Lucia Maria Bastos Pereira das Neves

“ When establishing a model of power wrapped in prophetic and apocalyptic mysticism, which intended to be “materially Divine”, Brazil became “a new Portugal” [72] . In this way, the Independence of Brazil was identified with the history of Portugal and, especially, with Bandarra’s prophecies. Pedro I assumed the providential charism of D. Sebastião, while Brazil became the legitimate successor of Portugal, as the seat of the Fifth Empire, just as it placed the prophetic and apocalyptic literature that permeated all of Portuguese history. ”

“ It is a concern to find other figures in addition to José Bonifácio, Pedro I, the empress Leopoldina, José da Silva Lisboa, Joaquim Gonçalves Ledo and many other interestresting and well known characters (that, undoubtedly, can reveal new contributions) , that also made the Independence. Looking at lives and actions that remain anonymous can bring consequences through new sources and approaches that allow a rethought of the Independence process, aimed not only at its borders but at a dialogue that finds in the Atlantic the point of union of their ideas and actions. ”

“ To conclude, it is worth to highlight the value that the study of those forgotten allows to go beyond the borders of a history whose fulcrum meets an idea of nation. Through meetings, exchanges and contacts between different parts of the Portuguese Empire, as narratives of their actions pointed to a need to know and comparatively analyze the selection processes of English America and Hispanic America. From this effort, new assumptions about the concept of independence (or independences) can emerge at that time. ”

“ In the case of Antônio Barbosa, it was not this vision that guided his horizon of expectation.
Women: participating members of civil society?
Finally, it can still be highlighted in a forgotten group - women in the process of independence. In a society deeply hierarchical as in the Old Regime, it is possible to imagine the almost invisible role of these ladies. However, their presence can be detected, in addition to their effective action in fights for separation of the new empire, by letters in newspapers, by private correspondence and even by the writing of political pamphlets. ”

“ However, contrary to some recent interpretations that have been trying to demonstrate, in parallel with a multiplicity of new languages — such as the old constitutionalism, a political economy and natural rights -, old values, such as this surprising one, remained active and, often, preponderant attempt to see, by means of Bandarra’s troves, or the Empire of Brazil as the accomplishment of the V Empire, and Pedro I, as the covert king. After all, until today a good part of the inhabitants of Brazil seems to continue to ignore the prognosis to deal with prophecies... ”

“ Thus, several Portuguese writers opposed to the split between Brazil and Portugal brought to light the fear of a slave revolt, such as José Liberato de Carvalho, editor of O Campeão Português em Lisboa. [43] In his point view, the possibility of independence at that time was a premature idea, since not all provinces were in agreement with this separation, which could lead to fatal dangers. Brazil’s new government would be weak and fragile, because there were “natural barriers” that separated the provinces and the possibility of a civil war, which could easily break up the country. ”

“ When transformed into instruments of public debate, such writings allowed the instruction of readers and the formulation of questions that represented interests of different sectors of society, understood from the experience that contemporaries experienced in the past, leading to the accumulation of experiences and the possibility of rising a different horizon of expectations, formulated through the new political languages ​​available - that of constitutionalism and that of liberalism. By ignoring them we run the risk of making anachronistic interpretations. ”

“ On the other hand, during the wars of independence, especially in Bahia, several slaves fled to engage in Brazilian forces. They believed that, in fighting for Brazil’s freedom, they could also fight for their own freedom. ”

“ In the figurative language of journalists and pamphlet writers, another fundamental point came to light in relation to slavery and the Independence process: Brazil as a slave to Portugal. In this case, the idea promoted many times by adherents of the Portuguese cause was the possibility of a revolution in Brazil along the lines of Haiti if its separation from the old metropolis were configured. ”

“ In the last decades of the twentieth century, other demands of historiography, which confirmed the long-term permanence of Brazilian social formation, enabled the emergence of a series of studies, both in Brazil and Portugal, and started to seek to insert Independence in the most dynamic of the Old Regime, highlighting the political and cultural factors that provoked dispute for hegemony within the Portuguese-Brazilian empire [19] . Within this more recent perspective of works, other concerns emerged - the participation of the popular strata ”

“ It is necessary to ‘give to the men of the past not only a name, but also some trace of vital capacity. [5]
This perspective of analysis explains partially what I want to highlight in this article : another approach to the history of the Independence of Brazil which allows to bring to the person the forgotten and unknown individuals of this process. Such a question does not mean, however, choosing a non-original character, just a name whose path is possible to reconstruct without inserting a broader contex of the conjuncture that marked the separation of Brazil from Portugal. ”

“ Another point that deserves interest and analysis, as there are still few studies on the subject due to the rarity of the sources, is the role of slaves in the process of separating Brazil from Portugal, especially regarding their role in the Independence wars. Anonymous, for the most part, formed distinct groups that often opposed each other - the Creole and brown slaves, born in Brazil, and the Africans. ”

“ And on the other hand, political issues, when she sensibly and objectively, analyzes the political events of that time, condemning both “Brazilian extremists” and “Portuguese radicals”. With a keen perspective, she stated that the distinction between Brazilians and Portuguese, or “Europeans”, was already a reality before Independence. It was just a matter of “birthplace” [84] . Her husband was “Brazilian”, because he was born in Cachoeira; she was Portuguese, because she was from Penafiel. ”

“ If there are anonymous people, other sources may reveal original actors and processes in Independence. The printed pamphlets, as well as the periodicals that sprout from the relative freedom of the press in 1821, also bring out figures that had a significant participation in that conjuncture. Such circumstantial writings conveyed political events to a wider audience in an unprecedented way, allowing a public discussion of this whole process and bringing to light characters little commented between the years 1821 and 1822. ”

