ABSTRACT
This article discusses the debates on the independence of Brazil in the Constituent Cortes of Lisbon in 1821-1822 and its treatment by the Portuguese press of the time and in the following years, analyzing a selection of periodicals both Absolutist and Liberal, and paying particular attention to the humorous periodicals. The departure of the Portuguese royal family to Brazil on the eve of the Peninsular War, the end of colonial monopoly with the opening of some of the Brazilian ports to international trade and the upgrade to “United Kingdom” status set the objective conditions for the independence of Brazil. The new situation was perceived in Portugal as a downgrade of the former colonial power to the status of ‘colony of a colony’ and became a decisive factor of the 1820 Liberal revolution. The Constituent Cortes tried to reverse the irreversible process of Brazil’s emancipation and eventually helped create the subjective conditions for independence both by political clumsiness in handling the “Brazil affairs” and by echoes of that strategy in the press aimed at conquering public opinion with recourse to humor, especially sarcasm, and even downright abuse, before and after the proclamation and the recognition of the new empire.
Keywords:
Brazil; Portugal; Independence; Constituent Cortes; press