Brazil's Peaceful Path, Foreign Powers, and the Legacy of Independence

Brazil's path diverged sharply from the rest of the continent. The Portuguese royal family relocated to Rio de Janeiro in 1808 fleeing Napoleon's invasion, and when the Portuguese Cortes demanded the return of Prince Regent Pedro in 1821, Brazilian elites persuaded him to stay with his "Dia do Fico" declaration of January 1822. On 7 September 1822, at Ipiranga, Pedro proclaimed "Independência ou Morte!" and was crowned Pedro I, establishing a constitutional monarchy that preserved the territorial unity of the former colony — in sharp contrast to Spanish America's fragmentation into multiple republics — though Brazil would not abolish slavery until 1888, the last country in the Americas to do so.