Caramurus

Caramurus, a Brazilian political movement that called for the return of Brazil's first emperor after his abdication in 1831. The departure of Dom Pedro I, the first monarch of independent Brazil, ushered in a period of political confusion in the country. Moderate and radical liberals, many of whom had been instrumental in forcing Pedro I to give up his throne, struggled to enact a series of reforms, many of which promised to decentralize the young nation's political system. In reaction to this wave of liberalism and also to the anti-Portuguese sentiment the liberals often exhibited, a range of highly placed political and military figures, most of them born in Portugal, came together in a conservative political coalition. Centered on a simple restorationist program—a call for the return of Dom Pedro I either as monarch or as regent for his six-year-old son—the Caramurus managed to gain some popular support in both urban and rural areas and became a serious threat to the moderate liberal-controlled government of the early regency (1831–1840).

During the short life of their movement, the Caramurus acted as a provocative conservative opposition. They were active in the press; in fact, the movement took its name from the title of its leading newspaper, O Caramuru. They also organized their own association, the Sociedade Conservadora da Constituição Jurada do Império (Society for Conserving the Constitution as Sworn), which later became the Sociedade Militar (Military Society). The attacks that the Caramurus launched through these various organs came to a head in a conspiracy against the liberal government in 1832. Though suppressed easily, this plot demonstrated the seriousness of the conflict between these largely Portuguese conservatives and the state. The simplicity of the Caramuru program ultimately proved to be a fatal weakness. With the death of Pedro I in Portugal in 1834, the movement lost its definition and its members drifted into coalitions with other political factions.

See alsoPedro I of Brazil .

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Thomas Flory, "Race and Social Control in Independent Brazil," in Journal of Latin American Studies 9, no. 2 (1977): 199-224.

Roderick J. Barman, Brazil: The Forging of a Nation, 1798–1852 (1988).

Leslie Bethell and José Murilo De Carvalho, "1822–1850," in Brazil: Empire and Republic, 1822–1930, edited by Leslie Bethell (1989).

Additional Bibliography

Fagundes, Antonio Augusto. Revoluçao farroupilha: Cronologia do "Decenio heróico, 1835–1845." Porto Alegre: Martins Livreiro Editor, 2003.

Flores, Moacyr. Negros na Revolução Farroupilha: Traição em Porongos e farsa em Ponche Verde. Porto Alegre: EST, 2004.

Hasse, Geraldo, and Guilherme Kolling. Lanceiros negros. Porto Alegre: JA Editores, 2006.

Spalding, Walter. Farroupilhas e caramurús, A brasildade dos farrapos; história, documentos, e bibliografia sobre o movimento reivindicador de 1835/45. Porto Alegre: Imprensa oficial, 1944.

Telles, Jorge. Farrapos: A guerra que perdemos. Porto Alegre: Martins Livreiro Editor, 2004.

Ubim, Carlos. Os farrapos. Porto Alegre: Zero Hora, 2003.

                                       Roger A. Kittleson