History UsefulNotes / TheEmpireOfBrazil

!!The Napoleon Wars and The Flight of the Braganzas

Despite the end of the Napoleonic Wars, John was content to remain in Brazil and keep it the seat of the Empire, even allowing himself to be officially crowned King in Rio after his mother Maria's death in 1816. However, because he couldn't govern from a colony, he chose to elevate Brazil to a Kingdom, renaming his vast empire United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil, and the Algarves. This effectively put Brazil on equal footing with the British, allowing its economic and political systems to mature.\\\

In 1807, UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte was desperate to end the British threat to his burgeoning empire. To his dismay, the Kingdom of Portugal was refusing to abide by his Continental System, a continent-wide trade embargo set up by Napoleon to break British resolve. Portugal's ruler, Prince Regent John[[note]], While his mother Maria was still technically the Queen, she suffered a nervous breakdown, leaving John to effectively served as Portugal's de facto king[[/note]], didn't want to participate in the Continental System since it would mean the British would turn on Portugal and uses its powerful navy to (at best) block access to Brazil, devastating Portugal's economy. He also knew Napoleon would invade Portugal if he didn't abide by the Continental System. So John decided when Napoleon did invade in 1807, to evacuate himself and his court to Brazil to both keep trade with the United Kingdom and avoid being imprisoned by Napoleon.\\\

His own personal life was even more hectic. Pedro has been a serial philanderer, much to the dismay of his consort, the Hapsburg princess Leopoldina. But soon, he began parading his mistress, Domitila de Castro, openly ''in front of his wife''. Leopoldina's mental health was ruined, mainly as Pedro began emotionally abusing her and isolating her in a palace. The psychological damage from Pedro's mistreatment, along with a miscarriage, drove Leopoldina into an early grave. The revelations that he abused his wife, on top of rumors that Pedro deliberately caused the miscarriage by assaulting her, further damaged Pedro's reputation amongst the Brazilian public and increased calls for his resignation.\\\


Finally, Pedro faced a succession crisis in Portugal. After his father died in 1826, Pedro I inherited the throne, but preferring to reign in Brazil, he passed the crown on to his daughter Maria. However, his treacherous brother Miguel, who Pedro wanted as a regent, tried to overthrow his daughter and return Portugal to an absolute monarchy.\\\

Brazil's political turmoil exploded in 1831 when a street brawl erupted between Pedro's Portuguese-born supporters and native-born Brazilian liberals. Pedro's reputation in Brazil deteriorated so much that even his soldiers joined the protests. With his reputation in Brazil gone, Pedro I abdicated in favor of his son, UsefulNotes/PedroII, knowing his Brazilian-born son would have more popularity than himself. He returned to Portugal and successfully fought a civil war to regain his father's throne, only to die shortly after his victory in 1834.

No longer having faith in their ability to govern and fearing Brazil could break apart, the Regency and the General Assembly decided the only way to regain legitimacy was for Pedro to take the throne early. At the young age of 14, Pedro was officially crowned Emperor of Brazil.

Despite a rocky start to Pedro's reign, including dominance by a faction of courtiers, a poor start to his arranged marriage with Princess Teresa Cristina[[note]]A poor start was putting it mildly; Teresa's not-so-pretty-appearance publically mortified Pedro. While their marriage became more friendly and respectful with time, they never were truly in love[[/note]], and the premature death of his two sons, by the 1850s, Pedro II had consolidated power and proven himself to be an able statesman. He increased Brazil's international prestige by successfully navigating several crises.\\\

Having emerged victorious from Latin America's most significant interstate conflict, the Empire of Brazil had become the unquestioned and celebrated hegemon of South America and the second significant power in the Americas after the United States. The Empire's last two decades showed tremendous promise: the economy was booming, the country took its first baby steps toward industrialization, its slavery system was gradually being abolished, millions of European immigrants flooded into Brazil to build up its industry and agriculture, and Pedro II was renowned around the world as an enlightened philosopher king. When Dom Pedro II visited the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1876, he left such a positive impression on the American people that he may have received write-in votes for that year's election. However, this progress was not to last. Underneath the image of prosperity and peace, several factors slowly eroded the monarchy's prestige.

