page_title: History of Portugal (1777–1834)
section_title: Liberal Revolution
hierarchical_section_title: History of Portugal (1777–1834) / Liberal Revolution
caption_attribution_description: This set of images was gathered by User:Dcoetzee from the National Portrait Gallery, London website using a special tool. All images in this batch have been confirmed as author died before 1939 according to the official death date listed by the NPG.
context_page_description: The history of the kingdom of Portugal and the Algarves, from the First Treaty of San Ildefonso and the beginning of the reign of Queen Maria I in 1777, to the end of the Liberal Wars in 1834, spans a complex historical period in which several important political and military events led to the end of the absolutist regime and to the installation of a constitutional monarchy in the country.
  In 1807, Napoleon ordered the invasion of Portugal and subsequently the royal family and its entire court migrated to Brazil, Maria I declaring the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves in 1815. This would be one of the causes for the declaration of Brazilian independence by Pedro I of Brazil in 1822, following a liberal revolution in Portugal.
  The liberal period was stormy and short as Miguel of Portugal supported an absolutist revolution endeavoring to restore all power to the monarchy. Pedro eventually returned to Portugal and fought and defeated his brother in the Liberal Wars in which liberalism prevailed and Portugal became a constitutional monarchy.
context_section_description: From 1808 through 1821, Portugal was effectively both a British protectorate and a colony of Brazil, as the Portuguese Crown remained in Rio de Janeiro. The moving of the Portuguese capital to Rio de Janeiro accentuated the economic, institutional and social crises in mainland Portugal, which was administered by English commercial and military interests under William Beresford's rule in the absence of the monarch. The influence of liberal ideals was strengthened by the aftermath of the war, the continuing impact of the American and French revolutions, discontent under absolutist government, and the general indifference shown by the Portuguese regency for the plight of its people.
  After 1807 the limitations and subordinations inherent in Brazil's colonial status were already being reduced incrementally. The prohibition on transformative industries was rescinded, and new incentives were offered for: the creation of factories, the importation of British machinery, ship construction, and road building, as well as the foundation and construction of public schools and military academies. In addition to these improvements, the Bank of Brazil was chartered and insurance companies, commerce commissions and currency exchanges were established. This damaged the mother country's commercial interests and aggravated social problems there, while benefiting the United Kingdom, as Portugal was governed by the increasingly despotic British general William Beresford in the absence of the Cortes.
  At the end of the Peninsular War, Portugal returned French Guiana (which had been seized in 1809) to France on 30 May 1814. With the declaration by King John of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves in December 1815, Brazil's new importance worsened the situation in continental Portugal: politically, it became the Portuguese capital (shedding the pretense of being a colony), and economically, was now able to trade directly with other European powers.
caption: William Carr Beresford, who administered mainland Portugal during the post-Peninsular War period
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