Brazilian War of Independence 1821-1825

In September 1821, the Côrtes (the Portuguese parliament) meeting in Lisbon, with only a portion of the Brazilian delegates present, voted to abolish the Kingdom of Brazil and the royal agencies in Rio de Janeiro and to make all the provinces subordinate directly to Lisbon. Portugal sent troops to Brazil and attempted to placed all Brazilian units under Portuguese command. By November 1821 tension between Portuguese troops and Brazilians led to bloodshed in Recife in the province of Pernambuco; the Portuguese garrison there was forced to depart by the end of the month. Meanwhile, Brazilian towns petitioned Dom Pedro, prince regent in Rio de Janeiro, to refuse the order to return to Lisbon. Some argued that his departure and the dismantling of the central government would trigger separatist movements. On January 9, 1822, Pedro vowed to stay. Violence erupted in Rio de Janeiro as Portuguese troops were allowed to riot before concentrating under their commander on Cerro Castello, which was soon surrounded by thousands of armed Brazilians. Pedro then "dismissed" the Portuguese commanding general and successfully ordered him to remove his soldiers across the bay to Niteroi, to await transport to Portugal. In mid-February 1822, Bahians revolted against the Portuguese garrison there but were driven into the countryside, where they began guerrilla operations, signaling that the struggle in the north would not be without loss of life and property. The atmosphere was so charged that Pedro sought assurances of asylum on a British ship in case he lost the looming confrontation; he also sent his family to safety out of the city. In the following days, the Portuguese commander delayed embarkation, hoping that expected reinforcements would arrive. However, the reinforcements that arrived off Rio de Janeiro on March 5, 1822, were not allowed to land. Instead, they were given supplies for the voyage back to Portugal. This round had been won without much bloodshed.

To secure Minas Gerais and São Paulo, where there were no Portuguese troops but where there were doubts about independence, Pedro engaged in some royal populism. Back in Rio de Janeiro on May 13, he proclaimed himself the "perpetual defender of Brazil" and shortly thereafter called a Constituent Assembly (Assembléia Constituinte) for the next year. To deepen his base of support, he joined the freemasons, who, led by José Bonifácio Andrada e Silva, were pressing for parliamentary government and independence. More confident, in early August he called on the Brazilian deputies in Lisbon to return, decreed that Portuguese forces in Brazil should be treated as enemies, and issued a manifesto to "friendly nations." The manifesto read like a declaration of independence. While in São Paulo later in August Pedro received messages from his wife and from Andrada e Silva that the Côrtes considered his government traitorous and was dispatching more troops. In a famous scene at Ipiranga on September 7, 1822, he had to choose between returning to Portugal in disgrace or opting for independence. He tore the Portuguese blue and white insignia from his uniform, drew his sword, and swore: "By my blood, by my honor, and by God: I will make Brazil free." Their motto, he said, would be "Independence or Death!" On December 1, 1822, Pedro was crowned emperor of Brazil.

Brazil employed Admiral Lord Thomas Alexander Cochrane (from March 21, 1823), one of Britain's most successful naval commanders in the Napoleonic Wars and recently commander of the Chilean naval forces against Spain. A number of Admiral Cochrane's officers and French General Pierre Labatut, who had fought in Colombia were also hired. These men were to lead the fight to drive the Portuguese out and to replace Lisbon's rule with that of Rio de Janeiro. Money from customs at Rio de Janeiro's port and local donations outfitted the army and the nine-vessel fleet. The use of foreign mercenaries brought needed military skills. The Portuguese military attempted to disrupt the economy and society in Brazil with a scorched-earth campaign and with promises of freedom for the slaves. By mid-1823 the contending forces numbered between 10,000 and 20,000 Portuguese, some of whom were veterans of the Napoleonic Wars, versus 12,000 to 14,000 Brazilians, mostly in militia units from the northeast. Brazilian attacks by land and sea drove the Portuguese to leave Bahia in a large convoy at the beginning of July and, after failing to land at Maranhão (São Luis) because Cochrane had captured the port, the Portuguese proceeded across the Atlantic. By the end of 1923, all Portuguese military forces had been withdrawn to Portugal.

Although both sides avoided massive set battles, they did engage in guerrilla tactics, demonstrations, and countermoves. There is little information on casualties, but the fighting provided a female martyr in Mother Joana Angélica, who was bayoneted to death by Portuguese troops invading her convent in Bahia; and an example of female grit in Maria Quitéria de Jesus, who, masquerading as a man, joined the imperial army and achieved distinction in several battles.

Britain and Portugal recognized Brazilian independence by signing a treaty on August 29, 1825. Until then, the Brazilians feared that Portugal would resume its attack. Portuguese retribution, however, came in a financial form. Secret codicils of the treaty with Portugal required that Brazil assume payment of 1.4 million pounds sterling owed to Britain and indemnify Dom João VI and other Portuguese for losses totaling 600,000 pounds sterling. Brazil also renounced future annexation of Portuguese African colonies and in a side treaty with Britain promised to end the slave trade; neither of these measures pleased the slave-holding planters.

References

Military History, 894; Dictionary of Wars, 69-70; Brazil - A Country Study.

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