## Abolitionism: For his first few decades in power, Pedro II took no stance on abolition despite being privately opposed to slavery and holding none of the racial prejudice men in his day held. But with many African slaves being freed to fight in the Paraguayan War, the plight of slaves grew too great for Pedro to ignore. In 1871, The Law of Free Birth was passed, which banned the enslavement of children born to slaves. In 1888, slavery was finally abolished for good with the passage of the Golden Law. However, Pedro alienated the ultraconservative landowners with abolition. Not just by taking away their slaves without compensation but by taking a stance on slavery, Pedro II ceased to be, in their eyes, a neutral arbitrator who could be above politics.

## Pedro's disillusionment: While Pedro II was steadfast in his duties as a monarch, [[TheChainsOfCommanding he deeply resented the throne that had been forced on him as a young man and the workload it demanded of him]]. The premature death of his two sons convinced him early on that the throne was not to be preserved. While his last living daughter, Princess Isabel, was a well-educated woman who competently served as regent during Pedro's trips abroad [[note]] She had the honor of signing the anti-slavery bills into law[[/note]], Pedro II and his advisors didn't believe a woman could handle the responsibilities of a monarch, and Isabel herself had no real interest in the throne. His vacations abroad further eroded his interest in the throne, as he finally got a taste of the freedom he had been denied due to his duties, and by the last years of his reign, he largely dispensed with the pageantry of the monarchy and neglected the duties of the crown, both out of disinterest and his failing health, wearing away at the awe and splendor it was once held.\\\

In 1807, UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte was desperate to end the British threat to his burgeoning empire. To his dismay, the Kingdom of Portugal was refusing to abide by his Continental System, a continent-wide trade embargo set up by Napoleon to break British resolve. Portugal's ruler, Prince Regent John[[note]], While his mother Maria was still technically the Queen, she suffered a nervous breakdown, leaving John to effectively served as Portugal's de facto king[[/note]], didn't want to participate in the Continental System since it would mean the British would turn on Portugal and uses its powerful navy too (at best) block access to Brazil, devastating Portugal's economy. He also knew Napoleon would invade Portugal if he didn't abide by the Continental System. So John decided when Napoleon did invade in 1807, to evacuate himself and his court to Brazil to both keep trade with the United Kingdom and avoid being imprisoned by Napoleon.\\\

But then came the biggest crisis of Pedro II's career: The UsefulNotes/WarOfTheTripleAlliance. When Uruguay collapsed into a civil war in 1864, Brazil intervened to protect its interests in its former territory. This drew the ire of UsefulNotes/{{Paraguay}} and its dictator, Francisco Solano Lopez, who sought to use the conflict to regain influence in Uruguay and become a player in South America. Lopez's army invaded Brazil, later dragging in Argentina. Pedro II gained great respect for going to the front directly to command his troops. Despite the war dragging on longer than anyone expected, mainly due to Lopez's tenacity and skill as a guerilla leader, by 1870, Lopez was killed, and his army and country lay in ruins. Brazil lost 50,000 soldiers, and it amassed a large foreign debt, but the prestige and power of the Empire were preserved.

## Pedro's disillusionment: While Pedro II was steadfast in his duties as a monarch,[[TheChainsOfCommanding he deeply resented the throne that had been forced on him as a young man and the workload it demanded of him]]. The premature death of his two sons convinced him early on that the throne was not to be preserved. While his last living daughter, Princess Isabel, was a well-educated woman who competently served as regent during Pedro's trips abroad [[note]] She had the honor of signing the anti-slavery bills into law[[/note]], Pedro II and his advisors didn't believe a woman could handle the responsibilities of a monarch, and Isabel herself had no real interest in the throne. His vacations abroad further eroded his interest in the throne, as he finally got a taste of the freedom he had been denied due to his duties, and by the last years of his reign, he largely dispensed with the pageantry of the monarchy and neglected the duties of the crown, both out of disinterest and his failing health, wearing away at the awe and splendor it was once held.\\\

