Many of my ancestors and members of the "Andrada e Silva" and the "Souza Queiroz" families have been important players in Brazilian history at key moments of Brazilian history as follows:
Quoting from my above article:
"The Brazilian formula for success includes periods of dictatorship, and Brazil had three periods in its history when Brazil benefited from being under a certain form of a government: benevolent dictatorial regime.
Benevolent dictatorship is a form of government in which an authoritarian leader exercises political power for the benefit of the whole population rather than exclusively for his/her own self-interest or benefit, or for the benefit of only a small portion of the population.
We can say that the first period lasted three years (1821 - 1823) when José Bonifácio de Andrada e Silva became Prime Minister of Brazil in 1821. The second period lasted eight years (Nov 1937 - Oct 1945) when Getúlio Vargas became a dictator in Brazil in 1937. And the third period lasted twenty-one years (1964 - 1985); these were the military dictatorship years which started in 1964 when General Humberto de Alencar Castelo Branco, seized power through a coup d'état.
José Bonifácio de Andrada e Silva - Prime Minister (1821 - 1823)
When Prince Dom Pedro asked José Bonifácio to be his Prime Minister in 1822, the Prince Regent was aware that he could not find a more qualified person for that job in Brazil. José Bonifácio told the Prince Regent that he would accept the position only when allowed to impose his unlimited authority. Dom Pedro did not hesitate. He armed José Bonifácio with the highest level of authority possible. The investiture of José Bonifácio carried with it the most extensive powers that any minister had in the history of the imperial or republican Brazil.
The Prince Regent, and later Emperor, on various occasions made a point of showing in public the high regard that he had for his Prime Minister by handing him in official ceremonies the bastion of mordomo-mor, symbol of uncontested prestige. This set the stage for José Bonifácio to assume his Prime Minister position which would enable him to do a masterful job that culminated with the independence of Brazil from Portugal.
To this day no one has accomplished so much in Brazilian history as José Bonifácio, and his accomplishments were done in a very short period of time in the three years from 1821 to 1823.
José Bonifácio had a clear vision, objective and realistic, of the functions of a modern State. In his writings and personal correspondence, in most documents, in government decrees, and in official and diplomatic correspondence to other governments, we can see that he understood the social and economic problems of his day. He also had a profound understanding of the political issues and of what could be realistically done.
His goal was to guide Brazil to a smoother transition than the one that he had seen in France during the French Revolution. He also was aware of the current anarchy present in the new nations that were getting their independence from the Spanish Empire, as was the case in Argentina.
In his writings, correspondence, government documents and government decrees we can see that José Bonifácio and his brother Martim Francisco had an excellent grasp of economic theory and that their thoughts were way ahead of their time on that subject.
The Critical Period
There was a critical nine-month period from March 1822 to December 1822 in which José Bonifácio almost in a despotic fashion issued decree after decree establishing the foundations which would give the social, political and economic structure for the new nation.
José Bonifácio's actions were arrogant, inflexible, firm, and irreconcilable with dissident groups, but at the same time they were compatible with the people and the nation whose interests he was defending.
When José Bonifácio participated in the provisory government of São Paulo, he prepared a document that was signed by the members of the provisory government on October 9, 1821 called "Lembranças e Apontamentos". This document might be the most important document in the history of reforms in Brazil. The document provided a complete master plan for the new nation and covered in detail all the necessary building blocks of social, political and economic life.
José Bonifácio's major accomplishment in Brazil was the consolidation of independence with national sovereignty, political unity and territorial integrity.
José Bonifácio was not about money; he did not care about money and he had many opportunities over the years to get all kinds of land and tittles in Portugal and in Brazil, and he turned them down every time. If he wanted, he could have been the first Emperor of Brazil, but he turned down a number of times the offers from Dom Pedro, first in 1822 and later when Dom Pedro abdicated in 1828, since he did not want to be Emperor of Brazil.
