Empire of Brazil
The Empire of Brazil was a 19th-century state that broadly comprised the territories which form modern Brazil and Uruguay. Its government was a representative parliamentary constitutional monarchy under the rule of Emperors Dom Pedro I and his son Dom Pedro II. A colony of the Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil became the seat of the Portuguese colonial Empire in 1808, when the Portuguese Prince regent King Dom João VI, fled from Napoleon's invasion of Portugal and established himself and his government in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro. João VI returned to Portugal, leaving his eldest son and heir, Pedro, to rule the Kingdom of Brazil as regent. On 7 September 1822, Pedro declared the independence of Brazil and, after waging a successful war against his father's kingdom, was acclaimed on 12 October as Pedro I, the first Emperor of Brazil; the new country was sparsely populated and ethnically diverse. Unlike most of the neighboring Hispanic American republics, Brazil had political stability, vibrant economic growth, constitutionally guaranteed freedom of speech, respect for civil rights of its subjects, albeit with legal restrictions on women and slaves, the latter regarded as property and not citizens.
The empire's bicameral parliament was elected under comparatively democratic methods for the era, as were the provincial and local legislatures. This led to a long ideological conflict between Pedro I and a sizable parliamentary faction over the role of the monarch in the government, he faced other obstacles. The unsuccessful Cisplatine War against the neighboring United Provinces of the Río de la Plata in 1828 led to the secession of the province of Cisplatina. In 1826, despite his role in Brazilian independence, he became the king of Portugal. Two years she was usurped by Pedro I's younger brother Miguel. Unable to deal with both Brazilian and Portuguese affairs, Pedro I abdicated his Brazilian throne on 7 April 1831 and departed for Europe to restore his daughter to the Portuguese throne. Pedro I's successor in Brazil was his five-year-old son, Pedro II; as the latter was still a minor, a weak regency was created. The power vacuum resulting from the absence of a ruling monarch as the ultimate arbiter in political disputes led to regional civil wars between local factions.
Having inherited an empire on the verge of disintegration, Pedro II, once he was declared of age, managed to bring peace and stability to the country, which became an emerging international power. Brazil was victorious in three international conflicts under Pedro II's rule, the Empire prevailed in several other international disputes and outbreaks of domestic strife. With prosperity and economic development came an influx of European immigration, including Protestants and Jews, although Brazil remained Catholic. Slavery, widespread, was restricted by successive legislation until its final abolition in 1888. Brazilian visual arts and theater developed during this time of progress. Although influenced by European styles that ranged from Neoclassicism to Romanticism, each concept was adapted to create a culture, uniquely Brazilian. Though the last four decades of Pedro II's reign were marked by continuous internal peace and economic prosperity, he had no desire to see the monarchy survive beyond his lifetime and made no effort to maintain support for the institution.
The next in line to the throne was his daughter Isabel, but neither Pedro II nor the ruling classes considered a female monarch acceptable. Lacking any viable heir, the Empire's political leaders saw no reason to defend the monarchy. After a 58-year reign, on 15 November 1889 the Emperor was overthrown in a sudden coup d'état led by a clique of military leaders whose goal was the formation of a republic headed by a dictator, forming the First Brazilian Republic; the territory which would come to be known as Brazil was claimed by Portugal on 22 April 1500, when the navigator Pedro Álvares Cabral landed on its coast. Permanent settlement followed in 1532, for the next 300 years the Portuguese expanded westwards until they had reached nearly all of the borders of modern Brazil. In 1808, the army of French Emperor Napoleon I invaded Portugal, forcing the Portuguese royal family—the House of Braganza, a branch of the thousand-year-old Capetian dynasty—into exile, they re-established themselves in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro, which became the unofficial seat of the Portuguese Empire.