Having emerged victorious from Latin America's most significant interstate conflict, the Empire of Brazil had become the unquestioned hegemon of South America and the second significant power in the Americas after the United States. The Empire's last two decades showed tremendous promise: the economy was booming, the country took its baby steps toward industrialization, its slavery system was gradually being abolished, millions of European immigrants flooded into Brazil to build up its industry and agriculture, and Pedro II was renowned around the world as an enlightened philosopher king. When Dom Pedro II visited the Centennial Exposition, he left such a positive impression on the American people that he may have received write-in votes for that year's election. However, this progress was not to last. Underneath the image of prosperity and peace, several factors slowly eroded the monarchy's prestige.

## Pedro's disillusionment: While Pedro II was steadfast in his duties as a monarch, he deeply resented the throne that had been forced on him as a young man and the workload it demanded of him. The premature death of his two sons convinced him early on that the throne was not to be preserved. While his last living daughter, Princess Isabel, was a well-educated woman who competently served as regent during Pedro's trips abroad [[note]]. She had the honor of signing the anti-slavery bills into law[[/note]], Pedro II and his advisors didn't believe a woman handled the responsibilities of a monarch, and Isabel herself had no real interest in the throne. His vacations abroad further eroded his interest in the throne, as he finally got a taste of the freedom he had been denied due to his duties, and by the last years of his reign, he largely dispensed with the pageantry of the monarchy and neglected the duties of the crown, both out of disinterest and his failing health, wearing away at the awe and splendor it was once held.\\\

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[[folder: Background]]

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[[folder: The Napoleon Wars and The Flight of the Braganzas]]

Prince Regent John and his court arrived in Brazil in 1808. The Prince proceeded to elevate Rio to the capital of the Portuguese Empire, which proved to be extremely important for Brazil's development. As stated above, Portugal designed Brazil to be merely a colony set up to extract raw materials and put massive restrictions on not only who Brazil could trade with but the type of institutions it was allowed. By making Rio the imperial capital, Prince Regent John not only ended trade restrictions but allowed Brazil to have the political and government institutions of a modern European state, unlike the rest of Latin America, which has struggled (and still struggles to this day) to build a modern political and government systems based on cooperation rather than extraction.
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[[folder: Independence]]

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[[folder: Scandals and Chaos of Pedro I's reign]]

Brazil's political turmoil exploded in 1831 when a street brawl erupted between Pedro's Portuguese-born supporters and native-born Brazilian liberals. Pedro's reputation in Brazil deteriorated so much that even his soldiers joined in the protests. With his reputation in Brazil gone, Pedro I abdicated in favor of his son, UsefulNotes/PedroII, knowing his Brazilian-born son would have more popularity than himself. He returned to Portugal and successfully fought a civil war to regain his father's throne, only to die shortly after his victory in 1834.
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[[folder: The Regency]]

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[[folder: War and Ascendancy]]

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[[folder: With a Whimper, Not a Bang]]

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[[folder:Legacy]]

There were some pro-monarchist rebellions in the years following Pedro's overthrow, but these movements were too small to be effective. And among a small following of conservative Brazilians, including Pedro's descendants who still wear the banner of the House of Braganza, some believe a return to the monarchy would bring Brazil back to the prestige it once held.
[[/folder]]

Having emerged victorious from Latin America's most significant interstate conflict, the Empire of Brazil had become the unquestioned hegemon of South America and the second significant power in the Americas after the United States. The Empire's last two decades showed tremendous promise: the economy was booming, its slavery system was gradually being abolished, millions of European immigrants flooded into Brazil to build up its industry and agriculture, and Pedro II was renowned around the world as an enlightened philosopher king. When Dom Pedro II visited the Centennial Exposition, he left such a positive impression on the American people that he may have received write-in votes for that year's election. However, this progress was not to last. Underneath the image of prosperity and peace, several factors slowly eroded the monarchy's prestige.