I need to remind the readers that José Bonifácio's life does not include two of the most important aspects of modern life of today; greed and materialism. José Bonifácio never cared for material things, money or noble titles, and things of this sort. He was interested in science and the well being of society. He was a humanist, a social thinker, and a great statesman. He followed a high ethical standard for all of his life. He was a very honest man. He had integrity, honor and many other qualities which are out of fashion in the political arena today. He also had to participate in four duels on four separate occasions to defend his honor, in which his adversaries lost their lives.
Many of my ancestors and members of the "Andrada e Silva" and the "Souza Queiroz" families have been important players in Brazilian history at key moments of Brazilian history as follows:
1) Antônio Carlos and the Mason Revolution of 1817
Antônio Carlos was working in Olinda, Pernambuco Province as a magistrate when a Republican and Mason Revolution broke out in that province in 1817. He was asked to join the leadership of that revolution. He even sent a letter to José Bonifácio in Portugal dated April 14, 1817 describing what was happening. In that letter he mentioned how well the revolution had turned out.
A short time later José Bonifácio (in Portugal) found out that the revolution in Pernambuco had been a disaster for the revolutionists. Most of the leaders of that revolution had been hanged. The only reason they spared Antônio Carlos' life was because they knew he was a brother of José Bonifácio. (The revolution in Pernambuco was crushed by the Portuguese and lasted only 75 days.)
Antônio Carlos spent four years in prison for participating in that revolution. When José Bonifácio returned to Brazil at the end of 1819, his brother Antônio Carlos was still in prison in the province of Bahia.
2) José Bonifácio de Andrada e Silva (The Patriarch of Brazilian Independence)
He was the architect and solely responsible for the independence and unity of Brazil in 1822 as I described above.
3) Antonio Carlos and Martin Francisco rocked the boat once more in 1840
José Bonifácio had died from cancer in 1838. But the influence of the Andrada Family had not diminished and his brothers Antonio Carlos and Martin Francisco were the most important figures that forced the emancipation of Dom Pedro II to become the second Emperor of Brazil in 1840 - and Antonio Carlos became the new Prime Minister, and Martin Francisco became the Finance Minister for the second time.
4) Senator Vergueiro became one of the 3 regents in 1828
In a time of political crisis in Brazil Senator Vergueiro became one of the 3 regents in 1828 when D. Pedro I abdicated on behalf of his 5-year old son. And he requested to not be reappointed in 1832 as a regent, because he wanted to go back to manage his businesses.
Antonia Eufrosina Campos Vergueiro de Souza Queiroz, a daughter of Nicolau Pereira de Campos Vergueiro, a senator and regent, was my great great grandmother and she married the Barão de Souza Queiroz and had 13 children of which my great grandfather was the youngest."
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I was answering the questions of the readers in the comments section of the above article, when we were discussing the fact “The Andrada Family - a family of revolutionaries” I mentioned also the following:
As you noticed the Andrada Family and the state of Minas Gerais played an important role in the revolution of 1930 that brought Getúlio Vargas to power in Brazil.
The state of Minas Gerais and the Andrada Family also played an important role in the revolution of 1964 that brought the military to power in Brazil.
The only time the Andrada Family were not involved on these major political events in Brazil was in 1889 at the time of the proclamation of the Republic. The Andrada Family had a very close relationship with Dom Pedro II during his government period of almost 50 years.
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I wrote the following on the comments section following the above article on Brazzil magazine:
The modern concept of a dictator
written by Ricardo C. Amaral, April 13, 2010
Before someone say something regarding what I said on this article about Jose Bonifacio de Andrada e Silva and the fact that during the period that he was in power as Prime Minister, we can consider that period as a dictatorship.
As I said on the above article: “There was a critical nine-month period from March 1822 to December 1822 in which José Bonifácio almost in a despotic fashion issued decree after decree establishing the foundations which would give the social, political and economic structure for the new nation.”
What I did not mention of the article is that most of the time the first time Dom Pedro I saw these decrees were when Jose Bonifacio handed them to Dom Pedro for him to sign the documents – which he did on a regular basis.
Regarding the subject of dictatorship:
Oliver Cromwell was the real deal, and he is considered to be the first dictator in history based on our modern concept of who is a dictator.
