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Companies built railroads and rubber flowed from the Amazon jungle. The
country’s economy still depended on cheap labor provided by slaves. When
slavery was abolished in 1888, wealthy landowners and slaveholders wanted to
overthrow the government, and by 1891, the Republic of Brazil was founded,
complete with a new constitution.
POWER OF A PRINCESS
Dom Pedro II’s daughter, Princess Isabel, was the person responsible
for ending slavery in 1888. Isabel was the last ruler of Brazil’s empire.
The moneyed landowners were so furious with her that they forced Isabel and
her family back to Portugal and created a new government.
Brazil’s Second Republic was established in 1946 and lasted until 1964,
when discontent with the left-leaning government brought a military dicta-
torship to power. In 1989, the first free elections since 1960, in which
Brazilians could vote directly for their president, were held. Today,
democratic institutions continue to flourish, and while the coun-
try is still challenged by deep-seated poverty throughout wide
swathes of its population, it is thriving as one of the most dynamic
developing countries of the world.
An open mass on May 17, 1888, commemorated the abolition of slavery.
Princess Isabel and her husband are under the canopy on the left.
Princess Isabel (1828–1877), responsible
for ending slavery in Brazil.