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.
Keywords:
Press; Brazilian Empire; São Paulo