Senate Resolution No. 5432

BY: Senator PERALTA

COMMEMORATING 196 years of the Independence of
Brazil on September 7, 2018

WHEREAS, Brazil became a Portuguese colony in 1500 with the
establishment of their first settlement, Sao Vicente; and

WHEREAS, Brazil was ruled from Lisbon for the next 300 years as a
very fruitful colony: rich in lumber, minerals, gold, gemstones; all
making Portugal very wealthy at the hands of indigenous people and
imported slaves from Africa; and

WHEREAS, In 1808, Dom Joao VI and the Portuguese royal family fled
from Napoleon and established the seat of government in Rio de Janeiro;
and

WHEREAS, After the defeat of Napoleon in 1815, Dom Joao VI thought
it best to establish Brazil as a kingdom similar to Portugal and worked
the next several years toward that cause; and

WHEREAS, Portugal strongly disagreed with Brazilian sovereignty and
Dom Joao's staying in Brazil, and sent an army to stabilize Brazil and
return Dom Joao to Portugal; Dom Joao returned to Portugal leaving his
23 year old son, Pedro, to preside over Brazil; and

WHEREAS, Pedro, now known as Dom Pedro, continued his father's
vision to bring about an autonomous Brazil, similar to what was
happening in nearly every other Latin American territory during that
era; and

WHEREAS, In Rio de Janeiro on September 7, 1822, Dom Pedro received
a letter from Portugal saying that all power given to him had been
annulled and that Portugal intended to enslave all of Brazil; and

WHEREAS, Pedro turned to his companions and spoke: "Friends, the
Portuguese Cortes want to enslave and pursue us. From today on our
relations are broken. No ties unite us anymore" and continued after he
pulled out his blue-white armband that symbolized Portugal: "Armbands
off, soldiers. Hail to the independence, to freedom and to the
separation of Brazil"; and

WHEREAS, When arriving in the city of Sao Paolo on the night of
September 7, 1822, Pedro and his fellow companions had spread the notice
of the Brazilian independence from Portugal; and

WHEREAS, The Portuguese quickly gave in to the idea of a Brazilian
empire; without a single shot being fired, Dom Pedro I became the first
emperor of an independent Brazil; and

WHEREAS, The United States was the first country to recognize
Brazilian independence in 1822; and

WHEREAS, International recognition of Brazil's independence came
about on August 29, 1825, when a treaty was signed between Britain and
Portugal; and

WHEREAS, Many Brazilians have made New York their home, and this
Legislative Body is justly proud to thank the Brazilian people for their
contributions to this great Empire State; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to
commemorate 196 years of the Independence of Brazil on September 7,
2018.