Since the Treaty of Tordesillas, which divide the New World between Spain and Portugal, and Pedro Alvares Cabral's 1500 landing, Brazil had been an integral part of the Portuguese Empire [[note]]except for some brief intervals between Spanish and Dutch occupation[[/note]].\\\

Brazil, like the rest of Latin America, was set up by its colonial master to be an extractive mercantile economy that would provide cheap resources to be exported to the Metropole. Brazil's biggest industries would be sugar and gold mining, with most of the dirty work being done by African slaves. In fact, Brazil would be the single largest participant in the Atlantic Slave Trade, with 1/3 of all African slaves being shipped to Brazil.

In 1807, UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte was desperate to end the British threat to his burgeoning. To his consternation, the Kingdom of Portugal was refusing to abide by his Continental System, a continent-wide trade embargo set up by Napoleon to break British resolve. Portugal's ruler, Prince Regent John[[note]]while his mother Maria was still technically the Queen, she suffered a nervous breakdown and John effectively served as Portugal's king[[/note]], didn't want to participate in the Continental System since it would mean the British would turn on Portugal and uses its powerful navy too (at best) block access to Brazil, which would devastate Portugual's economy. He also knew Napoleon would invade Portugal if he didn't abide by the Continental System. So John decided, when Napoleon did invade in 1807, to evacuate himself and his court to Brazil in order to both keep trade with Brazil and avoid being imprisoned by Napoleon.\\\

Prince Regent John and his court arrived in Brazil in 1808. The Prince proceeded to elevate Rio to the capital of the Portuguese Empire, which proved to be extremely important for Brazil's development: as stated above, Portugal designed Brazil to be merely a colony set up for the purposes of extracting raw materials and putting massive restrictions on not only who Brazil could trade with, but the type of institutions it was allowed. By making Rio the imperial capital, Prince Regent John not only ended trade restrictions but allowed Brazil to have the political and government institutions of a modern European state, unlike the rest of Latin America which has struggled (and still struggles to this day) to build a modern political and government systems based on cooperation rather than extraction.

Despite the end of the Napoleonic Wars, John was content to remain in Brazil and keep it the seat of the Empire, even allowing himself to be officially crowned King in Rio after his mother Maria's death in 1816. However, because he couldn't govern from a colony, he chose to elevate Brazil from a colony to a Kingdom, renaming his vast empire United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil, and the Algarves. This effectively put Brazil on equal footing with the British, allowing its economic and political systems to mature.\\\

With Portugal undergoing a liberal Revolution in Brazil in 1820, John, fearing Brazil could potentially declare itself independent of Portugal, put his son, Prince Pedro, on the throne as Regent of Brazil so the vast domain could remain under the rule of the Braganzas, before sailing back to Portugal.\\\

Just as he predicted, the liberal revolutionaries not only took away John's absolute power and forced him to accept a constitution but ignored Brazil's needs, excluded its delegates, and tried to force Brazil back into the status of a colony. Brazil was enjoying the right to trade with the rest of Europe, and returning to a colony would hurt Brazil and trap them under a Portuguese monopoly. On September 7, 1822, Prince Pedro declared Brazil an independent Kingdom. After a relatively bloodless war that lasted into 1824, Portugal finally recognized Brazil's independence in 1825.\\\

Pedro I, unlike his father, believed in the idea of liberal and constitutional governance. So when he declared Brazil independent, he and his courtiers sought to build a Constitution governed along liberal democratic lines. While the Constitution still gave the Emperor the powers of a chief executive and restricted the franchise to property owners, is still ensured freedom of speech, religious freedom, right to assembly, and a separation of powers, ensuring Brazil had a greater degree of rule of law then the rest of Latin America.\\\

However, Pedro's new constitution did not guarantee his reign would be easy. He faced numerous revolts by provinces who believed his overtly centralized government would not respect their needs and internal protests that believed his government was too autocratic. Pedro lost even more support when he lost a war of secession of the Cisplanta Province, which broke away to become UsefulNotes/{{Uruguay}}.\\\

