Chapter 2:
Constitutional Trouble
Niterói in 1830
Whilst all of this was ongoing, a Constitutional Assembly was due to convene in June 1825. While there were plans to start one as soon as 1823, these were cut short by Pedro I, who was too paranoid about Portuguese presence in the North to worry about matters that seemed less important than the independence war. The Constitutional Assembly Assembly start to its proceedings on June 1, 1825, in the small city of Niterói, a neighboring town to Rio de Janeiro. They represented all the factions that had participated in the Independence. There were the "Moderates" (Moderados), "Conservatives" (Conservadores) and the "Independists" (Independistas). The Moderates who represented the urban upper classes of Rio, wanted a maintenance of slavery, although questioned how much longer the trade could last and defended some state intervention to develop the infrastructure of the Empire (Inspired by the fact that much Rio's infrastructure was built during the presence of the Portuguese court in Brazil, something that this elite saw with their own eyes).
The Conservatives, represented by the slave owning elite, were supportive of the slave trade; supported an economically liberal platform and wanted the Emperor to be nothing more than a figurehead, as their objective was the establishment of a parliamentary system with extremely limited suffrage. Essentially meaning the landowners would keep the power and rule the country as they saw fit.
The Independistas did not have any other ideology besides pressing for the immediate annexation of Grão-Pará into Brazil. Their beliefs were that Brazilian Independence was an unfinished process, which would only end if Brazil, with a modernized army (Which they highly supported) conquered its "Amazonian clay" and effectively expelled all Portuguese troops from South America. This third group was more fluid. A Moderate could not be a Conservative and vice-versa. However, a Conservative could be an Independist and an Independist could be a Moderate.
On June 4, 1825, on what was supposed to be the fourth day of the Assembly, a big group of people convened around the palace where the Assembly was happening, with crowds shouting and clamoring. The people reunited at the meeting, scared, opened the door to try to calm down the protesters. What they saw however surprised them. Leading the crowd was José Bonifácio.
José Bonifácio
Bonifácio didn't actually stop thinking about politics when he left the post of Minister of Affairs on 1822. In fact, between 1822 and 1825 he, during some trips around the region of Rio de Janeiro, was gathering his own supporters by throwing small and private parties where men would gather to talk about the political issues of the day and propose their own solutions. Those men were, just like Bonifácio, "Enlightened Aristocrats" and invitations were never sent to anyone from the middle class or lower. By doing that he managed to gain a loyal following which would result into the future Liberal Party.
It has been said that Bonifácio's appearance at the Assembly was what actually started it, as even Pedro I, who was still in contact with him, was surprised by his sudden return to politics. Because of that, the Assembly was, under Pedro I's orders, forced to have Bonifácio and his political group, named the "Liberals" (Liberais) be present at the Constitutional Convention (The Conservatives and Moderates had both 33 percent of the seats, and the Liberals had 34 percent, with a fraction of all being Independists. To this day, it is still debated how illegal Pedro I's actions of artificially increasing the size of the Liberals were, although this is a touchy and polarising issue that divides along political lines).
What set the Liberals apart however was their fracturing into three very distinct camps: The "Pedrists" (Pedristas), "Anti-Pedrists" (Anti-Pedristas) and "Federalists" (Federalistas).
The Pedrists, who were arguably more Monarchist than all of the other groups in the Assembly, defended the centralization of power under Pedro I, under the belief that he could (and would) want to adopt Liberal reforms to improve the country (Such as public investment in infrastructure, land reform, fight against the slave trade etc.)
They were inspired by the Six-Month Miracle, which "proved" that their ideas about Pedro I's ability to improve the nation were correct and valid. They believed that only a strong Emperor figure would be able to stand up to the landowning elites and be capable of making the reforms without the country balkanizing and splitting up.
The Anti-Pedrists, although not republicans, defended a government centralized under a prime-minister, with a suffrage limited to the "Enlightened Aristocrats", such as Bonifácio himself, resulting in the so desired Liberal reforms.
The most odd of those groups, however, were Federalists. They defended a decentralized government whilst championing Liberal reforms, that - most mainstream historians agree - could only be made by a centralized government. Even José Bonifácio didn't seem sympathetic to this group, and privately suspected that they had Republican or even separatist tendencies, exacerbated by the fact that many times, the Federalists voted together with the Conservatives - who themselves favored decentralization and no Liberal reforms.
What unired those groups however was an almost fanatical following of José Bonifácio, who they saw as either the future Imperial Adviser or Prime-Minister. Because of that, it seemed likely that whichever group Bonifácio associated with, would be the one that would become the mainstay of the Liberals. He was also just as divided.
Modern mainstream historiography has established that, on June 6, 1825, the day of the Speech on the Fundamental Rights of the Empire of Brazil (Discurso dos Direitos Fundamentais do Império Brasileiro), Bonifácio himself did not know what faction to choose. He was (secretly) against the Federalists, so it was out of question for him to choose them. But he was split on whether to side with the Pedrists or the Anti-Pedrists.
On one hand, he admired a system in which the aristocrats would have control but also implement the necessary reforrms. On the other, he was a friend of Pedro I, and even had an important role in him deciding to stay in Brazil.
On what could be considered a coin toss, he chose to side with the Pedrists. During the meeting in the Assembly, he gave a speech which historians would later refer to as the Speech on the Fundamental Rights of the Empire of Brazil. In it, he praised Pedro I and explained that he supported a system by which the Emperor held more power, arguing that only that way would the population have their rights guaranteed, by a Liberal emperor who would compete against the slave owning landowners. The speech, while considered one of the best of the 19th century Lusophone world, was actually seen in a very bad light by the other congressmen due to its "populist" and - according to some Conservative members - divisive rhetoric.
Nonetheless, the Anti-Pedrists and Federalists quickly folded into Bonifácio's lead and adopted Pedrism as their ideology, guaranteeing that at least a third of the Constitutional Assembly was on Bonifácio's side.
All Credit to
@unnaturalmilk