On 30 March 1818 King John VI of Portugal, who had taken refuge in Brazil from the Napoleonic Wars in 1808, signed a decree prohibited all secret societies.

A liberal revolution in 1820 forced the king to return to Portugal on April the following year, leaving his son Prince Pedro as regent.

Dom Pedro named José Bonifácio de Andrada Minister of State and Foreign Affairs – in effect Premier.

[4] In response to threats of a return to the status of a colony subordinate to Portugal, a decree of 16 February 1822 created a Board of Attorneys General of the Provinces of Brazil.

[2] On 13 May 1822, due to the work of Ledo's group and following a proposal by Domingos Alves Branco Muniz Barretto, Prince Pedro assumed the title of "Perpetual Defender of Brazil".

José Bonifácio de Andrada responded by prosecuting Ledo, accusing him of being a republican and secretly conspiring to overthrow the monarchy.

On 30 October 1822 the Grand Orient was closed and Ledo and others in the group had to flee in order to avoid being arrested and deported.

[3] José Bonifácio and his brother Martim Francisco Ribeiro de Andrada fell from power in July 1823.

According to the Baron of Rio Branco, "It was Ledo who inspired all the great events of those two years in our capital, who urged the government to convene a constituent assembly and who wrote some of the key policy documents such as the manifesto of 1 August 1822 addressed by Dom Pedro to the Brazilians.