people born in Brazil who were freeborn or freed. Old Republic Constitution (1891) Background On November 15, 1889, the emperor Pedro II was deposed, Brazilian monarchy abolished and the 1824 Constitution was put out of effect. No provisional constitution was used while a definitive successor document was being written. The writing process began in 1889, by a group of jurists and politicians, and the text was later amended by a Constitutional Congress on February 24, 1891. The Constitution In its final form, the new Constitution meant to create a federal state to promote individual liberties above all, following the basic principles of the Constitution of the United States, albeit with the adoption of a slightly different (and somewhat more centralized) form of federalism. The main traits of the constitution were: Federalism: the provinces were turned into states whose indissoluble union was taken as forming the Body Politic of the Brazilian Federation. Governors (at the time called State Presidents) were to be elected by direct vote and a fixed term of office. Separation of the State and Church. Male universal suffrage (with exceptions, mostly illiterates, beggars and members of monastic orders) and basic individual rights for all citizens. Abolition of the death penalty. Adoption of standard three-way separation of powers under a presidential republic on the American model; direct elections for all members of the Legislative and chief officers of the Executive branch. The Executive branch was headed by a President of the Republic, elected by direct voting (rather than an Electoral college in the American model) – who had a four-year term and could not be reelected for a second, successive, term – and his freely chosen cabinet of ministers. The Senate was reorganized as the Upper House of the Legislative branch, formed of representatives of the states (as opposed to the representatives of the people in the Chamber of Deputies) directly elected and with fixed terms of office. Third Constitution (1934) Background In 1930, after severe political problems, President Washington Luís was overthrown by a coup d'état. The 1891 Constitution was annulled and the Provisional President Getúlio Vargas ruled as a de facto personal dictator, but the state landed elites (who had controlled the Brazilian state ever since independence) struggled to prevent this from continuing. In 1932, in São Paulo, the Constitutionalist Revolution demanded a Constitution. As a result, a Constitutional Assembly was elected and the constitution was promulgated