THE INDEPENDECE OF BRAZIL
The events leading to Brazil’s independence started in
Europe. Emperor Napoleon of France
invaded Portugal and Spain in 1807 and 1808.
The Portuguese rulers fled from Lisbon, Portugal, to Brazil. Brazil was a Portuguese colony in the New
World. The Spanish monarch[1]
was captured and temporarily imprisoned.
All of Spain’s
colonies in the New World were on their own.
Though the colonies officially belonged to Spain, they did not want the
king always looking over their shoulders and managing their affairs. The colonists wanted much more freedom from
Spain. They began to see the
imprisonment of their monarch as a chance to gain independence. Latin Americans started to rise up against
the lingering signs of Spanish power.
Spain was determined to hold on to its New World colonies. The two sides fought many bloody battles in Central
and South America. Spain’s colonies[2]
fought a long, hard war for independence.
In Brazil, it was
different. The colony became independent
more peacefully. Prince John VI, the
future Portuguese monarch, escaped Napoleon and moved to Brazil. The colony became the seat of the grand
Portuguese Empire that covered parts of Africa, India, and Brazil. The future king of Portugal stayed in Brazil
for 13 years. He grew attached to
Brazilians and the colony. Brazilians
did not feel removed from the Portuguese government. Instead, they felt that the prince brought
status[3]
and glory to their colony. Indeed, in
1815, John VI announced that Brazil would be a kingdom, on equal footing in the
Portuguese Empire with the kingdom of Portugal itself.
John VI became king of Brazil, but he had to agree to
rule from Portugal. John VI’s form of
government was a constitutional monarchy.
The constitution protected the rights of the people, just as the U.S.
Constitution protects U.S. citizens. But
unlike the U.S., Brazil still had a monarch.
When John VI sailed for Portugal, his 23-year-old son, Pedro, remained
in Brazil.
In the meantime, the rest of Latin America was fighting
bloody wars for independence. The
territory once held by Spain split into many different groups. These groups fought each other. The map of South America used to be two big
territories. It was divided between the
colonies of Spain and the one colony of Portugal, Brazil. Today the many different countries on the
South American map remind us of the divisions within Latin America. All of the different boundaries were
established through wars for independence, except for the case of Brazil. Brazil stayed intact[4]
as one country, just as it had been one territory.
Pedro realized that Brazil’s people wanted independence,
although they were not yet revolting.
But, the government in Portugal was worried that Pedro favored the
Brazilians too much. Pedro’s father
ordered him to come back to Portugal.
Instead, he disobeyed his father and remained in Brazil. He is supposed to have simply declared, “I
remain!” After his decision to stay,
Pedro announced that Brazil would be independent from Portugal. Today, Brazilians celebrate this moment in
history with “I Remain Day,” similar to our Fourth of July. Pedro’s stance let Brazil gain freedom
without fighting.
Source: http://www.franklinboe.org/cms/lib/NJ01000817/Centricity/Domain/1938/BrazilReading%20.pdf
Activities
1.
The
Portuguese monarch fled to Brazil because
a.
he wanted to
begin a new empire.
b.
Napoleon
invaded Portugal.
c.
his father
ordered him to.
d.
he wanted to
discover the New World.
2.
Why does the
author describe Spanish colonies in Central and South America?
a.
to explain
why Brazilians got the idea to battle for independence
b.
to illustrate
how Brazil had a more violent fight for independence than other places did
c.
to show that
Brazil had to become independent or else join the Spanish Empire
d.
to contrast
their battles for independence with Brazil’s independence
3.
Based on the
passage, which of these statements best explains why Pedro favored Brazilian
independence?
a.
He had lived
in Brazil for most of his life.
b.
He had heard
that Spain’s colonies were fighting bloody wars.
c.
The people
were not yet revolting.
d.
His father
had already returned to Portugal to be king.
4.
Read the
following sentences: “Pedro’s father ordered him to come back to Portugal. Instead, he disobeyed his father and remained
in Brazil.”
The word disobeyed
means
a.
did not do as
he was told
b.
learned a
lesson from
c.
honored or
cherished
d.
took him off
the throne
5.
This passage
is mostly about
a.
why John VI
decided to leave Brazil and return to Portugal.
b.
how Brazil
achieved independence more peacefully than many other colonies.
c.
why John VI
and his son Pedro did not get along and could not both be rulers together.
d.
how Brazil
began as a Portuguese colony in a land that used to be a Spanish colony.
6.
Why is “I Remain Day” important?
7. Explain how
Napoleon’s invasions of Spain and Portugal helped lead to independence for
Spanish colonies and the Portuguese colony of Brazil.
8. The sentence below is an incomplete sentence. Choose the answer that best completes the
sentence.
King John VI’s son
Pedro decided to stay in Brazil; ____________ , Brazil would become completely
independent.
a.
previously
b.
in contrast
c.
particularly
d.
as a result
Comentários
Postar um comentário