Long term

 

 

The long term causes for the Brazilian Revolution include Napoleon's invasions, the movement of the Portuguese royalty to Brazil, the suppression of revolts from both high and low class peoples, the large taxes imposed by the Portuguese government, surfacing of ideas by the enlightened thinkers like John Locke and the efforts of Portugal to hold on to Brazil as a colony by any means necessary.

 

1- Napoleon invasions and wars (French Revolution): When Napoleon became the Emperor of France, he went on a rampage throughout all of Europe.  When Spain fell to the French (1808), the Portuguese Royalty fled the Iberian Peninsula and went to their colony in modern day Brazil. This started the evolution of Brazil into an individual state economically, politically, culturally and socially; equal in every way to Portugal.

 

2- The execution of Jose da Silva Xavier in 1792: He was the leader of a revolutionary group of wealthy and educated men called Incofidencia Mineira. This execution led to other revolutionary movements in order to become independent. For example, the revolution or protest of the lower classes and slaves in 1798.

 

3- Higher Taxes: According to Dale Pappas, author of the Napoleon Series website, "miners from Minas Gerais were plagued by heavy taxes in the gold mining area". This lead the Brazilian miners to despise the administration, causing many to revolt against the harsh Portuguese administration and search for a solution for lower taxes.

 

4- Enlightenment Thinkers: During the Age of Enlightment, different thinkers emerged including Thomas Hobbes, Jean Jacques Rousseou, John Locke and Charles Montesquieu. All of these men would go on to influence many governments all around the world. One of John Locke's ideologies was that people had the right to revolt against the government if they felt that the government was not protecting the people's natural rights. These writings inspired many Brazilians to rise up against the unfair government of Portugal and revolt.

 

When all of these were combined together it lead to one thing: a very angry Brazilian population who were resentful at the Portuguese, the whole colony became a ticking time bomb.