Brazil: Independence Movement

Brazil's path to independence began with the Portuguese royal family's flight to Rio de Janeiro in 1808 to escape Napoleon's invasion of Portugal, which made Brazil the seat of the empire for over a decade. When King John VI returned to Lisbon in 1821, he left his son Pedro behind as regent. The Portuguese parliament, or Cortes, soon moved to reassert direct control over Brazil and ordered Pedro to return as well.

On January 9, 1822, in an episode later celebrated as the Dia do Fico ('Day of I Stay'), Pedro announced he would remain in Brazil rather than comply. Encouraged by advisors including Jose Bonifacio de Andrada e Silva, he moved toward a formal break with Portugal over the following months as tensions with the Cortes escalated.

On September 7, 1822, traveling near the Ipiranga River in Sao Paulo province, Pedro received dispatches from Portugal demanding his return and issued the proclamation known as the Grito do Ipiranga, declaring 'Independence or Death.' He was acclaimed Brazil's constitutional emperor soon after, crowned Pedro I on December 1, 1822, and ruled the newly independent Empire of Brazil until his abdication in 1831.