“ Pour qu’émerge dans les discours politiques un fonds commun de références qui peuvent constituer une mémoire nationale, un intense travail d’organisation et de mise en forme est indispensable pour surmonter le simple bricolage idéologique, par définition précaire et fragile. ”

“ Little is known about Barbosa Correa, author of the pamphlet, except what he describes in his pamphlet. Coming from Minas Gerais, he said he was a “sheep victim of wolves”, as the prophecies of Bandarra indicated: “I see the wolves eat / The beheaded sheep / The mounted cows / And the lambs groan” [70] . He had a farm in Minas, where he cultivated, with 12 slaves, whatever allowed him to survive. Since March 2nd, 1819, however, when he went to the Court of Rio de Janeiro, he had to commit a slave named Fortunato to pay his expenses. ”

“ She still had two daughters: one married to a Brazilian born who followed the cause of Independence from an early age, and the other, still a child, who always accompanied her mother.
Maria Bárbara still lived in Brazil for many years. Her husband died in 1824, when, as a representative of Portugal, arrived in Brazil on the Rio Maior mission (1823) and was banned from landing in Bahia and died on high seas on the trip back to Portugal. A widow, however, despite her choice for Portugal, she ended up recognizing the role of D. Pedro as fundamental for saving Brazil from anarchy [88] . ”

“ Finally, it is worth remembering the already mentioned Maria Bárbara Garcez Pinto, lady of the Aramaré mill, in Bahia. Born in Portugal, there she married the Brazilian Luís Paulino d’Oliveira Pinto da França, a deputy for the province of Bahia in the Courts of Lisbon. Here, they raised a family. Her performance was remarkable throughout the Independence wars, when her husband, accused of favoring the Portuguese, remained in Portugal after the separation from Brazil. She was known in ‘Recôncavo’, where she had her home, as a severe and energetic woman. ”

“ In this sense, the information that contains this material offers different perspectives on the constitutionalist movement that Brazil knew in 1821 as well gives us unexpected clues about its process of separation from Portugal. The social base of such movements is broadened, consecrated by historiography as a process in which only the political and intellectual elites acted. Of course, such elites were the drivers of the movement, but it must not be forgotten that the politician increased his spectrum and started to be discussed in public squares. ”

“ In a thin and provoking review of a book by Alain Corbin entitled Le mondee retrouvé de Louis-François Pinagot, sur les traces d’un inconnu, 1798-1876, whose aim was to write the biography of a common man who had no particular trati, harassing any kind of heroism, Sabina Loriga criticizes the idea of the ‘invisible biography’ idealized by the author, which sacrifices the quality of life of individual figures who never appear as social actors, since they have no singularity, no identity. ”

“ Another, Maria Clemência de Silveira Sampaio, was considered the first poet of Rio Grande do Sul [78] .
The participation of women as members of political society, however, was also reflected in petitions, requests and letters that claimed their civil rights. In 1823, before this climate of antagonism between Portuguese and Brazilians, there was a representation written by women addressed to Emperor Pedro I. These women - Brazilian - asked for their Portuguese husbands, threatened with expulsion from Brazilian lands. ”

“ According to Oliveira Lima, it was an association that, behind its veneer of knowledge, had a political bias in order to bring together the different provinces in Brazil in a community of shared ideas of which the most illustrious spirits of the time should have been part of ”

“ In this sense, the study of some pamphlet writers, representations they presented or the private letters they wrote can contribute a lot. In this case, we find the letters of Maria Barbara, the great lady of the mills from Bahia, which demonstrates the ease and originality of expression in a woman who was born into a family of the Portuguese rural aristocracy. Maria Barbara showed a strong personality and played a role that women are usually denied at the time. ”

“ Surely very stupid this continuous threat of slave upheaval is well established. How can these moles not see that the slave uprising in which they speak so much [to the Portuguese] will be more fatal than to us. [...] The brown and black in Brazil are divided into two classes - freed and captives - the former ones have enough to fear the uniformed automatons of Portugal ”

“ The proposal therefore intended to break the shackles of despotism that had been so long, it was believed, oppressed the Portuguese-Brazilians. An acceleration of time was envisaged for these men who perceived a new proposal for the organization of politics in society that differed from the past. That present experienced by such individuals constituted a fundamental key to build the future. ”

“ Despite having filed a complaint with the governor of the province - D. Manoel de Portugal e Castro -, he suffered persecution, this being his great crime, which made his wife a widow, although she had a husband, and his children, orphans but having a father [71] . But what did Antônio Barbosa Correa preach? What was his interpretation on the Brazilian Independence process? ”

“ It also innovated by seeking to go beyond narration, seeking a procedural vision of Independence in which structures and events were mixed [12] . Malgré tout, individuals did not fail to make themselves present as those largely responsible for the Independence: the perspicacity of Brazilian deputies in the Lisbon Courts, the brilliant understanding of the Brazilian question by José Bonifácio, “the indefatigable apostolate of public opinion by a Ledo, a Januário, a Sampaio, a José Clemente’ and the lucidiy of the ‘curious’ Leopoldina [13] . ”

“ These individuals climbed political posts throughout the First Reign depending on the ties of the sociability levels acquired and made it possible to see how the old Portuguese Empire was interconnected between Europe, America and Africa. It is, therefore, a direction of investigation that can take men in their diversity and concrete experience. ”

“ In the last case, for example, in Bahia, there can be found regrets of a woman from that place due to the crisis faced in her homeland due to the constitutional despotism of the Auxiliary Troop of Portugal, commanded by General Madeira de Melo. ”