On January 9, 1822, then prince regent Dom Pedro I decided to go against the Portuguese Court’s order to return to Lisbon to join his father, Dom João VI. He stayed in Brazil, in an incident that became known as the Dia do Fico [literally “I Stay Day”]. It was the first step towards Brazil’s independence, as the presence of the prince in the country kept the Court from turning it back into a Portuguese colony.
In response to the order from Portugal, radical liberals gathered 8-thousand signatures in favor of the prince remaining. Under pressure, Dom Pedro publically declared his famous phrase in one of the rooms of the Imperial Palace: “If it be for the good of all and the general happiness of the nation, I am ready! Tell the people that I stay.”
On the following day, the Rio Daily announced: “The Senate of the Chamber judges it to be its duty to announce to the people of this city, that today at midday in presence of S.A.R the Prince Regent of Brazil, the Representations to whom he directs, what this same prince deigned to concede to them, giving the following response: “Convinced that my personal presence in Brazil is in the interest of the good of the entire Portuguese Nation, and knowing that the will of some provinces thusly requires it, I have delayed my leave, until the Courts, and my August Father, and the Lord, deliberate on this matter with perfect knowledge of the circumstances that have occurred.”
The position of Dom Pedro firmly established the conflict between the two countries until the declaration of Brazilian independence, proclaimed September 7, 1822.