Diary of a Brazilian Government Official

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June 1889

Dear Diary,

I am writing to you to address the current rebellion here in Brazil. I know my view is different than others because I am a government official but my view is definitely the right one. In my opinion, many things have fueled this rebellion. First, I think that citizens are angry with some of the decisions of previous and current officials. Some people just don’t appreciate how the government is willing to take power out of the citizen’s hands and make it less stressful for them! Also, the citizens can’t find anything really wrong with the government. I think that they are just being selfish and wanting more power for themselves. There is no good reason that they are fighting us for. This whole situation has been so frustrating because the citizens are infuriating. They disagree with everything! Lastly, the Brazilian government has been functioning greatly. A change would only bring troubles to our wonderful country, which there is absolutely no need for. Without a doubt, the citizens of Brazil do not appreciate all that we, their government, do for them and have no reason to want to overthrow us.

The first thing I will tell you is about some of the decisions made by the previous and current officials that the citizens didn’t agree with. First, King Pedro I put together an assembly whose job was to write a constitution. However, he was not happy with the constitution that was written so he sent an army down to close down the assembly. He then rewrote the constitution and gave kings executive and moderate powers. He clearly did this so that he could control everything and there would be no mix-ups with the citizens. Trying to be more organized never hurt anybody. The citizens were very angry though. They thought they would be getting more rights but they got more government, which, for some odd reason, they thought was a bad thing. Next, one of Pedro’s close advisors suggested abolishing slavery. In spite of this, Pedro never gave any real consideration to this suggestion. This made all of the slaves angry because it could have been very simple to set them free. I don’t blame Pedro though. If he had abolished slavery then all of the slaves would have rebelled even though he had done something incredibly nice for them. Some people just don’t appreciate things. Lastly, in 1868, Pedro II took away the Liberals from power. For some reason, the Liberals thought that this was an exercise of political force so they formed the Republican Party in 1870. I have no idea why they overreacted so much. Pedro was just making the government more uniform. Clearly, over a long period of time, the citizens of Brazil have been overreacting over decisions made by previous and current officials, which has fueled the rebellion.

In addition, I believe that the citizens are just being selfish with what they want in a government. For example, all the way in America, The Washington Post wrote an article about the rebellion here. They said that the rebellion came as a surprise. It talks about how usually rebellions come with warning signs but in this case, we had none. You can see that there is no reason why there should be a rebellion here because nothing extreme has been done in order for the citizens to be so mad at us, the government. This article also says, and I quote, “No existing monarchical government was less offensive to popular sensibilities than the Brazilian government.” We obviously care about the citizens in our country and always try our best to help them and do what is good for them. Next, the article talks about how the rebellion is also a shock because of how much the citizens love Pedro II. It was a huge surprise when his own citizens who usually idolize him now want to overthrow him. Without a doubt, the citizens are overreacting and making irrational decisions to start a rebellion when there is no legitimate reason where they should want to overthrow us.

Next, our current government is functioning perfectly. Any change to this, or any new leaders will simply mess everything up and cause problems. For instance, The Washington Post said, that all of the best most influential progress of Brazil in history, is under the reign of Pedro II. Usually, other countries are criticizing other governments. To have another country write in an article about how good of a king we have is a huge accomplishment. Pedro II has clearly made changes that have gotten even other countries to realize how helpful he has been. Also, Pedro helped Brazil in multiple ways. For example, he helped to expand the economy. He helped with the government finances which then helped build ports, railroads, roads, canals, textile mills, and more. These all helped for people to travel and trade therefore, creating a high income for the country. The citizens of Brazil just don’t understand all the great things that their ruler has done for them to give them a better life. The next thing makes me extremely angry. If the country was divided, then they would never be able to come together to stage a rebellion. This is only possible because of what Pedro II did for them. When he was first crowned ruler, he immediately worked on ending the civil wars in Brazil. In 1845, he even ended a revolt that lasted an entire decade! Without his intelligence and helpfulness, Brazil would be split in two and not nearly as strong as we are today. It is easy to see that there is no reason why any citizen should want to replace a government that has accomplished such great things.

In conclusion, the citizens of Brazil are being completely irrational with their decision to start a revolution. First of all, the citizens are not willing to appreciate the fact that the government can take the power and will take care of the country. People are basing their current ideas on previous decisions that were decided long ago. Things have changed and nobody realizes it doesn’t affect how the government is now. Next, the citizens are being greedy with the amount of power that they want. The government is meant to hold the power. That is the reason that we exist. We are made to guide the country and use our power in good ways, which we have been doing. Lastly, nobody truly appreciates all that our ruler has done for us. They nitpick and try and find every little thing that Pedro II might have done that could possibly harm us some day, instead of looking at all of the great things that he has accomplished for us. I fear what would happen if the citizens win the revolution. The government would go to ruins. However, I am confident that nothing will ever be able to replace the solid government that is in place currently. There is, and never will be, any competition to Pedro II. Despite all that we have done for the country of Brazil, the citizens do not appreciate this and still, with no good reason, want to overthrow us.

Sincerely,

José Rodriguez

A Government Official