His own personal life was even more hectic. Pedro has been a serial philanderer, much to the consternation of his consort, the Hapsburg princess Leopoldina. But soon he began parading his mistress, Domitila de Castro, openly ''in front of his wife''. Leopoldina's mental health was ruined, especially as Pedro began emotionally abusing her and isolating her in a palace. The psychological damage from Pedro's mistreatment, on top of a miscarriage, drove Leopoldina into an early grave. The revelations that he abused his wife, on top of rumors that Pedro deliberately caused the miscarriage by assaulting her, further damaged Pedro's reputation amongst the Brazilian public and increased calls for his resignation.\\\


Finally, Pedro faced a succession crisis in Portugal. After his father's death in 1826, Pedro I inherited the throne, but preferring to reign in Brazil, he passed the crown on to his daughter Maria. However, his traitorous brother Miguel, who Pedro wanted as a regent, tried to overthrow his daughter and return Portugal to an absolute monarchy.\\\

Brazil's political turmoil exploded in 1831 in a street brawl between Pedro's Portuguese-born supporters and native-born Brazilian liberals. Pedro's reputation in Brazil deteriorated so much that even his soldiers joined in the protests. With his reputation in Brazil gone, Pedro I abdicated in favor of his son, UsefulNotes/PedroII, knowing his Brazilian-born son would have more popularity than himself. He returned to Portugal and successfully fought a civil war to regain his father's throne, only to die shortly after his victory in 1834.

With Pedro II being only five years old, a regency was set up to govern the country until Pedro II. However, the regency found itself unable to properly manage Brazil's numerous grievances. Without a monarch who could properly manage and arbitrate the system, as was required by the Constitution, Brazil stumbled from one revolt to the other. The regency attempted to cool dissent with an 1834 reform that would expand regional autonomy, but this only added gasoline to the fire as the reform increased the aspirations of regional leaders.\\\

The rebellions included protests by landowners against taxes and slave revolts, which through the issue of human bondage into greater question.\\\

Despite a rocky start to Pedro's Reign, including dominance by a faction of courtiers, a poor start to his arranged marriage with Princess Teresa Cristina[[note]]A poor start was putting it mildly; Teresa's not-so-pretty-appearance publically mortified Pedro. While their marriage became more friendly and respectful with time, they never were truly in love[[/note]], and the premature death of his two sons, by the 1850s, Pedro II had consolidated power and proven himself to be an able statesman. He increased Brazil's international prestige by successfully navigating several crises.\\\

The first was a crisis over the slave trade. Britain forced Brazil into abolishing the slave trade, but while Brazil paid lip service to the demand, the importation of slaves continued off the books. The British navy began attacking and seizing ships that continued to import slaves. Himself an abolitionist, in 1850 Pedro II forced the General Assembly to pass a bill that would give the government powers to stop the slave trade by threatening to abdicate. The second was a brief war between Argentina. The dictator of Argentina, Juan Manuel de Rosas, sought to weaken Brazil. The Brazilian army emerged victorious from the war and set up a friendly regime. There was also a brief dispute with the British Empire over a British ship that sank in Brazilian waters. While it didn't escalate into outright war, Pedro II was lauded for holding his ground against a major world power.\\\

But then came the biggest crisis of Pedro II's career: The UsefulNotes/WarOfTheTripleAlliance. When Uruguay collapsed into a civil war in 1864, Brazil intervened to protect its interest. This drew the ire of Paraguay and its dictator, Francisco Solano Lopez, who sought to use the conflict to not only regain influence in Uruguay but become a player in South America. Lopez's army invaded Brazil, later dragging in Argentina. Pedro II gained great respect for going to the front directly to command his troops. Despite the war dragging on longer than anyone expected, largely due to Lopez's tenacity and skill as a guerilla leader, by 1870, Lopez was killed and his army lay in ruins. Brazil lost 50,000 soldiers and it amassed a large foreign debt, but the prestige and power of the Empire were preserved.

