The three stages of the Portuguese Liberal Revolution

Abstract

The Portuguese Liberal Revolution unfolded in three complementary stages. Political independence was regained in 1820 and the foundations of the liberal system were laid under the Constitution of 1822. In the second
phase of the liberal revolution, in 1832-1834, the administrative structure of the Ancien Régime was abolished and its social structure changed under the aegis of the Constitutional Charter of 1826. It was again under the aegis of the 1822 Constitution that, in the third phase of the liberal revolution, the first steps towards the restoration of economic autonomy were made possible in 1836-1837. The first steps toward establishing a new imperial space in Africa were also taken with Sá da Bandeira’s first law abolishing the slave trade. The path begun in 1820 which destroyed the political and administrative structure of the Ancien Régime, had been completed, severely shaking its social base and opening a new horizon.