In 1808 the royal family of Portugal was expelled by the French and took refuge in Brazil, and the very first act of Dom João VI. was to open Brazilian ports to foreign commerce. He then removed various restrictions on domestic industries, founded a printing office and library, created new courts, and opened various schools and public institutions. All these acts greatly stimulated the growth of the country.
In 1821 he returned to Portugal, leaving his eldest son in Brazil as prince regent. Personal ambition, and the advice of men opposed to government from Lisbon, led the young prince to declare for Brazilian independence, September 7, 1822. He was proclaimed and crowned emperor as Dom Pedro I. before the end of the year, the small Portuguese force in the country being quickly and easily expelled. The constitution was ratified and sworn to early in 1825, and some amendments were added in 1835.
The new empire, however, did not start smoothly, nor was the reign of Dom Pedro I. a fortunate one. Vexed with the opposition encountered, he in 1831 voluntarily abdicated in favor of his eldest son, and withdrew to Portugal. During the next nine years Brazil was governed by regencies, but in 1840 a popular agitation led to the declaration of the young prince’s majority, at fifteen years of age, and to his coronation the following year as Dom Pedro II. The reign was one of almost unbroken peace, interrupted by two wars—one with Buenos Aires in 1852, and the other with Paraguay in 1865-1870.
At the revolution of November, 1889, the empire became a republic, and Dom Pedro and his family were exiled. Under the new and enlightened constitution and a succession of patriotic presidents, Brazil has enjoyed a season of peace and prosperity such as it has not experienced since its colonial times. In 1904 the third Pan-American congress was held in Brazil, and did much to bind closer the bonds existing between her and the other American republics.
CHILE
CHILE (Tchee´lee; Span. Chile, pron. Tchee´lay), is one of the republics of South America, on the west coast, and borders on Peru, Bolivia, and Argentina. It reaches from the southern boundary of the coast line of Peru to the southern extremity of Tierra del Fuego, through a distance of about two thousand eight hundred miles, rising inland to the summits of the Andes, which here form a single chain at a distance of about one hundred miles from the ocean. The Strait of Magellan is by treaty considered neutral as between Chile and Argentina. Its breadth varies from forty to two hundred miles.
Physical Features.—The range of the Andes, visible from the sea all along the coast of Chile, towers up in a series of volcanic cones and snowclad peaks; the loftiest summit, that of Aconcagua, being probably the highest point of all the South American continent.
Numbers of streams descend from the range, and have furrowed deep valleys across the width of the country. The most considerable of these are the Maypú near the center of Chile, and the Maule and Biobio in the south, both of which are to some extent navigable.
In the south are also many deep lakes. Mineral waters, chiefly saline and sulphureous, are abundant. The most important islands are those constituting the southern province of Chiloé; Juan Fernandez also belongs to Chile.