Having emerged victorious from Latin America's largest interstate conflict, the Empire of Brazil had become the unquestioned hegemon of South America, and the second major power in the Americas. In the Empire's last two decades, the economy was booming, its slavery system was gradually being abolished, millions of European immigrants flooded into Brazil, and Pedro II's reputation grew from being the king of a Latin America backwater to having the reputation of a philosopher king. When Dom Pedro II visited the Centennial Exposition, he left such a positive impression on the American people that he may have received write-in votes for that year's election. However, it was not to last. Underneath the image of prosperity and peace, several factors slowly eroded the monarchy's prestige.

## Abolitionism: For his first few decades in power, Pedro II took no stance on abolition despite being privately opposed to slavery and holding none of the racial prejudice men in his day held. In 1871, The Law of Free Birth was passed, which banned the enslavement of children born to slaves. In 1888, slavery was finally abolished for good with the passage of the Golden Law. However, Pedro alienated the ultraconservative landowners with abolition. Not just by taking away their slaves without compensation but by taking a stance on slavery, Pedro II ceased to be, in their eyes, a neutral arbitrator who could be above politics.
## The Rise of New Elites: Pedro II had been brought to power by elites who were desperate to prevent the country's dissolution. Pedro II's was so successful that it ended the period of anarchy. But by the 1870s, there was a new generation of elites who had only known the prosperity and stability of Pedro II and no longer saw the monarchy as an indispensable pillar of the state.
## The Growth of the Military: The War of the Triple Alliance led to a massive expansion of the size and prestige of the Brazilian army. However, this also weakened some of Pedro II's once unquestionable prestige, as the army itself was seen as a stable institution that could act in a crisis. The massive size of the army meant it became another special interest the central government was forced to appease, and many officers felt a Republican government would do more to represent their interests than the civilian politicians who ran the empire.
## Growing Liberal Opposition: Many progressive leaders saw the Empire as an outdated institution that couldn't represent the common man. An image that was not helped by the limits on voting and how long the government had dragged its feet on abolition.
## Pedro's own disillusionment: Pedro gradually lost faith in the monarchy. Having been robbed of a childhood, Pedro II deeply resented his throne and the workload it demanded of him. The premature death of his two sons convinced him early on that the throne was not to be preserved. While his last living daughter, Princess Isabel, was a well-educated woman who competently served as regent during Pedro's trips abroad [[note]]. She had the honor of signing the anti-slavery bills into law[[/note]], Pedro II and his advisors didn't believe a woman could reign as Empress. And Isabel herself had no real interest in the throne. His vacations abroad further eroded his interest in the throne, and by the last years of his reign, he largely dispensed with the pageantry of the monarchy, both out of disinterest and his own failing health.\\\


All these issues came to a head on November 15, 1889, when Deodoro da Fonseca, a Brazilian army officer, launched a coup against a prime minister that he felt was not doing enough to support the army. When he heard false rumors that Pedro II would name one of his rivals to the office of prime minister, he declared Brazil was now a republic. Exhausted by decades of rule and not wanting to inflict a civil war on the populace, Pedro II chose a quiet exile. He died in Paris two years later.

As inept juntas and poor Republican governments have plagued Brazil's post-imperial history, many Brazilians have looked back upon the Empire as a golden age. The reign of Pedro II, at least, is seen by many as a benchmark for each Brazilian leader, whether President or General, to be measured by.\\\

Despite the end of the Napoleonic Wars, John was content to remain in Brazil and keep it the seat of the Empire, even allowing himself to be officially crowned King in Rio after his mother Maria's death in 1816. However, because he couldn't govern from a colony, he choose to elevate Brazil from a colony to a Kingdom, renaming his vast empire United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil, and the Algarves. This effectively put Brazil on equal footing with the British, allowing its economic and political systems to mature.\\\

With Portugal undergoing a liberal Revolution in Brazil in 1820, John, fearing Brazil could potentially declare itself independent of Brazil, put his son, Prince Pedro, on the throne as Regent of Brazil, before sailing back to Portugal.\\\

