On August 29, 1825, Brazilian independence was finally recognized by Portugal, the former colonial metropolis. The recognition had mediation from England and had a financial cost for the Brazilians. It is a usually expensive concept for each country, an idea that summarizes the maximum expression of its independence, with the State that holds the exclusive right to exercise the legislative, judicial and executive authorities in its territory
In times of political and commercial offensive by the American government of Donald Trump against Brazil, this concept has been repeated and emphasized by the Brazilian authorities.
Brazil officially celebrates its independence from Portugal in the historical episode of 7 September 1822, but it was only on August 29, 1825 – 200 years ago – that this sovereignty became full. This is the date on which Brazilian independence was finally recognized by Portugal, the former colonial metropolis.
The process that transformed Brazil from Cologne into independent country did not occur during the night. The famous “Ipiranga Scream” is considered Marco, but Prince Pedro was acclaimed only Pedro 1st, Emperor of Brazil, on October 12 of that year 1822. And Brazil officially became an empire in December.
But the independence of a country has only effect, in fact, with the recognition of others. Since 1823, Brazil was in the middle of diplomatic negotiations so that other nations approve of its existence.
International recognition
The pioneers in this regard were the United States, which formally recognized Brazil in 1824 – there was a predisposition to the Americans to this, since in these processes of independence, the once European time became under their geopolitical influence.
But there was also the fact that the kingdom of Daomé, which existed from 1600 to 1904 in the current Benin, Africa, was one of the first to send diplomatic representatives to the then new country: slave companies certainly weighed in this report.
The United Provinces of the Rio da Prata, a territory that today also corresponds to Argentina, have recognized Brazil.
“The United States were the first to recognize [a independência do Brasil] And this has a direct relationship with the idea of American independence and America as a fantastic continent of European monarchies “, says the historian Marcelo Cheche Galves, professor at Maranhão State University (Uema) and one of the organizers of the independence book: circulation of ideas and political practices.
“England did not want to recognize independent Brazil before Portugal did it because of European political chess,” he underlines.
The United Kingdom was interested in the final resolution of the funnel between Brazil and Portugal.
“England has guaranteed a potential great consumer market. Independence, linked to English interests, left the United Kingdom that made profit both from the debt of Brazil and from the relationships of economic dependence that were among the countries involved”, says the historian Victor Missiato, a researcher of the Mackenzie Institute.
“Independence [do Brasil] It meant greater ability than England to expand its market in the Americas. “
Therefore, the British began to mediate the negotiations between the new empire and the old metropolis. These negotiations were completed on August 29, 1825, with the signature of the treaty of friendship and alliance, also known as Treaty or Luso-Brazilian treated of Rio de Janeiro.
This document was “the most solid basis to guarantee the financing of the political institution of the Brazilian state”, explains the historian Paulo Henrique Martinez, professor to the Paulist State University (UNESP).
The historian Galves recalls that, at that point, “the situation of political emancipation” of Brazil was already “more than resolved from a practical point of view”.
The Treaty, therefore, solved the exceptional political cheats – from the commitments signed with England by the future extinction of the such trampled trafficking of the slaves to the points relating to the succession in the thrones of both Portugal and Brazil.
Portugal began to recognize Brazil as a sovereign state. And Brazil has committed himself to paying compensation to the European country – for a total of £ 2 million, which was subsequently used by Portugal to pay bankers with bankers to finance the war that tried to reverse Brazilian independence.
English help
British mediation was assumed that the United Kingdom has already recognized Brazilian independence informally. The British saw in the Brazilian autonomy a political facilitator for the recognition of other Latin American nations. At the same time, especially after the court of Lisbon moved to Rio in 1808, Brazil was established as a solid consumption market for British exports.
This English interference was decisive for the agreement to be sealed. According to Martinez, the British weight came from the fact that the country was “the greatest commercial, industrial and financial emporium of the world market” and also because this help meant the “ideological presence of free trade”.
“The role [da mediação britânica] It was central, determining both the interests that the British had in relation to the treaty and the space that England occupied in geopolitics [do período]”Explains Galves.
Since there was a difficulty in agreement between Portugal and Brazil to formalize independence, the British therefore offered themselves as mediators of this process.
The terms were conducted by the politician George Canning (1770-1827), then foreign minister. The questions inherent in the succession of the Portuguese throne were in question: there were doubts about this process, since the successor of Dom John 6th (1767-1826), Dom Pedro (1798-1834) had become, after all, Emperor of Brazil.
Among the negotiations, the British diplomat Charles Stuart (1779-1845) acted as ambassador to Lisbon, exposing to the Portuguese government that there was a total practical impossibility in the idea of the union of the two crowns. It was Stuart who proposed that Brazil compensated for Portugal.
In total, the arbitration quantity of 2 million pounds was officially stipulated to reimburse the seized ships or confiscated in the independence process and that Brazil remained the National Library collection – brought to Rio in 1808. If this was expensive, Brazil was born as an independent country of the Americas with the largest collection of books of the continuous. That is: sovereignty also came with knowledge.
“For Portugal, it was a big problem, considering that the situation had actually already been solved and militarily would not be possible inversion,” says Galves.
Cascade effect
With consolidated independence, Brazil also became the protagonist of a movement in which the countries of Latin America were gaining autonomy and ceasing to be colonies. “In the dimension of America, it was a tool of economic and mercantile controversy of British imperialism”, contextualizes Martinez.
“There was a waterfall effect [pelo continente]With England sponsoring, helping and supporting other processes also in Spanish America, “says Missiato.
“For his geography”, recalls the historian Martinez, Sovereign Brazil was important for other countries, both in diplomatic and commercial relationships. “By occupying the pediment of the South Atlantic, the projection of the Brazilian territory has enjoyed privileged positions not only as a warehouse, but also as an area of origin and destination of numerous products, in particular tropical and manufactured, coming from the northern hemisphere”, he says.
“Secondly for the attraction of the large production market of large demand in the world market, such as cotton, sugar, tobacco and, therefore, coffee and rubber. All this network has moved others, such as insurance, naval construction sites, navigation, loans, investments, taxation, legal quarrels, storage, supply, urban infrastructures, roads and communications.”
Source: Terra
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