O Farol, o Observador e a Voz

o debate sobre a federação e a reforma constitucional na imprensa paulista (1830-1832)

Abstract

Based on studies that trace the importance of the provincial element in the construction of the Brazilian Empire
and the role of the periodic press in this process, this article aims to analyze a specific aspect of the Sao Paulo press
during the end of Primeiro Reinado and the beginning of the Regency era, that is, the debate threaded by São
Paulo newspapers regarding federation and constitutional reform. The central idea is to cast doubt on a supposed
homogeneity present in São Paulo province political thought, which would not have harbored other positions beyond
a moderated consensus and hegemonic liberalism, a point of view that was forged by the historical agents of
the time and still persists in part of the historiography about São Paulo in the eighteenth century. It seeks to question
the liberal thinking in São Paulo and indicate its nuances, advances and retreats, showing how the moderate
versus exalted confrontation reveals not an inflexible dichotomy but rather cracks within the liberal ideology that
transcended the boundaries of the province and were articulated to the political discussion that involved the center
of the Empire and its parts.