In 1815, the Portuguese crown prince Dom João, acting as regent, created the United Kingdom of Portugal and the Algarves, which raised the status of Brazil from colony to kingdom. He ascended the Portuguese throne the following year, after the death of his mother, Maria I of Portugal, he returned to Portugal in April 1821, leaving behind his son and heir, Prince Dom Pedro, to rule Brazil as his regent. The Portuguese government moved to revoke the political autonomy that Brazil had been granted since 1808; the threat of losing their limited control over local affairs ignited widespread opposition among Brazilians. José Bonifácio de Andrada, along with other Brazilian leaders, convinced Pedro to declare Brazil's independence from Portugal on 7 September 1822. On 12 October, the prince was acclaimed Pedro I, first Emperor of the newly created Empire of Brazil, a constitutional monarchy; the declaration of independence was opposed throughout Brazil by armed military units loyal to Portugal. The ensuing war of independence was fought across the country, with battles in the northern and southern regions.
The last Portu
Paraguayan War
The Paraguayan War known as the War of the Triple Alliance and the Great War in Paraguay, was a South American war fought from 1864 to 1870, between Paraguay and the Triple Alliance of Argentina, the Empire of Brazil, Uruguay. It was the bloodiest inter-state war in Latin America's history, it devastated Paraguay, which suffered catastrophic losses in population: 70% of its adult male population died, according to some counts, it was forced to cede territory to Argentina and Brazil. According to some estimates, Paraguay's pre-war population of 525,000 was reduced to 221,000, of which only 28,000 were men; the war began in late 1864, as a result of a conflict between Paraguay and Brazil caused by the Uruguayan War. Argentina and Uruguay entered the war against Paraguay in 1865, it became known as the "War of the Triple Alliance"; the war ended with the total defeat of Paraguay. After it lost in conventional warfare, Paraguay conducted a drawn-out guerrilla resistance, a disastrous strategy that resulted in the further destruction of the Paraguayan military and much of the civilian population through battle casualties and diseases.
The guerrilla war lasted 14 months until President Francisco Solano López was killed in action by Brazilian forces in the Battle of Cerro Corá on 1 March 1870. Argentine and Brazilian troops occupied Paraguay until 1876. Estimates of total Paraguayan losses range from 21,000 to 200,000 people, it took decades for Paraguay to recover from demographic losses. Since their independence from Portugal and Spain in the early 19th century, the Empire of Brazil and the Spanish-American countries of South America were troubled by territorial disputes. All nations in the region had lingering boundary conflicts with multiple neighbors. Most had overlapping claims to the same territories; these issues were questions inherited from their former metropoles, despite several attempts, were never able to resolve them satisfactorily. Signed by Portugal and Spain in 1494, the Treaty of Tordesillas proved ineffective in the following centuries as both colonial powers expanded their frontiers in South America and elsewhere.
The outdated boundary lines did not represent actual occupation of lands by the Portuguese and Spanish. By the early 1700s, the Treaty of Tordesillas was deemed all but useless and it was clear to both parties that a newer one had to be drawn based on realistic and feasible boundaries. In 1750, the Treaty of Madrid separated the Portuguese and Spanish areas of South America in lines that corresponded to present-day boundaries. Neither Portugal nor Spain were satisfied with the results, new treaties were signed in the following decades that either established new territorial lines or repealed them; the final accord signed by both powers, the Treaty of Badajoz, reaffirmed the validity of the previous Treaty of San Ildefonso, which had derived from the older Treaty of Madrid. The territorial disputes became worse when the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata collapsed in the early 1810s, leading to the rise of Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. Historian Pelham Horton Box writes: "Imperial Spain bequeathed to the emancipated Spanish-American nations not only her own frontier disputes with Portuguese Brazil, but problems which had not disturbed her, relating to the exact boundaries of her own viceroyalties, captaincies general and provinces."
