Constituent Assembly of 1823

In June 1822, the then Prince Regent of Brazil, Dom Pedro I, summoned parliamentarians to draft the country's first constitution.

Before the text was written, Dom Pedro declared that he would only accept constitutional determinations if they were worthy of the country and the emperor.

However, only after independence of Brazil that the Assembly began to exercise its function. The main objective of constituent Assembly was to draft a Constitution to guide the new state sovereign.

Summary – Constituent Assembly of 1823

One of the objectives of preparing the Constitution was to determine who would have the right to vote. With that, only men with an annual income of 10 bushels of cassava flour could exercise their citizenship.

Therefore, the project of the document became known as the Constitution of cassava, for representing the interests of the agrarian elite, directing political decisions to individuals who owned land and large amounts of manioc planted.

The maintenance and legitimation of slavery was another feature of the project. In addition, the government had the role of guaranteeing the interests of slave labor.

This phase was marked by the dispute between two groups for power: the Brazilian Party and the Portuguese Party. The first claimed the submission of the sovereign to Parliament. The second, on the other hand, longed for absolute powers at the monarch.

As the country's first draft constitution, it was heavily influenced by the constitutions of the countries europeans, by adopting the three powers:

• Legislative power;
• Executive power;
• Judicial power.

This organization determined that the legislative power would have predominance over the executive power. This fact contradicted the then prince regent, who showed authoritarian, centralizing and absolutists.

The fact that he did not agree to have his powers limited provoked a clash of interests that made Dom Pedro I resign José Bonifácio and promote a coup d'état in November 1823, using military forces to dissolve the Assembly Constituent.

This event became known as the night of agony. Politicians who spoke out against the coup were expelled from the country or arrested.

We realize, then, that the Brazil's first Constitution it was born from the particular interests of the then Prince Regent and not from a Constituent Assembly.

Learn more at:

• halter vote
• Women's vote in Brazil
• List of exercises on the First Reign
• Timeline of Brazil Empire – First and Second Reigns – Chronology
• Timeline – History of Brazil