History of the Constitution of Brazil

During its independent political history, Brazil has had seven constitutions. The most recent was ratified on October 5, 1988.

Prior to its independence, on September 7, 1822, Brazil had no formal Constitution, since Portugal only adopted its first Constitution on September 23, 1822, 16 days after Brazilian self-proclaimed emancipation. In 1823, the Emperor Pedro I started the political process of writing a Constitution.

The elaboration of the first Constitution of Brazil was quite difficult and the power struggle involved resulted in a long-lasting unrest that plagued the country for nearly two decades. Two major facts increased the troubles:

The first circumstance meant that despite strong support of the crown prince Pedro I by the Brazilian landowners (the so-called "Brazilian Party"), the opinions of the reinóis (name then given to people fresh from Portugal) should be considered. As each side had very distinct and different objectives none could prevail and a compromise was needed.

There were extra problems involved: the Constitutional Assembly had been elected to decide the applicability of Portuguese laws in Brazil, not to draft a new constitution. As a result, some of the Portuguese deputies refused to take part in it. On the other hand, some of the Brazilian deputies, the "liberal" ones, had been persecuted, some exiled others imprisoned. Thus the Constitutional Assembly did not hear an appreciable number of opinions and would end reflecting the objectives of the "Brazilian Party", to the detriment of the "Portuguese Party" and the liberals.

As the draft constitution progressed it became clear that the deputies were trying to establish a constitution that would:

The emperor wanted to remain an absolute monarch, protect the interests of the Portuguese businessmen (while possibly mending the relationship with Portugal in the meantime) and prevent any form of power transfer from himself to the Parliament.

In a quite predictable move, and in the light of the wave of conservatism led by the Holy Alliance, the prince used his influence over the Brazilian Army to dissolve the Constitutional Assembly, in what became known as the Night of Agony, and imposed on the country a constitution that concentrated all powers on the prince himself (eventually crowned "Perpetual Emperor and Protector of Brazil").

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