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An Important Tradition of the Andrada Family
written by Ricardo C. Amaral, April 14, 2010
***
An Important Tradition of the Andrada Family
written by Ricardo C. Amaral, April 14, 2010
Part 2 of 2
O Dr. Antonio Carlos, aos íntimos, gostava de dizer que “os Andradas nunca se preocuparam com dinheiro” e exemplificava contando o acontecido com dois dos seus ilustres ancestrais. José Bonifácio, Chefe do Gabinete, e Martin Francisco, Ministro do Tesouro. Durante uma reunião do Ministério, José Bonifácio acabara de receber os seus vencimentos e jogara, descuidadamente, o envelope dentro da cartola. Conversações, discussões e o patriarca não se lembrava mais do dinheiro recebido. Na hora de ir embora, pegou a cartola e acomodou-a na cabeça. O envelope, com os vencimentos, permaneceu dentro da cartola. José Bonifácio só se lembrou do dinheiro em casa, tirou apressado a cartola, mas o envelope não estava mais lá. Possivelmente ele, ao cumprimentar alguém na rua, deixou o envelope cair.
Ninguém sabe como, mas o fato chegara ao conhecimento do Imperador Pedro I, que imediatamente mandou chamar Martin Francisco e ordenou-lhe que pagasse novamente os proventos do patriarca. Mas, Martin Francisco, Ministro do Tesouro, não concordou, argumentando que o Estado não poderia se responsabilizar pela distração dos seus empregados. O máximo que poderia fazer, era dividir os seus vencimentos com o irmão. E assim se fez.
Dr. Antonio Carlos fez política ao longo de 45 anos. Começou na redação do Jornal do Comércio, de Juiz de Fora, tornando-se Promotor Público aos 24 anos, depois Secretário de Estado, Prefeito de Belo Horizonte, deputado estadual, deputado federal, senador, governador de Minas Gerais e presidente da Câmara dos Deputados. Aposentou-se aos 70 anos e, como ele enfatizava: “Cuido agora de mim e dos meus interesses pessoais, minha aposentadoria não pesa sobre o Tesouro, abrindo exceção a regra geral, por ter sido concedida sem pensão”.
O patrimônio do Dr. Antonio Carlos, depois de ter passado pelos mais altos cargos de Minas e do Brasil, era uma casa em Juiz de Fora, uma outra na rua Voluntários da Pátria no Rio de Janeiro, algumas ações e a aposentadoria da Sul América.
É bom lembrar que o Dr. Antonio Carlos em 1930 era Governador de Minas Gerais e foi ele quem criou e desenvolveu a Aliança Liberal, braço político que fez a revolução de 30, fazendo Getúlio Vargas Presidente da República. Há uma frase sua que criou fama: “Pode-se saber bem, como e quando começam as revoluções, mas não se pode saber nunca, como e quando acabam. Nem, sobretudo, qual o curso que os acontecimentos lhes trarão”.
Em vez de dar-lhe fortuna, a vida pública muitas vezes prejudicou seus interesses, verdade e ele dizia: “a vida pública honesta é, em regra, incompatível com os negócios e só estes permitem a acumulação de haveres”.
Os políticos de então, entendiam que prestavam relevantes serviços as suas comunidades, seja no município, estados ou no país, cuja recompensa era o reconhecimento público. Hoje é diferente: dificilmente encontra-se um homem público que, no desempenho do cargo, não tire vantagem de qualquer espécie, ora com gordas comissões, normalmente de 10%, isto quando são parlamentares e, quando executivos, o acerto é que indica o quanto.
Possivelmente há as honrosas exceções, como, em épocas passadas, devia haver aqueles que viveriam muito bem hoje em dia, aceitando pequenos e grandes “favores”.
Mas a diferença estampa-se nos detalhes. O Dr. Antonio Carlos orgulhava-se de que sua aposentadoria não pesava aos cofres públicos. Os cofres públicos não eram sangrados todos os meses, mesmo ele tendo servido a comunidade por 40 anos.
