PEDRO IL (DOM PEDRO DE ALCANTARA) (1825-1891), sec ond emperor of Brazil, was born in Rio de Janeiro on Dec. 2, 1825. On April 7, 1831, when he was not yet six years old, his father, Pedro I., abdicated in his favour, and for nine years the country was governed by a regency. He was declared of age on July 23, 1840, and was crowned July 18, 1841. He might have perpetuated his dynasty had he been more attmtive to political exigencies. On his accession uprisings occurred in several prov inces; these were promptly suppressed in S5,o Paulo and Minas Geraes (1842) but held out in Rio Grande do Sul until The new government persisted in the policy of intervention in Uruguay which had caused the abdication of Pedro I. In 1852 Brazilian troops were chiefly responsible for the defeat of Rosas of Argentina; in 1864 a Brazilian army made Flores de facto dic tator of Uruguay; and it was owing mainly to Brazilian arms and resources that Solano Lopez, the dictator of Paraguay, was de feated in the Paraguayan War (1864-7o). The government had to combat intermittent provincial rebellions (notably that in Pernambuco, 1849), and was faced with diplomatic crises with England, France and the United States. But it left a record un
paralleled in South America for conscientious and enlightened rule. The slave trade was prohibited in 185o; in 1871 a law pro vided for the gradual emancipation of the slaves, and in 1888 an imperial disposition abolished slavery throughout Brazil. The em peror consistently sponsored public improvements, fostered public instruction, and earnestly patronized art and science. He trav elled widely, visiting Europe in 1871, 1876 and i886, and the United States in 1876, affiliating himself closely with foreign in tellectual life. In 1889 a crisis arose. The nobility were alienated by the anti-slavery measures and other legislation aimed at re ducing their prerogatives ; the military was demoralized by long inactivity; the emperor showed too little interest in matters of state. On Nov. 15, Manuel D. da Fonseca (q.v.) led a Republi can revolt, supported by the army and navy. There was no re sistance, the empire ended, and the emperor embarked with his family for Europe on Nov. 17. A Federal republic was proclaimed.
(W. B. P.)