The Legacy of Emperor Pedro II: Brazil’s Golden Age

Pedro II was the second, and last, Emperor of Brazil, reigning from 1831 to 1889, a period considered a golden age for Brazil. Pedro II’s legacy includes important military victories, decades of internal stability, and technological, economic, and social progress, including the abolition of slavery. However, despite these accomplishments, Pedro II and the Brazilian monarchy were overthrown in a military coup in 1889 that marked the beginning of an era of internal conflict and dictatorships.

Pedro II was born on December 2, 1825. He became Emperor of Brazil in 1831 at just five years old after his father, Pedro I, abdicated the throne to return to Portugal, the homeland of the Brazilian royal family, to defend his daughter’s claim to the Portuguese throne.

At the age of 14, Pedro II’s regency ended and he assumed his full powers as Emperor of Brazil, possessing considerable, but not absolute, power. The Brazilian Empire was a constitutional monarchy with an elected legislative assembly and significant individual rights, such as freedom of the press.

Pedro II developed a reputation as a very hard-working and frugal monarch. He worked incredibly long hours and expected others in his government to show the same devotion. Pedro II was known as a brilliant monarch, and throughout his life he demonstrated a passion for science, technology, and the arts.

Pedro II ruled Brazil for 58 years until he was overthrown in a military coup in 1889. The length of Pedro II’s reign during the turbulent time in human history that was the 19th century resulted in a considerable legacy.

Pedro II and the Expansion of Brazilian Power 

When Pedro II ascended to the throne in 1831, Brazil was in chaos and appeared to be falling apart. Just a few years before, rebels in the territory that would eventually become Uruguay had, with the support of Argentinian forces, successfully revolted against Brazilian rule and achieved their independence in the Cisplatine War, fought from 1825 to 1828. At this time, border disputes between the newly independent South American states were endemic, and war was always a possibility.

Pedro II was not a warmonger but showed iron determination in preserving Brazil’s territorial integrity. In the Platine War (1851-1852), the Uruguayan War (1864-1865), and the Paraguayan War (1864-1870), he led the Brazilian Empire to victory over various combinations of Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay. The reasons for these wars were complex, and enemies in one war sometimes found themselves allies in the next, but at a high level, they all resulted from territorial disputes in the strategically important River Plate region of South America.

The Paraguayan War was South America’s deadliest inter-state war, fought between Paraguay and the “Triple Alliance” of Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay. Perhaps as many as 500,000 people died, largely in Paraguay. The reasons for this war are debated among historians, but what is clear is that Pedro II and the Brazilian Empire decisively crushed the Paraguayans.

Pedro II was very active in the Paraguayan War, rallying the Brazilian nation and government to support the war effort and encouraging the formation of battalions of “Fatherland Volunteers.” To impose order on the fractious allied army, Pedro II traveled to the front and took personal command of the allied forces for a period. When victory was finally achieved, the government sought to create a triumphant statue of Pedro II, but the Emperor instead directed the funds be used to open more schools.

While he did not personally lead Brazilian forces in every conflict during this period, Pedro II was an effective wartime ruler and commander who refused to compromise on Brazil’s territorial integrity, transforming the country from a collapsing empire to the most powerful state in South America.

In the 19th century, most South American nations were beset by rebellions, civil wars, political violence, corruption, coups, and a rotating series of brutal dictatorships. In contrast, Brazil enjoyed 58 years of relatively stable and democratic government during Pedro II’s reign.

The key to this stability was Pedro II’s role as a neutral arbiter between the liberal and conservative factions in Brazilian politics and his scrupulous adherence to the terms of Brazil’s constitution.

During his reign, Pedro II assembled 36 different cabinets and ensured that both liberal and conservative politicians were appointed to positions of power. As a result, neither faction felt the need to resort to violence to accomplish its objectives.

Pedro II also contributed to the unique stability of Brazil in the 19th century personally—unlike many other heads of state during this period, he never attempted to subvert the constitution of Brazil to make himself a dictator. Pedro II defended Brazil’s constitutional monarchy and the rights and freedoms of its citizens, including the freedom of the press and citizens to be critical of the imperial regime. In fact, Pedro II was so scrupulous regarding the rights of his citizens that he allowed republicans who were openly opposed to the monarchy to be public servants and serve in the military. By strictly adhering to the constitution, Pedro II was able to maintain his reputation as an impartial arbiter between Brazil’s competing political factions and earned the respect and trust of the Brazilian people.

