Abstract :
The history of electricity in Brazil is a history of interlocking political, social, and technical forces. Although there was a public debate about industrializing the country when Brazil declared its independence from Portugal on 7 September 1822 and Dom Pedro I abdicated the Portuguese throne to move to Brazil as the first emperor, the majority of the 19th century politicians and large landowners considered the absence of significant industry as a result of some natural order. God had endowed the country with an exuber ant nature that supported a strong agricultural economy with lucrative exports, especially sugar and cotton; exports could be traded for manufactured goods; industrialization was of little interest; and without industrialization, there was little demand for electrical power. However, times changed. Dom Pedro´s son, Dom Pedro II, became the second emperor, and with him begins the history of electricity in Brazil.
