Republican Party (PR)

The Republican Party (Partido Republicano—PR) emerged in Brazil with the founding of the first Republican Club in Rio de Janeiro on 3 November 1870. One month later, the Republican Manifesto enunciated the party's principles, calling for an end to the monarchy and the creation of a federal republic. Republican sentiment had surfaced as early as 1789 in Brazil with the Inconfidência Mineira, and had been important in separatist movements during the 1810s, 1820s, and 1830s. The turmoil of the 1830s, however, when Brazilians experimented with federalism, caused republican sentiment to subside, and by mid-century politically active Brazilians had come to appreciate the stability of their monarchy. The potential for political discontent, nonetheless, had been retained in the divisions between the Liberal and Conservative parties. The fall of the Liberal cabinet in 1868 caused disgruntled members to seek radical redress by supporting the republican cause. Other political and economic forces also contributed to the appeal of republicanism in 1870. The War of the Triple Alliance (1865–1870), which cast Brazilian soldiers into closer contact with their Argentine and Uruguayan allies, heightened the appreciation for republican government elsewhere. The growth of cities brought with it the increased importance of educated, professional groups sympathetic to republican ideals. Furthermore, after 1850 economic power transferred from the Paraíba Valley to the rich coffee lands of São Paulo province. Since political influence did not immediately follow, Paulista planters tended to support republicanism. In 1884, São Paulo elected three Republican representatives to the national Chamber of Deputies, the first Republicans to sit in Parliament. With the return of the Liberals to national power in 1878, however, many Republicans had deserted their new party and returned to the Liberal fold. In 1886–1887 the Republican Party reemerged under a leadership more heavily influenced by the positivist vision of a dictatorial republic and supported by important sectors of the military. On 15 November 1889 the military deposed Emperor Pedro II and ushered in a republican form of government.

See alsoPedro II of Brazilxml .

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Francisco José De Oliveira Viana, O ocaso do império, 3d ed. (1959).

Heitor Lyra, História da queda do império, 2 vols. (1964).

E. Bradford Burns, A History of Brazil, 2d ed. (1980), esp. pp. 224-225.

Emilia Viotti Da Costa, The Brazilian Empire (1985), esp. pp. 202-233.

Additional Bibliography

Barman, Roderick J. Citizen Emperor: Pedro II and the Making of Brazil, 1825–91. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1999.

Dolhnikoff, Miriam. O pacto imperial: Origens do federalismo no Brasil. São Paulo: Editora Globo, 2005.

Peixoto, Antonio Carlos, Lucia Maria Paschoal Guimarães, and Maria Emília Prado. O liberalismo no Brasil imperial: Origens, conceitos e prática. Rio de Janeiro: Editora Revan, 2001.

                                          Joan Meznar