The networked opposition: the liberal press and the constituent project, 1850-1858

• Grant number: 22/04805-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: March 01, 2024
• End date: February 28, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - History - History of Brazil
• Principal Investigator: Maria Luiza Ferreira de Oliveira
• Grantee: Wagner Melo de Carvalho
• Host Institution: Escola de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (EFLCH). Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP). Campus Guarulhos. Guarulhos , SP, Brazil

Abstract

This research aims to map and analyze a network of 36 liberal newspapers, founded as of September 7th, 1850. Said network was a political project orchestrated by monarchist and republican liberals, in opposition to the political project of the conservatives, who were in power at the time. The newspaper was spread through ten provinces and, since they were connected among each other, shared texts and debated ideas. The time frame of the research goes from 1850 to 1858, ranging from the foundation to the disappearance of the last newspapers that made up the project. The main concern of the network was the creation of a new Constituent Assembly. The editors believed that the granting of the Constitutional Charter of 1824 had created a vice of origin in Brazilian constitutionalism, which could only be overcome with the convening of a new assembly, supported by popular sovereignty. The project was built around the concept of regeneration, giving a specific guise to the liberals' expectations. The network was also dedicated to the defense of the material demands of the population, such as the nationalization of the retail trade and the end of forced recruitment. Many were republicans and wanted, through the Constituent, a change to the form of government. The newspapers reverberated in the parliament, in several sessions debating the danger of the "revolutionary propaganda" that surrounded the country. This research intends to understand in depth this networked opposition project by intending its discourse, investigating the identity of its editors, comparing its claims and measuring its impact on the political disputes of the time.