Once separated, Argentina and Bolivia quarreled over lands that were uncharted and unknown. They were either scarcely settled by indigenous tribes that answered to no parties. In the case of Paraguay with her neighbor Brazil, the problem was to define whether the Apa or Branco rivers should represent their actual boundary, a persistent issue that had vexed and confused Spain and Portugal in the late 18th century; the region between both rivers was populated only by some indigenous tribes that roamed the area attacking nearer Brazilian and Paraguayan settlements. There are several theories regarding the origins of the war; the traditional view emphasizes the policies of Paraguayan president Francisco Solano López, who used the Uruguayan War as a pretext to gain control of the Platine basin. This caused a response from the regional hegemons Brazil and Argentina, who exercised influence over the much smaller republics of Uruguay and Paraguay; the war has been attributed to the after-effects of colonialism in South America, with border conflicts between the new states, the struggle for power among neighboring nations over the strategic Río de la Plata region and Argentine meddling in internal Uruguayan politics, Solano López's efforts to help his allies in Uruguay, as well as his presumed expansionist ambitions.
Before the war Paraguay had experienced rapid economic and military growth as a result of its protectionist policies that had boosted the local industry. A strong military was developed because Paraguay's larger neighbors Argentina and Brazil had territorial claims against it and wanted to dominate it politically much like they did in Uruguay. Paraguay had recurring boundary disputes and tariff issues with Argentina and Brazil for many years during the rule of Carlos Antonio López. In the time since Brazil and Argentina had become independent, their struggle for hegemony in the Río de la Plata region had profoundly marked the diplomatic and political relations among the countries of the region. Brazil was the first country to recognize the independence of Paraguay, in 1844. At this time Argentina still considered it a breakaway province. While Argentina was ruled by Juan Manuel Rosas, a common enemy of both Brazil and
Excellency
Excellency is an honorific style given to certain high-level officers of a sovereign state, officials of an international organization, or members of an aristocracy. Once entitled to the title "Excellency", the holder retains the right to that courtesy throughout their lifetime, although in some cases the title is attached to a particular office, is held only for the duration of that office. People addressed as Excellency are heads of state, heads of government, ambassadors, certain ecclesiastics and others holding equivalent rank, it is sometimes misinterpreted as a title of office in itself, but in fact is an honorific that precedes various titles, both in speech and in writing. In reference to such an official, it takes the form Her Excellency; the abbreviation HE is used instead of His/Her Excellency. In most republican nation states, the head of state is formally addressed as Her Excellency. If a republic has a separate head of government, that official is always addressed as Excellency as well.
If the nation is a monarchy, the customs may vary. For example, in the case of Australia, all ambassadors, high commissioners, state governors and the governor-general and their spouses are entitled to the use of Excellency. Governors of colonies in the British Empire were entitled to be addressed as Excellency and this remains the position for the governors of what are now known as British Overseas Territories. In various international organizations, notably the UN and its agencies, Excellency is used as a generic form of address for all republican heads of state and heads of government, it is granted to the organization's head as well, to those chiefs of UN diplomatic missions, such as Resident Coordinators, who are accredited at the Head of State level, or at the lower Head of Government level. In recent years, some international organizations, such as the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, or the European Union, have designated their Permanent Representatives in third countries as Ambassadors, although they do not represent sovereign entities.
This is now accepted, because these Ambassadors rank after the UN representative in the orders of precedence of representatives of international organizations, the UN coming first as pre-eminent, the UN Resident Coordinators are now commonly but informally referred to in diplomatic circles as ambassadors, although the UN itself does not refer to them in this way. Judges of the International Court of Justice are called Your Excellency. In some monarchies the husbands, wives, or children, of a royal prince or princess, who do not possess a princely title themselves, may be entitled to the style. For example, in Spain spouses or children of a born infante or infanta are addressed as Excellency, if not accorded a higher style. Former members of a royal house or family, who did have a royal title but forfeited it, may be awarded the style afterwards. Examples are former husbands or wives of a royal prince or princess, including Alexandra, Countess of Frederiksborg, following her divorce from Prince Joachim of Denmark.
