File number: brjc0048

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Brazil: Dom Pedro II ruled Brazil for 49 years, from 1840 when he was crowned at the age of 14. Under his guidance Brazil took the first steps towards becoming an industrial and modern state. He introduced the first steam locomotive, mule-drawn streetcars, the telephone, paved roads, he welcomed immigrants, and he opposed slavery. This brought him into conflict with wealthy landowners and other conservative groups. He was deposed in 1889, and the imperial family exiled, after his daughter Princess Isabel signed, in his absence, a bill to abolish slavery.