as a mere decorative figurehead, but rather to protect the interests of the Portuguese businessmen (who were the main economic base of Brazil) and prevent any further cession of his power to the Parliament. In light of the wave of conservatism led by the Holy Alliance, the Emperor used his influence over the Brazilian Army to dissolve the Constitutional Assembly, in what became known as the Night of Agony. On his own authority, he then issued a constitution that concentrated the executive power on the Emperor himself (eventually crowned "Constitutional Emperor and Perpetual Defender of Brazil"). Based on the French Constitution of 1791 and the Spanish Constitution of 1812, the Constitution endowed the Assembly with both status and authority. It created executive, legislative, judicial, and moderating branches as "delegations of the nation" with the separation of those powers envisaged as providing balances in support of the Constitution and the rights it enshrined. The Constitution of 1824 was rather less parliamentary than the draft prepared by the Constituent Assembly. In fact, it was for all purposes a peculiar and unique regime: a "presidential" monarchy. That did not mean, by any means, that the Brazilian monarch had prerogatives resembling those of a tyrant or dictator. The individual guarantees of human liberty and dignity were inserted into the articles of the Charter and were respected. The Emperor would not act in areas reserved to the legislative branch and the judiciary, such as to create laws or to judge and sentence. Even though it vested the emperor with more power than its would-be predecessor, the Imperial constitution was considered very progressive for its time. It was considered more progressive than several constitutions used by European liberal powers. The Constitution The new constitution, published on March 25, 1824 outlined the existence of four powers: Executive — The State Council Legislative — The General Assembly, formed by the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies Judiciary — The Courts Moderator — Vested in the Emperor, was supposed to resolve any incompatibilities between the other three, acting as a "neutral" power, in accordance to the theories of the French-Swiss thinker Benjamin Constant. The Emperor controlled the Executive by nominating the members of the State Council, influenced the Legislative by being allowed to propose motions and having the power to dissolve the Chamber of Deputies (senators sat for life, however, being individually chosen by the emperor among the top