Count Carl Johan Bernadotte of Wisborg, who lost his succession rights to the Swedish throne and discontinued use of his royal titles in 1946 when he married the commoner Elin Kerstin Margaretha Wijkmark, was accorded the style. In some emirates, only the Emir, heir apparent and prime minister are called His Highness, their children are styled with the lower treatment of His/Her Excellency. In Spain members of the high nobility, holding the dignity of grandee, are addressed as The Most Excellent Lord/Lady. In Denmark, some counts those related by blood or marriage to the monarch, who have entered a morganatic marriage or otherwise left the Royal Family have the right to be styled as Your Excellency, e.g. the Counts of Danneskiold-Samsøe, some of the counts of Rosenborg and the Countess of Frederiksborg. Excellency can attach to a prestigious quality, notably in an order of knighthood. For example, in the Empire of Brazil, it was attached to the highest classes, each time called Grand Cross, of all three imperial orders: Imperial Order of Pedro I, Imperial Order of the Southern Cross and Order of the Rose.
In modern days, Knights Collar and Knights Grand Cross of the Spanish Orders of Chivalry, like the Order of Charles III, Order of Isabella the Catholic, Order of Civil Merit, Order of Alfonso X the Wise, Royal Order of Sports Merit, Civil Order of Health, as well as recipients of the Grand Cross of Military and Aeronautical Merit are addressed as such. Furthermore, Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Gregory the Great and the Order of St. Sylvester of the Holy See, Knights of the Order of the Golden Fleece, Knights Grand Cross of several other orders of high prestige, are addressed as Excellency. By a decree of the Sacred Congregation of Ceremonial of 31 December 1930 the Holy See granted bishops of the Roman Catholic Church the title of Most Reverend Excellency. In the years following the First World War, the ambassadorial title of Excellency given to nuncios, had begun to be used by other Catholic bishops; the adjective Most Reverend was intended to distinguish the religious title from that of Excellency given to civil officials.
The instr
President of Brazil
The President of Brazil the President of the Federative Republic of Brazil or the President of the Republic, is both the head of state and the head of government of Brazil. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the Brazilian Armed Forces; the presidential system was established in 1889, upon the proclamation of the republic in a military coup d'état against Emperor Pedro II. Since Brazil has had six constitutions, three dictatorships, three democratic periods. During the democratic periods, voting has always been compulsory; the Constitution of Brazil, along with several constitutional amendments, establishes the requirements and responsibilities of the president, their term of office and the method of election. Jair Bolsonaro is the current President, he was sworn in on 1 January 2019 following the 2018 presidential election. As a republic with a presidential executive, Brazil grants significant powers to the president, who controls the executive branch, represents the country abroad, appoints the cabinet and, with the approval of the Senate, the judges for the Supreme Federal Court.
The president is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces. Presidents in Brazil have significant lawmaking powers, exercised either by proposing laws to the National Congress or by using Medidas Provisórias, an instrument with the force of law that the president can enact in cases of urgency and necessity except to make changes to some areas of law. A provisional measure comes into effect before Congress votes on it, remains in force for up to 60 days unless Congress votes to rescind it; the 60-day period can be extended once, up to 120 days. If Congress, on the other hand, votes to approve the provisional measure, it becomes an actual law, with changes decided by the legislative branch; the provisional measure expires at the end of the 60-day period, or sooner, if rejected by one of the Houses of Congress. Article 84 of the current Federal Constitution, determines that the president has the power to appoint and dismiss the ministers of state; the Constitution of Brazil requires that a President be a native-born citizen of Brazil, at least 35 years of age, a resident of Brazil, in full exercise of their electoral rights, a registered voter, a member of a political party.
The president of Brazil serves for a term of four years
Slavery in Brazil
Slavery in Brazil began long before the first Portuguese settlement was established in 1532, as members of one tribe would enslave captured members of another. Colonists were dependent on indigenous labor during the initial phases of settlement to maintain the subsistence economy, natives were captured by expeditions called bandeiras; the importation of African slaves began midway through the 16th century, but the enslavement of indigenous peoples continued well into the 17th and 18th centuries. During the Atlantic slave trade era, Brazil received more African slaves than any other country. An estimated 4.9 million slaves from Africa were brought to Brazil during the period from 1501 to 1866. Until the early 1850s, most enslaved Africans who arrived on Brazilian shores were forced to embark at West Central African ports in Luanda. Slave labor was the driving force behind the growth of the sugar economy in Brazil, sugar was the primary export of the colony from 1600 to 1650. Gold and diamond deposits were discovered in Brazil in 1690, which sparked an increase in the importation of African slaves to power this newly profitable mining.
