In defense of the constitution: the war between rebels and government supporters (1838-1844)

Author(s)

Erik Hörner

• Document type: Doctoral Thesis
• Press: São Paulo.
• Institution: Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (FFLCH/SBD)
• Defense date: 2010-10-26

Examining board members

Cecilia Helena Lorenzini de Salles Oliveira; Modesto Florenzano; Lucia Maria Paschoal Guimaraes; Izabel Andrade Marson; Marco Morel

• Advisor: Cecilia Helena Lorenzini de Salles Oliveira

Abstract

The literature commonly presents the Liberal Revolution of 1842 in São Paulo and Minas Gerais, either as two similar events though not exactly articulated or as a single rebellion, but without clear goals and actual conditions of success. In both situations, the movement is seen as timely and fruit of greed for power from a wealthy social group. However, the reconstitution of political and military plot in the provinces of São Paulo and Minas Gerais of that period, offers different understandings and subsidies to think over the political practice and the formation of the Nation-State in Brazil during the first half of the nineteenth century. Conflicts of interest, local perspectives in search of political space beyond the provincial boundaries, meaningful involvement of citizens and the clash of political projects are some of the elements in the armed movement of 1842. With a focus over the course of the war - between the sharpening of minds and amnesty for rebels - this paper aims to give new reconfiguration to the relation between power and interests in the final years of the Regency and the early Second Empire, particularly between 1838 and 1844. Finally, we intend to discuss the emergence and implications of armed clashes, especially in relation to the joining of the provinces with the central government, explaining the conflicting groups and their projects, and deepen the discussion about the imperial policy at that time. (AU)