THE INDEPENDENCE OF BRAZIL ON THE SOUTHERN FRONTIER: AN ANALYSIS OF THE DEFENSE PROJECT FOR THE PROVINCE OF SANTA CATARINA, 1822

Abstract

This article analyzes the content of the defense project for the province of Santa Catarina, written on November 16, 1822 by the Commander of Arms of this province, the engineer Aureliano de Souza e Oliveira. By doing so, the strict content itself was extrapolated, and it was possible to understand the military, territorial and political dynamics in which this project was created, so being able to observe its ways of implementation and limitations. Thus, this article aims to understand, from a specific case, the context of the southern border during the most critical moments of the military dispute that, although not generalized, marked the rupture between the two sides of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and Algarves. In the end, it is concluded that the effective defense responded to conjunctural imperatives and was limited to needs for which the province did not have an immediate solution.

Keywords
southern border; military history; independence; Santa Catarina; territory