Overall, one of Pedro II’s principal legacies is the stability that Brazil enjoyed during his reign, in marked contrast to the chaos that occurred both before and after, and which was common in the rest of South America in the 19th century.

The Empire of Brazil’s role as the dominant power in South America, combined with its internal stability, set the stage for Brazil to make enormous economic, technological, and social progress during the reign of Pedro II.

Foreign investment flowed into Brazil, particularly for railroads. During Pedro II’s reign, more than 5,000 miles of railway were constructed. The new railroads facilitated the flow of people and goods throughout Brazil and helped to unify its disparate regions into a single nation.

Factories, steamship lines, and telegraph and telephone facilities were also built during the Emperor’s reign. Pedro II personally played a critical role in the success of Alexander Graham Bell’s telephone when he singled the invention out for praise during a visit to the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia in 1876. His enthusiasm for Bell’s invention helped the telephone’s success in the United States and made Brazil one of the first countries outside the United States to have a widespread telephone network. Pedro II also joined President Ulysses S. Grant at the Centennial Exhibition to switch on the giant Corliss steam engine, which provided power to most of the exhibition and was a stunning example of American industrial technology.

Pedro II’s 1876 visit to the United States, where he led a delegation of Brazilian officials and businesspeople on a lengthy tour of the country, played an important role in Brazil’s development. Pedro II witnessed firsthand the staggering economic growth and technological development the United States was experiencing in the wake of the American Civil War and was convinced that Brazil could learn from the United States’ experience. In addition to the telephone, the Brazilians brought back information about advanced agricultural techniques, steel production, and, most importantly to Pedro II, the American public school system.

In addition to economic and technological progress, Pedro II’s reign is largely remembered for successfully abolishing slavery in Brazil, albeit slowly. The ruler’s sympathy with the abolitionist cause was demonstrated early on when he freed his own enslaved people in 1840.

Over several decades, Pedro II moved slowly but steadily towards achieving abolition in Brazil. Under the terms of the constitution, he could not abolish slavery by decree; he needed the support of elected politicians. Using his personal influence, Pedro II was able to achieve progressively more significant victories in the fight for abolition. In 1850, the slave trade became illegal in Brazil, in 1871 Pedro II signed a law that declared all children of enslaved people born after that date to be free, and in 1885 he signed another law that freed enslaved people when they reached the age of 60.

Finally, in 1888, Pedro II achieved one of his most sought-after goals when the Brazilian General Assembly passed a law decreeing the abolition of slavery in Brazil. While Pedro II considered the abolition of slavery one of the most important accomplishments of his reign, his open support for abolition earned him significant enemies amongst key conservative members of the military and planter class who felt he had abandoned his role as the neutral arbiter of Brazilian politics.

Nonetheless, despite the opposition of some conservatives, slavery was outlawed, and its abolition is emblematic of Pedro II’s legacy of progress during his reign.

In 1889 all appeared well in the Brazilian Empire. However, while most of the population was content with Pedro II, a small faction of republicans in the army was dissatisfied and determined to end the monarchy.

The reasons for the republicans’ desire to end the monarchy were complex and varied. Some members of the military and the planter class objected to Pedro II’s support for abolishing slavery. Others felt that the army had been unjustly neglected after the Paraguayan War. Many objected to the idea of Pedro II’s daughter, Princess Isabel, and her French husband, the Count of Eu, becoming the rulers of Brazil once the Emperor died.

On November 15, 1889, a few hundred soldiers arrested the cabinet and informed Pedro II that he had been deposed. The plotters declared Brazil a republic, ruled by a military government.

Pedro II still commanded tremendous support from the people and the rest of the military, but he was exhausted by the burdens of power and was determined for there to be no bloodshed on his behalf. He accepted the end of Brazil’s constitutional monarchy and sailed to exile in Portugal, where he died two years later.

The overthrow of Pedro II marked the end of Brazil’s long stretch of stability and prosperity. Civil wars, economic stagnation, coups, and dictatorships marked the next several decades of Brazilian history. In this respect, Pedro II’s legacy is incomplete; while his reign is sometimes considered a golden age in Brazil, it failed to create the foundations for lasting progress. It would be many decades before Brazil once again enjoyed stability and prosperity such as it had experienced under the reign of Pedro II.