Um acordo impossível

o papel das guerras na independência e na definição do Estado no Império do Brasil (1822-1825)

Abstract

Contrary to what is often argued, including in historiography, the independence and territorial maintenance of the Empire of Brazil cannot be explained by “an agreement between elites.” Firstly, this article intends to demonstrate that this is impossible due to these interests being heterogeneous, both from province to province, each with varied ways of reproducing social life, and in the countryside of each province. Evidence of this is the Crown’s efforts to shape an expressive military force, recruiting many foreign mercenaries, some of them internationally renowned like Cochrane. Furthermore, the independence wars could not be summarized as being in the orbit of Rio de Janeiro or Lisbon; on the contrary, often the central question was the definition of the type of State that was being built: either a more liberal State with more rights, or a more conservative one. Especially, the possibility of viewing independence as a revolution is what magnetizes marginalized groups and delays conflicts to long after the crowning of D. Pedro I.