Who was Dom Pedro and what role did play in Brazil's move to independence?

Answer 1

Dom Pedro was King John's son. When King John planned to make Brazil a colony again and many Brazillians could not accept a return to colonial status. In 1822, creoloes demanded Brazil's independence from Portugal. Eight thousand Brazilians signed a petition asking Dom Pedro to rule. He agreed. He was Brazil's first empero.

Answer 2

Dom Pedro was King John's son. When King John planned to make Brazil a colony again and many Brazillians could not accept a return to colonial status. In 1822, creoloes demanded Brazil's independence from Portugal. Eight thousand Brazilians signed a petition asking Dom Pedro to rule. He agreed. He was Brazil's first empero.

Answer 3

Dom Pedro II was the second (and last)Emperor of Brazil, and the story goes he stood on the shores of the Ipiranga river (well, if the story's true he was actually sitting on his horse) and declared Brazil's independence by shouting "independência ou morte!" (Independence or death!). He's shown on the Brazilian 10 cent coin on his horse, and the moment is also mentioned in the opening lines of the Brazilian anthem:

"Ouviram do Ipiranga as margens plácidas

De um povo heroico o brado retumbante,

E o sol da Liberdade, em raios fúlgidos,

Brilhou no céu da Pátria nesse instante."

(The placid banks of Ipiranga heard

The resounding cry of a heroic people

And in shining rays, the sun of liberty

Shone in our homeland's skies at this very moment.)