Just as he predicted, the liberal revolutionaries not only took away John's absolute power and forced him to accept a constitution but ignored Brazil's needs, excluded its delegates, and tried to force Brazil back into the status of a colony. Brazil was enjoying the right to trade with the rest of Europe and returning to a colony would hurt Brazil and trap them under a Portuguese monopoly. On September 7, 1822, Prince Pedro declared Brazil an independent Kingdom. After a relatively bloodless war that lasted into 1824, Brazil finally had its independence recognized by Portugal in 1825.\\\

Having emerged victorious from Latin America's largest interstate conflict, the Empire of Brazil had become the unquestioned hegemon of South America, and the second major power in the Americas. In the Empire's last two decades, the economy was booming, its slavery system was gradually being abolished, millions of European immigrants flooded into Brazil, and Pedro II's reputation grew from being the king of a Latin America backwater to having the reputation of a philosopher king. When Dom Pedro II visited the Centennial Exposition, he left such a positive impression on the American people that he may have received write-in votes for that year's election. However, it was not to last. Underneath the image of prosperity and peace, several factors slowly eroded the prestige of the monarchy.

## Abolitionism: For his first few decades in power, Pedro II took no stance on abolition despite being privately opposed to slavery and holding non of the racial prejudice men in his day held. However, in 1871, The Law of Free Birth was passed, which banned the enslavement of children born to slaves. In 1888, slavery was finally abolished for good with the passage of the Golden Law. However, Pedro alienated the ultraconservative landowners. Not just by taking away their slaves without compensation, but by taking a stance on slavery, Pedro II ceased to be, in their eyes, a neutral arbitrator who could be above politics.
## The Rise of New Elites: Pedro II had been brought to power by elites who were desperate to prevent the dissolution of the country. Pedro II's was so successful that it brought an end to the period of anarchy. But by the 1870s, there was a new generation of elites who had only known the prosperity and stability of Pedro II, and no longer saw the monarchy as an indispensable pillar of the state.

## Pedro himself gradually lost faith in the monarchy. Having been robbed of a childhood, Pedro II held a deep resentment of his throne and the workload it demanded of him. The premature death of his two sons convinced him early on that the throne was not preserved. While his last living daughter, Princess Isabel, was a well-educated woman who competently served as regent during Pedro's trips abroad [[note]]She has the honor of signing the anti-slavery bills into law[[/note]], Pedro II and his advisors didn't believe a woman could reign as Empress. And Isabel herself had no real interest in the throne. His vacations abroad further eroded his interest in the throne, and by the last years of his reign, he largely dispensed with the pageantry of previous years, both out of disinterest and his own failing health.\\\


All these issues came to a head on November 15, 1889, when Deodoro da Fonseca, a Brazilian army officer, launched a coup against a prime minister that he felt was not doing enough to support the army. When he heard false rumors that Pedro II was going to name one of his rivals to the office of prime minister, he declared Brazil was now a republic. Exhausted by decades of rule and not wanting to inflict a civil war on the populace, Pedro II chose a quiet exile. He died in Paris two years later.

As Brazil's post-imperial history has been plagued by inept juntas and poor Republican governments, many Brazilians have looked back upon the Empire as a golden age. The reign of Pedro II, at least, is seen by many as a benchmark for each Brazilian leader, whether President or General, to be measured by.\\\

There were some pro-monarchist rebellions in the years following Pedro's overthrow, but these movements were too small to be really effective. And among a small following of conservative Brazilians, including Pedro's descendants who still wear the banner of the House of Braganza, there are some who believe a return to the monarchy would bring Brazil back to the prestige it once held.

The rebellions included protests by landowners against taxes and slave revolts, with through the issue of human bondage into greater question.\\\

No longer having faith in their ability to govern, and fearing Brazil could break apart, the Regency and the General Assembly decided the only way to regain legitimacy was for Pedro to take the throne early. At the young age at 14, Pedro was officially crowned Emperor of Brazil.

Despite a rocky start to Pedro's Reign, including dominance by a faction of courtiers, a poor start to his arranged marriages with Princess Teresa Cristina, and the premature death of his two sons, by the 1850s, Pedro II has consolidated power and proven himself to be an able statesman. He increased Brazil's international prestige by successfully navigating several crises.\\\