2nd September 1822 – Brazil becomes an independent empire

When Crown Prince Pedro set off on a tour of inspection to Sao Paolo in the middle of August 1822, Leopoldina was appointed as his official representative, that is, as regent in his absence. Her status was confirmed with a document of investiture dated 13 August 1822 giving her complete authority to take any necessary political decisions.

Within just a few days of Pedro’s departure the Cortes tried to dissolve the Brazilian government and to establish the individual provinces as republics. Leopoldina immediately summoned the state council and within a few hours on 2 September 1822 the independence of Brazil from the motherland Portugal had been agreed, set down on paper and signed by Leopoldina. It was purely a matter of form that Pedro signed and ratified this document on 7 September 1822.

The streets of Rio filled with jubilant crowds, and, just as ‘nossa mãe’ had told them time and again in the past months they called out a new greeting to one another: ‘Sou Brasileiro, sou Brasileira!’ (‘I am a Brazilian’).

On 12 October 1822, his 24th birthday, Pedro was crowned. He took the title of Constitutional Emperor and Perpetual Defender of Brazil.

Leopoldina used her contacts in the Viennese court to ensure that Brazil’s independence was internationally recognized. She also wrote to her father-in-law, Dom João VI in Lisbon, urging him ‘to be an angel of peace and ratify the constitution and in so doing show the whole world that you are the most generous of fathers’.

After seeing Brazil’s independence recognized by Portugal in 1825, Leopoldina began the last year of her life with a happy event: she gave birth to the heir to the throne, Pedro.