A face of Jano: the Amazon\'s river navigation and the Brazilian state formation

Author(s)

Vitor Marcos Gregorio

• Document type: Master's Dissertation
• Press: São Paulo.
• Institution: Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (FFLCH/SBD)
• Defense date: 2008-09-05

Examining board members

Miriam Dolhnikoff; Wilma Peres Costa; Gabriela Nunes Ferreira

• Advisor: Miriam Dolhnikoff

Abstract

The question of free navigation of the two main south american hidrographic bays Amazonas and Prata constitutes a central theme of foreign policy for the continents countries in the mid 19th century. Its unraveling was important on the establishment of the regions new states, to the extent that it influenced in their own existence in such vital question as the acess to distant places of their own territories and foreign trade. This was not different in Brazil. The question of steam navigation in the Amazonic bay constituted itself into a fundamental question on the process of building the brazilian national state. In this course, it become necessary to adopt political measures that animed at the protection of the sovereignty over the amazonic region, supposedly threatenned by the United States and other european imperialist states. Also, policies that would insert the region into Brazils political and economic systems, as well as into the international trade context. This research aims at analising the discussions regarding such policies, especially the ones that took place in the brazilian parliament. This way we can have a glimpse at how much autonomy this newly formed state had in its foreign affairs. Very early ir saw itself forced to face some of the great potencies of the time in order to maintain a delicate balance of power in which depended its survival. (AU)