If Pedro went back to Portugal, chances are very good that the Cortes decides he's the king. I don't think Joao is all that popular. He did run out on his country, after all. He's not unpopular. I think that any member of the Braganza family is good enough to be king.
Well, I don't know about that. When I went to school here in Portugal they taught me that everyone was like "King, king, king, let's get the king back! The King is great!" at the time of the revolution, but maybe I'm mistaken...
Anyway, even if he was not that popular, he still gave legitimacy to the Cortes. By replacing him with an usurper, even if that usurper is a Braganza, they would be increasing the chances of an absolutist counter-revolution, and they would obviously not want that.
If Pedro just stays in Portugal as prince regent, supporting the Cortes in the name of the king, they'll probably be satisfied just with that. If the liberals are any smart (though I admit they are not much...) they'll see securing the new regime as more important than fulfilling their greedy ambition of getting Brazil's ports closed again. But well, you never know how stupid people can be...
Pedro was liberal, but he was also an autocrat and expected his will to be the way. It was why he ultimately failed in Brazil, because he was only interested in getting along so long as everyone else saw things his way. I doubt he gets along with anyone for very long.
I don't really get why so many people say that he failed so bad in Brazil, that country was a paradise of peace and stability when compared to the rest of Latin America at that time. I mean, Pedro may have been a somewhat inefficent ruler when it came to social and economic issues, but he kept the country united and got it to be internationally recognized. He was not that bad.
But well, I guess one could argue that he was probably not the best person to negotiate with the Cortes.
Being crowned king means he has to promise the Cortes he'll work to return Brazil back to a subservient role.
Yeah, but would he agree to become king on those conditions? As far as I know, he was very supportive of the Brazillian merchant class.
There was real concern, OTL, that Angola would go with Brazil. the two were major trading partners: rum from Brazil for slaves from Angola.
Well, I didn't know about that. Thanks for the information, it's always good to learn
.