For this reason he defended technical education. In his own words: President of Minas Gerais (1892–1894) The first years of the republic in Brazil were plagued by disputes and political instability. Deodoro da Fonseca closed Congress on 3 November 1891 and Pena resigned his position in the constituent assembly in protest. This act distanced him from Alvim and gave him the support of most of Minas Gerais' elite. Tensions were high in the federal government and Deodoro ended up resigning on 23 November 1891, being succeeded by Floriano Peixoto. With the threat of a federal intervention in Minas Gerais, Cesário Alvim resigned in February 1892 and Pena was chosen by consensus of the different political currents in the state to succeed him. Thus, Pena ran for president of Minas Gerais, on a single ticket, becoming the first democratically elected president (governor) of the state by direct vote on 30 June 1892 with a total of 48 thousand votes and taking office on 14 July. As president of Minas Gerais, Pena opposed the authoritarian government of president Floriano Peixoto and housed his opponents in the state, notably Olavo Bilac and Carlos de Laet. With the outbreak of the Naval Revolt in 1893, admiral Saldanha da Gama, leader of the revolt, consulted the citizens whether they wanted the return of the monarchy or the maintenance of the republic; in response, Afonso Pena published his Manifesto dos Mineiros in the journal , in which he declared: Thus, despite housing several opponents of the federal government in his state, including monarchists and rebels, who fled persecution by the central government, and disapproving of Floriano Peixoto's actions, Pena urged the people not to join the rebellion, siding with the president against the rebellion, as he deemed it necessary to maintain the country's unity. He went as far as to offer the federal government the help of the Public Force of Minas Gerais, if necessary; this did not mean he supported Floriano Peixoto's stay in power, as he wanted the country's return to civilian rule; in this sense he supported Prudente de Morais' run for the presidency; Morais' became the first civilian president of Brazil. Pena's actions also dissipated the threat of a federal intervention in Minas Gerais. Pena was the founder of the Free Faculty of Law, in Ouro Preto, on 13 November 1892; he was elected the Faculty's first director and was also a