Coronations in the Americas were previously held by multiple countries on both continents, with the majority occurring inLatin America. They were held by endemicconstitutional monarchies with their own resident monarch. There are no longer any endemic American monarchies.
Brazilianemperors, of which there were two (Pedro I andPedro II), were crowned with theImperial Crown of Brazil in a CatholicCoronation Mass. The constitution required the monarch to have reached their eighteenth birthday before the ceremony could take place. Brazil abolished its monarchy in 1889. Pedro I was crowned on 1 December 1822 and Pedro II was crowned on 18 July 1841. Both ceremonies were held in theOld Cathedral of Rio de Janeiro, which served as the Court's Imperial Chapel.
The coronation of Pedro I was presided over by the then Bishop of Rio de Janeiro and Major Chaplain of the Imperial Chapel. The coronation of Pedro II was presided over by the then Archbishop of São Salvador da Bahia and Primate of Brazil. Pedro II's coronation was a lavish event. In both ceremonies, the coronation rite prescribed in theRoman Pontifical of Pope Benedict XIV, then in force, was used.
Jean-Jacques Dessalines, one of the founding fathers ofHaiti, proclaimed himself Emperor Jacques I of Haiti soon after itsindependence, establishing theFirst Empire of Haiti. He was crowned on 6 October 1804 inLe Cap but was assassinated two years later. TheKingdom of Haiti was established in 1811 byHenri Christophe, another leader in the Haitian independence struggle. He was crowned King Henry I of Haiti on 2 June 1811, in a lavish ritual presided over by ArchbishopJean-Baptiste-Joseph Brelle of Milot, but committed suicide in 1820.Faustin Soulouque proclaimed himself to be Emperor Faustin I of Haiti in 1849; he was crowned in an extremely elaborate ceremony held inPort-au-Prince on 18 April 1852 but was forced to abdicate in 1859, bringing theSecond Empire of Haiti to an end.[1]
Mexico has twice been a monarchy ruled by aMexican emperor.Agustín I ruled from 1822 to 1823 afterthe Mexican empire's independence from Spain; he was crowned in a lavish ceremony on 21 July 1822 at theCatedral Metropolitana de Mexico inMexico City, placing the diadem on his own head in the manner ofNapoléon I.[2] Agustín I was overthrown in March 1823, and theMexican monarchy abolished.
Mexico's second monarch wasMaximilian I, a Habsburgarchduke who was a descendant of the Spanish monarchCharles I and V, under whichNew Spain (Mexico) was formed.He was persuaded to take the newly revivedMexican throne in 1864 by Mexican monarchists andNapoléon III of France (whose troops, in conjunction with Mexican conservatives andnobility, had instituted it). His consort was Charlotte of Belgium, orEmpress Carlota of Mexico. The secondImperial Crown of Mexico and a matching scepter were manufactured for their coronation at the Catedral Metropolitana in Mexico City amid several celebrations.[3][4][5][6] The Second Mexican Empire lasted for over three years. Maximilian was defeated by Republican forces led by Mexican PresidentBenito Juárez and aided by the U.S. He wasexecuted in 1867, along with two of his top Mexican generals, bringing the empire to an end.
James Strang, a would-be successor toJoseph Smith, in the leadership of theLatter Day Saint movement from 1844 to 1856, openly established an ecclesiastical monarchy onBeaver Island,Michigan, in 1850. On 8 July of that year, he staged an elaborate coronation ceremony complete with a throne, wooden sceptre, breastplate and a crown described by one observer as "a shiny metal ring with a cluster of glass stars in the front".[7] "King Strang" reigned over his followers until 16 June 1856, when he was assassinated by two disgruntled subjects. His people were driven from the island, and Strang's 'kingdom'—together with most of his royal regalia—vanished.[8]
For coronations in the pre-annexationHawaiian Kingdom, seeCoronations in Oceania.
Some observers compare theAmerican presidential inauguration to a coronation,[9] with the American constitutional requirement for apresidential oath congruent to the oaths required of the world's monarchs. Some historians and comparative government experts indicate that the former stems directly from the latter.[10] The pomp and pageantry of the modern event is comparable in some ways to monarchical coronations.[11]
