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Estevao de Rezende Martins
On 22 July 1840 a handful of members of the Brazilian Imperial Parliament proclaimed the anticipated majority of the 14-year-old Emperor Pedro II. Many contemporary actors in this major political change in the institutional life of the only South American monarchy considered this a necessary measure to prevent the process of ‘republicanization’ that they feared. This is a highly controversial issue in the present historiography, both on the role played by the parliament and on the question of the ‘republican’ character of the immediately preceding period of the Regency (1831–40). Estevão de Rezende Martins makes three points on this issue: (a) the roots of the political problem of a minor emperor since 1831 are fundamental for understanding the event; (b) the problems and difficulties of an effectively ‘republican’ way of governing in the period between 1831 and 1840; (c) the direct initiative of members of Parliament in the crisis of July 1840 and its importance for the consolidation of the monarchical regime in Brazil. This initiative, the circumstances under which the MPs acted and the institutional manner in which its results contributed to the consolidation of the Bragança Empire until 1889, allow the conclusion that the proclaimed majority was a conservative manoeuvre to keep public affairs under control.
