Faithful servant of Pedro II, magnanimous and erudite emperor of Brazil, Deodoro da Fonseca did not hesitate to lead the coup that took away his power and put an end to his reign. But the triumph would be short-lived. Deodoro was deposed on November 23, 1893, four years after the “proclamation” of the Republic.
The Navy had led the mutiny. Dissatisfaction had reached the people, who were summoned to the Arsenal to show their discontent with him. And the population responded. There is always a population ready to participate in demonstrations.
Social psychology explains crowd behavior. In criminal law we learn about the concept of “multitudinal crime”. What could inhibit individual behavior finds no barriers when one’s will is supported by that of others.
Thus it was that a large number of Cariocas marched that morning to the Municipal Palace, where Deodoro’s dismissal would be proclaimed. The doors were open and he had already left the seat of the nascent republican government.
It was Licínio Cardoso, a former officer of the imperial army, professor at the Polytechnic Schools who would become a famous doctor and one of the most illustrious at the time, who proposed the drafting of an act of deposition of President Marshal Deodoro.
As soon as the preparation of the document began, the municipal superintendent Coronel Carneiro da Fontoura arrived, assumed the presidency of the meeting and invited Rodrigo Octávio to act as secretary. In fact, two documents were written. The one initiated by Licínio Cardoso and the one resulting from the report written by Rodrigo Octávio. Both were preserved by him, who reconstituted them in the book “My Memoirs of Others”.
The result of Licínio Cardoso’s punch says: “The People gather in this building, fraternizing with the Navy and the National Army to proclaim the deposition of Marshal Deodoro, outlaw, and also proclaim the Government of Legality in the person of the Vice President President of the Republic, General Floriano Peixoto Signed by: Licínio Athanasio Cardoso, Emilio Victor de Lima, Jayme Carlos da Silva Telles, Antonio Moniz de Aragão, Deocleciano Martire, JC da Silva Veiga, Francisco Bolonha, Francisco José Diniz, Sizinio da Rocha Dias, Manoel Henrique de Sá Filho, Antonio O. de Oliveira, Zeferino Velloso da Silveira Pontual and João Evangelista Barreto d’Oliveira.”
In the document drawn up by Rodrigo Octávio we read: “Upon arriving at the superintendent, Mr. Colonel Fontoura, at noon, declared that, having been called by the citizen President of the Republic, Marshal Floriano Peixoto, he had instructed him to assume responsibility for municipal affairs and the the people went up to accompany Colonel Fontoura to the meeting room of the Municipality, where Colonel Fontoura wanted to sit in the armchair where, for fourteen months, he defended the rights and interests of the citizens and of the Municipality; the people, however, invited him to take a seat in the presidential chair.”
The intendant and the new president were welcomed by Dr. Cândido Barata. And so Floriano Peixoto became the second President of the Republic of Brazil. Deodoro’s adventure was short-lived, and today he is credited with having been led by the force of circumstances to the deposition of the Emperor. Until then he had been a devoted admirer of the exceptional qualities of that man who had always behaved with the utmost honesty. He stood out for his austere habits. For his love for the country and culture.
A visionary, Pedro II soon took advantage of everything that science and technology offered to improve coexistence. He was passionate about photography and the telephone. He was interested in universal history. He has seen a good part of the world. He honored the talent. He encouraged children and young people to persist in their studies. With his own resources he sponsored courses abroad for promising young people. Many of the greatest Brazilian painters took advantage of his generosity and the most iconic case was that of Carlos Gomes.
Highly respected in the international community, he was elected president of the United States in two American states, in an era in which the electorate could choose whoever they wanted, without any superfluous candidacy.
This is the ruler that Brazil renounced and expelled to establish the Republic. Such a choice would have been the right one.
Source: Terra
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