Gonçalo Mendes
Source:
http://www.jornaldacidadeonlin...dArtigo=41
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You can read his entire biography at:
Biography: Antônio Carlos Ribeiro de Andrada (IV)
http://wapedia.mobi/pt/Antôni...drada_(IV)
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Reply to Lloyd Cata
written by Ricardo C. Amaral, April 14, 2010
Ricardo: Dr. Cata I will take the time to clarify for you a number of points that you made on your posting that are completely off the mark.
I need to keep in mind that I have a better grasp of the history and the times during Jose Bonifacio’s life span (1763 – 1838) than most people have, including you.
The reason that I have a better understanding of that time is because I had to do a lot of research on that time period when I was writing my book about the independence of Brazil – a biography of Jose Bonifacio de Andrada e Silva.
I had to read a ton of material on that subject including the French Revolution. I had to learn as much as I could about that period to be able to understand the world of Jose Bonifacio de Andrada e Silva and what kind of experiences he had to prepare him for the outstanding job that he did during the independence of Brazil.
I am sorry to say, but based on your posting you are completely misinformed about a lot of things – but I will try my best to clarify them for you.
It is already 7 AM and I need to go to sleep right now, but I will go back to your posting and will answer your posting in due time, since it will take some effort for me to give you a proper response.
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The Andrada Family - a family of revolutionaries...
written by Ricardo C. Amaral, April 14, 2010
Dear Joao da Silva:
I don’t know if you checked the above link to the biography of Antônio Carlos Ribeiro de Andrada (IV) which is very interesting, but there is one important point about the Andrada Family that I like to bring to your attention.
Here is a quote from his bio:
Biography: Antônio Carlos Ribeiro de Andrada (IV)
http://wapedia.mobi/pt/Antôni...drada_(IV)
…Conhecido como homem gentil, elegante e habilidoso, foi secretário de Estado de Finanças no governo Francisco Sales, exerceu novamente o cargo de vereador e agente executivo (prefeito) de Juiz de Fora, que acumulou com as funções de senador ao Congresso Mineiro até 1911, ocasião em que renunciou ao mandato estadual para tomar posse como deputado federal; no governo Venceslau Brás foi líder da maioria do governo na Câmara dos Deputados. Em 1917 deixou a Câmara Federal para ser ministro da Fazenda, no governo do presidente Venceslau Brás, cargo que ocupou até 1918. Retornando à Câmara exerceu novamente a liderança da maioria no período da presidência de Artur Bernardes. Em 1925 ocupou o cargo de senador da República.
Foi presidente do estado de Minas Gerais, entre 1926 - 1930, por sua iniciativa e na sua gestão foi instituído em Minas o voto secreto. Foi o principal articulador e organizador da Aliança Liberal e um dos líderes da Revolução de 30. Antônio Carlos disse em discurso, ainda em 1929: "Façamos a revolução pelo voto antes que o povo a faça pelas armas".
Exerceu a presidência da República em 1935 ao substituir Getúlio Vargas no cargo quando este viajou ao Uruguai e à Argentina. Elegeu-se para a Assembléia Nacional Constituinte de 1933 da qual foi seu presidente, e depois presidiu a Câmara dos Deputados até 1937.
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As you noticed the Andrada Family and the state of Minas Gerais played an important role in the revolution of 1930 that brought Getúlio Vargas to power in Brazil.
The state of Minas Gerais and the Andrada Family also played an important role in the revolution of 1964 that brought the military to power in Brazil.
The only time the Andrada Family were not involved on these major political events in Brazil was in 1889 at the time of the proclamation of the Republic. The Andrada Family had a very close relationship with Dom Pedro II during his government period of almost 50 years.
*****
To answer one of the questions of a reader regarding the above article I also said:
The only solution to win the war against illegal drugs and the drug trade.
written by Ricardo C. Amaral, April 16, 2010
Ricardo: I want to bring to the attention of the readers of this article what I wrote on the Elite Trader Economic Forum regarding the subject of criminal gangs and illegal drugs as follows:
Posting on Elite Trader Economics Forum.
