruption involving liberals, which occurred in the elections for deputy, they urged the emperor to dissolve the ministry and summon political figures of origin conservative. Apparently, the old political feud that had already marked the time of the regency continued unresolved at the beginning of the Second Reign.
In order to defuse these disputes, the emperor began to make room for liberal and conservative political figures in his government. Thus, instead of advocating in favor of a single group, the emperor sought to privilege the two political factions and, at the same time, consolidate an impartial political image for himself. It was in this context that the “Ministry of Conciliation” was formed.
From the beginning of his government, Dom Pedro II was responsible for determining which ministers would form the Council of Ministers. So that this choice did not become the target of dispute between liberals and conservatives, the emperor implemented a peculiar parliamentary system, where the emperor chose the president of the Council of Ministers and the latter, in turn, made the choice of each of the ministers who would form the portfolios of the government.
This mechanism, while shielding the figure of the emperor, opened the way for the alternation of liberal and conservative figures in central power. It is worth remembering that, at that time, both liberals and conservatives had the same social origin and that, in this way, they shared several political interests in common. In 1853, this approximation of interests reached its peak with the formation of the “Ministry of Conciliation”.
Formed thanks to the political effort of Honório Carneiro Leão, the Marquis of Paraná, this ministry had the simultaneous presence of figures of liberal and conservative origin. In practical terms, the formation of this ministry represented the consolidation of a political stability not experienced since the times of the First Reign.
During the time it was in effect, this ministry was able to establish several unimaginable achievements in times of fierce political dispute. Despite the tranquility achieved, we must emphasize that conciliation was a mechanism capable of strengthening the unity of interests of the elite that controlled national political life. In this way, the Second Reign managed to maintain its centralized structure without major upheavals in the political sphere.
By Rainer Sousa
Master in History
Source: Brazil School - https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/historiab/o-ministerio-conciliacao.htm