Brazilian Constituent Assembly (1823)

However, its activities ended with its dissolution by the police forces of emperor Pedro I of Brazil in the early hours of 12 November 1823, an episode known as the Night of Agony.

[2] The starting point for the Assembly was the decree of 16 February 1822, inspired by José Bonifácio, which provided for the convocation of a Council of General Procurators of the Provinces.

Their attributions would be to advise the Prince Regent, examine the great projects of reform in the administration, propose measures and plans, and advocate for the welfare of their respective provinces.

On 23 May of the same year, the Senate of the Chamber of Rio de Janeiro, led by Joaquim Gonçalves Ledo and Januário da Cunha Barbosa, wrote to the Prince Regent protesting against the secular subjection to Portugal and the imposition of the system of oppression that the Cortes intended to restore, with disrespect for the principles of morality, equality, and politics.

Real, that and it is necessary I design that a General Assembly of the Provinces of Brazil, represented by a competent number of deputies, which cannot be less than one hundred, be convened in this Court.

A Constitution that, by placing inaccessible barriers to despotism, whether royal, aristocratic, or democratic, chases away anarchy and plants the tree of liberty in whose shade should grow the union, tranquility, and independence of this Empire, which will be the wonder of the new and old world.

All the Constitutions, which in the manner of 1791 and 1792 have established their bases, and have wanted to organize themselves, experience has shown us that they are totally theoretical and metaphysical, and therefore unworkable: so proves France, Spain and, lately, Portugal.

[10] There were, however, factions among the deputies, and three were discernible: Ideologically, the emperor identified with the "Bonifácios" both concerning social and economic projects and in relation to political ones, as he had no interest in acting as an absolute monarch, or to serve as "a cardboard figure in government.

This fact, followed by the approval of a project on June 12, 1823, by which the laws created by the body would dispense with the emperor's sanction, led Pedro I to clash with the Constituent Assembly.

Since the beginning of the legislative work, the Federalist liberals had as their main intention to overthrow the ministry presided over by José Bonifácio at any cost and to take revenge for the persecutions they had suffered during the "Bonifácia" of the previous year.

[11] The liberals and Portuguese enticed the:"Andradas' enemies, whose valor with the Emperor stirred up much envy and whose haughtiness, sometimes coarse, gave rise to many a grievance and wounded many a vanity.

The malcontents united to overthrow them, and in the alliance, they mixed moderates with the exalted"[20]The two allied factions enlisted the emperor's close friends on their side, who tried to end the monarch's friendship with José Bonifácio.

Seeing most of the Assembly openly dissatisfied with the Andrada ministry and influenced by his friends, who identified with the interests of the Portuguese, Pedro I dismissed the ministers of state.

The minister of the empire, Francisco Vilela Barbosa, representing the government, addressed the assembly demanding that the Andradas brothers be prosecuted for their alleged abuses.

But the next day, when Vilela Barbosa returned to the Assembly to explain the gathering of troops, some deputies shouted demanding that Pedro I be declared an "outlaw".

[26] The Constituent Assembly was dissolved by the Emperor during the Night of Agony,[1] in the early hours of November 12, 1823, before it could conclude its debates and deliberation on the draft Constitution.

The next day, the Emperor appointed people he trusted to the Council of State, who were to conclude behind closed doors the work begun by the Constituent Assembly.

José Joaquim Carneiro de Campos, future Marquis of Caravelas, is considered the main author of the text drafted by the Council of State, which would be granted by the Emperor the following year.