Abstract
This article discusses the process of political and economic transformations that occurred in the Province of Grão-Pará, in the period 1840-1871. In the text, we discuss the issue of the Normal School and therefore public education in teacher training, in the midst of these changes, which was chosen by the political and wealthy class of the Province of Grão - Pará as a propagation mechanism of modern planning, progress and civilization ideals among citizens who circulated through the center of the capital of that province, the town of Bethlehem. In this sense, we also opted to situate these changes in relation to the political measures of the imperial government, as openness of the Amazon River to international navigation, the creation of the province of Amazonas and the introduction of steam navigation as a way of integration with the rest of the country and regional development. In the methodology, we adopt documentary study, consulting reports and other historical sources of the period within the microfilms of the electronic site (http://www.crl.edu/area-studies/lamp), as well as the use of references to authors who talk about that period.
Keywords:
public education; modernity; Province of Grand Pará