Transportation systems were developed for the mining infrastructure, population boomed from immigrants seeking to take part in gold and diamond mining. Demand for African slaves did not wane after the decline of the mining industry in the second half of the 18th century. Cattle ranching and foodstuff production proliferated after the population growth, both of which relied on slave labor. 1.7 million slaves were imported to Brazil from Africa from 1700 to 1800, the rise of coffee in the 1830s further enticed expansion of the slave trade. Brazil was the last country in the Western world to abolish slavery. By the time it was abolished after years of campaigning by Emperor Pedro II, in 1888, an estimated four million slaves had been imported from Africa to Brazil, 40% of the total number of slaves brought to the Americas; the Portuguese became involved with the African slave trade first during the Reconquista of the Iberian Peninsula through the mediation of the Alfaqueque: the person tasked with the rescue of Portuguese captives and prisoners of war.
Slaves exported from Africa during this initial period of the Portuguese slave trade came from Mauritania, the Upper Guinea coast. Scholars estimate that as many as 156,000 slaves were exported from 1441 to 1521 to Iberia and the Atlantic islands from the African coast; the trade made the shift from Europe to the Americas as a primary destination for slaves around 1518. Prior to this time, slaves were required to pass through Portugal to be taxed before making their way to the Americas; the Portuguese first traveled to Brazil in 1500 under the expedition of Pedro Álvares Cabral, though the first Portuguese settlement was not established until 1532. Long before Europeans came to Brazil and began colonization, indigenous groups such as the Papanases, the Guaianases, the Tupinambás, the Cadiueus enslaved captured members of other tribes; the captured worked with their new communities as trophies to the tribe's martial prowess. Some enslaved would escape but could never re-attain their previous status in their own tribe because of the strong social stigma against slavery and rival tribes.
During their time in the new tribe, enslaved indigenes would marry as a sign of acceptance and servitude. For the enslaved of cannibalistic tribes, execution for devouring purposes could happen at any moment. While other tribes did not consume human flesh, their enslaved were still put to work, used as hostages, killed mercilessly. After the arrival of the Portuguese in Brazil, the Native Americans started to trade their prisoners, instead of using them as slaves or food, in exchange for goods, but the enslavement of Europeans could occur, as happened with Hans Staden who, after being set free, wrote a book about the customs of the Native Americans. The colonization effort proved to be a difficult undertaking on such a vast continent, indigenous slave labor was turned to for agricultural workforce needs. Aggressive mission networks of the Portuguese Jesuits were the driving force behind this recruitment, they mobilized an indigenous labor force to live in colonial villages to work the land; these indigenous enslaving expeditions were known as bandeiras.
These expeditions were composed of bandeirantes, adventurers who penetrated westward in their search for Indian slaves. These adventurers came from a wide spectrum of backgrounds, including plantation owners and members of the military, as well as people of mixed ancestry and captured Indian slaves. In 1629, Antônio Raposo Tavares led a bandeira, composed of 2,000 allied índios, "Indians", 900 mamelucos, "mestizos" and 69 whites, to find precious metals and stones and to capture Indians for slavery; this expedition alone was responsible for the enslavement of over 60,000 indigenous people. African slavery became more common in Brazil during the mid 16th century, though the enslavement of indigenous people continued into the 17th and the 18th century in the backlands of Brazil. In the first 250 years after the colonization of the land 70% of all immigrants to the colony were enslaved people. Indigenous slaves remained much cheaper during this time than their African counterparts, though they did suffer horrendous death rates from European diseases.
