About the Stamp
This issue ends up a series of six postage stamps, titled “Brazil, 200 Years of Independence”, a partnership between the Chamber of Deputies and the Correios Brasil that began back in 2017 and has extended up to this year of 2022, with the celebration of 200 years of Independence. At the top of the stamp the inscription “Brazil, 200 years of Independence”. Then, the painting “Sessão do Conselho de Ministros” (Ministry Council Session) by Georgina Moura Andrade de Albuquerque, which is part of the National History Museum collection. Below, the painting “Dom Pedro I” by Simplício Rodrigues, part of the Imperial Museum collection. Computer graphics technique was used.
The Movement for Independence
Brazil’s independence was born from a long process that began in 1808, with the arrival of the Royal Family to Brazil. The country then went through a rapid and surprising development process. In 1820, an epoch-making revolution broke out in the city of Porto, whose objective was to abolish royal absolutism. At first Brazil joined it enthusiastically, electing deputies to represent it in the Constituent Courts of Lisbon.
In mid-1821, with the publication of a series of acts that returned Brazil to colonial status, Brazilian deputies moved from enthusiastic adherence to the Courts to prudent resistance. The people from Lisbon began to demand the return of Dom Pedro to Portugal as well as the dismantling of the institutions created here by Dom João.
In January 1822, with the “Dia do Fico” (‘I shall stay’ Day), for the first time, Dom Pedro deliberately disobeyed orders coming from Lisbon. The process of convincing Dom Pedro to disobey the courts and assume the leadership of the Brazilian resistance movement was the result of the combination of many efforts and the most diverse civil society organizations.
We must remember that Dom Pedro, the Royal Prince and heir of the United Kingdom, was the one who had the most to lose. Dom Pedro saw himself threatened by the Courts to be disinherited if he disobeyed their orders, and on the other hand, he saw the increasingly clear prospect of losing Brazil if he obeyed the Courts. The dilemma faced by Dom Pedro made his decision much heavier.
Once declared disobedience to the courts with the Fico, it fell to Dom Pedro to face the Auxiliary Division, a unit of the Portuguese army stationed in Rio de Janeiro, which had already rebelled twice: when they forced Dom João to return to Portugal in February 1821 and when they imposed Dom Pedro’s oath to the bases of the Constitution in June 1821.
After the expulsion of the Portuguese troops from Rio de Janeiro, the fruitful administration of José Bonifácio whose main concern was to create a “Center of Union and Strength”.
To enhance the Union, the José Bonifácio administration invited all the provinces to join the government of Dom Pedro, and, at the same time, began to worry about building an army and an armada, to face the Portuguese troops stationed in Brazil, and defend the country from possible landings by enemy forces.
The most significant dates following the expulsion of the Auxiliary Division were:
- March 25th to April 25th, 1822 – Dom Pedro’s trip to Minas Gerais. Having dissent in the Governing Board of Minas Gerais, Dom Pedro travels there with the objective of confirming the adhesion to his government. The trip is a great success.
- May 13th, 1822 – Dom Pedro accepts the title of Perpetual Defender of Brazil. Title that he will use throughout his life, engraving it on his private coat of arms, when he has abdicated the Crown of Brazil.
- June 3rd, 1822 – Dom Pedro convokes a specific Constituent Assembly for Brazil.
- August 1st, 1822 – Date of publication of the manifesto to the Brazilian people, clarifying the reasons that led Dom Pedro to disobey the Courts and to remain in Brazil. The reasons for the “Dia do Fico”.
- August 6th, 1822 – Date of publication of Dom Pedro›s Manifesto to the Friendly Nations justifying his action. It emphasizes that Dom João became a virtual prisoner of the Courts in Lisbon and he, as Crown Prince of the throne and Regent of the Kingdom of Brazil, appointed by his father, assumed the direction of the government of the Kingdom of Brazil and invited all nations to maintain diplomatic relations with Brazil.
- August 14th, 1822 – Dom Pedro leaves on a trip to São Paulo, with the objective of pacifying the government of the province.
- September 2nd, 1822 – State Council meeting to analyze documents that had just arrived from Lisbon that disowned all of Dom Pedro’s actions and ordered his return to Portugal. The Council was chaired by Dona Leopoldina, who had remained as Princess Regent of Brazil while Dom Pedro was traveling. The conclusion of the meeting was in the sense of recommending to Dom Pedro the immediate break of all ties with Portugal.
- September 7th, 1822 – Receiving the dispatches from Rio de Janeiro when he was on the outskirts of the Ipiranga River, Dom Pedro rebels against the content of the Lisbon documents and gives the cry of Ipiranga.
- On October 12th, 1822, the date of his 24th birthday, Dom Pedro is acclaimed Emperor of Brazil, consolidating the break with the Portuguese monarchy.
- On December 1st, 1822, date of the Restoration of the Kingdom of Portugal, when the end of the Iberian Union and the Acclamation of the first Bragança on the Portuguese throne, Dom Pedro is Sacred and Crowned the first Emperor of Brazil.
Finally, in 1825, Dom João accepted the fait accompli and recognized the Independence of Brazil through the first international treaty signed between Brazil and Portugal.
José Theodoro Mascarenhas Menck
Legislative Consultant of the Chamber of Deputies of Brazil
Technical Details
Stamp issue N. 9
Art: Ely Borges and Isabel Flecha de Lima
Print system: offset
Paper: gummed chalky paper
Sheet with 12 stamps
Facial value: R$ 2.60
Issue: 96,000 stamps
Design area: 21 x 39mm
Stamp dimensions: 26 x 44mm
Perforation: 11,5 x 11
Date of issue: June 29th , 2022
Place of issue: Brasília/DF
Printing: Brazilian Mint
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