Background
The Praieira revolt was the Brazilian response to the series of revolutions taking place at the same time in Europe. Although they had no permanent liberalizing effect, the successful February revolution in France gave visions of a better life for ordinary people and struck a responsive chord with the Brazilians. The journalist-politician José Tomás Nabuco de Araújo recorded that "the proclamation of the republic in France shook our political world to its depths." Socialist writers such as Pierre-Joseph Proudhon and Charles Fourier, who were widely read in Brazil, gave inspiration to the Brazilians.
The Conservatives were in power between 1841 and 1845. The Liberals were returned to power once again in 1845 to formed a cabinet, and managed to enact several programs: a protectionist tariff (1844), electoral reforms that extended suffrage and reduced the number of electors (1846), and the creation of a new office, president of the Council of Ministers (1847). This last act facilitated parliamentary procedure, contributed to the power of the cabinet, and consequently extended the authority of the imperial government.
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