Thread: “Sao Paulo - Brazil - illegal drug dealer gangs and chaos”
http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/...genumber=2
By the way, my screen name in that forum is: SouthAmerica
Ricardo C. Amaral = SouthAmerica
Quoting from that thread:
May 17, 2006
Question from Rearden Metal: Well sure, I suppose the government could go around assassinating its own citizens... or how about just ending prohibition instead? Decriminalize all victimless activity, and see how fast the 'drug-crime' evaporates...
********
Answer from SouthAmerica: I agree 100 percent with you.
That is what I mean when I said that the only way to defeat the drug trade it is with “Economic Theory” and not with guns and violence.
How do you do that?
It is very simple – by taking away every last penny of profit from the drug trade and you would see the entire drug trade collapsing in no time.
Brazil should legalize all kinds of drugs and flood the market with all these drugs.
When you take away the profit incentive from the entire drug system – there is no reason for anyone to push drugs since there is no profit to be made.
The entire drug distribution system would collapse in no time – putting out of business outlaw guerrilla groups, gangsters, and so on.
The answer it is “NO”. The number of people in the population that takes drugs would not increase.
Today in the United States all kinds of drugs are readily available for any kid that desires to try these illegal drugs. It is easier for any kid in the US to buy drugs than to buy alcoholic beverages.
The people who take drugs today they would continue taking these drugs, and these people are the hardcore people that would take drugs it does not matter what.
In the last 30 years the United States has been fighting a war on drugs, but if you look to what has happened the amount of drugs that were able to get inside the United States to meet this drug demand it is a straight line.
Today there is as much illegal drugs inside the United States as you want - and the drug dealers have no problem in meeting the US market demand.
The number of people in prison because of this stupid war on illegal drugs it is another story – since over 1 million people are in prison because of this foolish war on drugs in the United States.
Why the drugs were always available to meet the market demand in the United States during all this time?
Profits, lots of profits – Enough profits for the people to take any risk they had to take to meet the market demand. We are talking about billions and billions of US dollars in profits.
All the US and Brazil has to do it is to legalize all these illegal drugs – and make it available to the public at a price that it is below the cost of production. Take every single penny of profit from the entire drug system and you would see the entire drug trade die a very fast death.
No profit – No illegal drug trade - and another benefit is that you put all these people out of business.
You take the profit away from that business and that business collapses in no time.
You win the war against illegal drugs with economic theory as described above and not with guns and violence.
.
Part 1 of 2
Ricardo: Honesty, high integrity and ethical standards it has been a constant feature that connects the generations of the “Andrada” Family. And we have example after example of members of our family that met these very high standards.
Here is another example of another outstanding member of the “Andrada Family”
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Jornal da Cidade - 16/11/2007
“Sinal dos Tempos”
Na verdade não se faz mais políticos como antigamente. Claro que, no passado, haviam políticos como os de hoje, mas, minoritários, pois na sua grande maioria eram homens de bem, probos, que defendiam princípios e que buscavam o bem comum.
O jornalista Joel Silveira, recentemente falecido, tido como o maior repórter brasileiro, nos conta em um de seus livros – e são mais de 50 – a saga de alguns políticos que não mais existem, entre eles o Dr. Antonio Carlos, da terceira geração dos Andradas.
Antonio Carlos, quando deixou o Ministério da Fazenda, isso em 1918, foi à então poderosa “Sul América”, onde era segurado, fazer um empréstimo de sete contos de réis. Observe-se que ele deixava um cargo importante. Durante a Primeira Guerra Mundial, passara por suas mãos todo o dinheiro do país. Mas saiu de lá como entrara, sem recursos suficientes.
Como é que uma pessoa que durante a guerra de 1914/1918 tivera a ordem de sacar contra todos os bancos da nação, deixava assim o posto tão ambicionado, sem fortuna e necessitando urgente de sete contos de réis?
- Quero abraçar o homem que, deixando o Ministério da Fazenda, vem nos pedir sete contos de réis. Assim disse o presidente da Sul América, Moreira Magalhães.
Meses depois, Antonio Carlos passou a fazer parte do Conselho Consultivo da empresa. Em 1924, foi escolhido para ser um de seus diretores.