Although the average African slave lived to only be twenty-three years old due to terrible work conditions, this was still about four years longer than Indigenous slaves, which w
Order of the Southern Cross
The National Order of the Southern Cross is a Brazilian order of chivalry founded by Emperor Pedro I on 1 December 1822. This order was intended to commemorate the independence of Brazil and the coronation of Pedro I; the name derives from the geographical position of the country, under the constellation of the Southern Cross and in memory of the name – Terra de Santa Cruz – given to Brazil at the time of European discovery. Known as the Imperial Order of the Cross, the Order was created by Emperor Pedro I on the day of his Coronation, 1 December 1822. On the same date the first knights of the order were appointed, to commemorate the crowning of the Empire's first monarch. After the proclamation of the independence of Brazil on 7 September 1822 other honorific awards had been made, but of the Orders of chivalry shared with Portugal, Brazilian branches of, created upon independence. After the fall of the monarchy, Brazil's first republican Constitution, enacted on 24 February 1891, abolished all titles of nobility and all Imperial Orders and decorations.
The Order was re-established by the government of Getúlio Vargas on December 5, 1932, as the National Order of the Southern Cross. During the Old Republic period, National Orders did not exist and the Brazilian State bestowed only military medals. Restored in 1932, the Order of the Southern Cross was the first Order to be created in the re-established, republican honours system, it is considered the senior Brazilian National Order. During the Imperial period, the Order of the Southern Cross was not the highest ranking of the Imperial Orders, as it ranked below the Brazilian branches of the ancient orders of chivalry, that originated with Portugal: the Order of Christ, the Order of Saint Benedict of Aviz and the Order of St. James of the Sword; those Orders were shared by Portugal. However among the Brazilian created Orders, the Imperial Order of the Cross ranked first, having higher status than the Imperial Order of Pedro I and the Imperial Order of the Rose; the Imperial Order of the Cross continues to be used by both branches of the Brazilian Imperial Family as a House Order, awarded by the rival claimants to the position of Head of the Imperial Family, but such awards are not recognized by the Republic of Brazil.
Just like the Emperors of Brazil were ex officio Grand Masters of the Imperial Order, Presidents of Brazil are ex officio Grand Masters of the successor National Order. Accordingly, President Jair Bolsonaro is the Order's current Grand Master. Unlike the Imperial Order, awarded to Brazilians and foreigners alike, the republican National Order is awarded to foreigners only; when the Order was re-established in by presidential decree on January 13, 1932, it was restricted to foreigners only with the stipulation that all awards of the Order constitute an act of foreign relations on the part of the Brazilian Government. Brazilians were excluded deliberately. In the Old Republic, the State regarded Orders and decorations as contrary to the principles of republicanism, thus maintained no honours system. However, the Brazilian State resented the lack of a decoration with which to honour foreign dignitaries, as is sometimes required by diplomatic protocol. For instance, during the celebrations of the Centennial of Brazilian Independence in 1922, several foreign dignitaries, including the King and Queen of the Belgians, came to Brazil for the celebrations.
The King of the Belgians bestowed Belgian honours to some Brazilians. Brazilian nationals needed authorization from the Government to accept foreign titles of honour, or else face loss of citizenship, under normal circumnstances permission for the acceptance of appointment to Orders of Chivalry would not have been granted. While the government of Brazil relaxed its practice and authorized both accepting induction into foreign Orders and the wearing of foreign insignia, it lacked any decorations with which to reciprocate the Belgian gesture; the National Order of the Southern Cross was intended as an Order. Today, accepting foreign honours and insignia without the need of prior Government approval is allowed, several Brazilian Orders have been established to which Brazilians may be admitted, starting with the National Order of Merit, created in 1946. So, the governing statutes of the National Order of the Southern Cross have never been reformed, it thus remains unavailable to Brazilians. Paradoxically, the Order's Grand Master — the sitting President of the Republic — is never a member of the Order he or she oversees, the President's connection with the Order is severed once the President leaves office.
The Decree that re-created the Order does not mention the creation of a new Order, but the reestablishment of the old Order of the Southern Cross, "created upon the advent of the political independence of Brazil". This was done to improve the prestige of the Order by linking it with the past, that is, by associating it with an Order, created more than one century earlier. In 1932, the republican version of the Order had the same five grades as the old imperial version. In 1939, by a statute issued on 17 July of that year, the additiona
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Empire of Brazil
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