Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Foreword
- José Da Silva Lisboa and the Brazilian Independence Revisited: Introduction and Argument
- Chapter One Brazil and Silva Lisboa in Context
- Chapter Two Constitutionalism Before The Fico 1821–1822
- Chapter Three Reclamação Do Brasil: Paving The Way for Independence Without Supporting It
- Chapter Four The Pamphlets Which Failed to Keep History Under Control
- Conclusion: Ideas that Shaped Brazilian History
- Bibliography
- Index
Chapter Four - The Pamphlets Which Failed to Keep History Under Control
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 08 June 2023
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Foreword
- José Da Silva Lisboa and the Brazilian Independence Revisited: Introduction and Argument
- Chapter One Brazil and Silva Lisboa in Context
- Chapter Two Constitutionalism Before The Fico 1821–1822
- Chapter Three Reclamação Do Brasil: Paving The Way for Independence Without Supporting It
- Chapter Four The Pamphlets Which Failed to Keep History Under Control
- Conclusion: Ideas that Shaped Brazilian History
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Silva Lisboa was actively publishing during the year of 1822 and this chapter will analyse all his publications up to Independence, in September of the same year. The first issue of the year features a discussion about the Fico, which took place on 9 January after the Prince Regent received the support of delegates from São Paulo and Minas Gerais to stay in Brazil and was followed by the upheaval of the Portuguese Auxiliadora Division, led by Avilez, on which Silva Lisboa provides ample commentary. Both subjects have already been discussed but here they stand out from other publications due to the author's use of a more radical tone in his criticism against his opponents. Here, I will consider this as a mechanism he adopted to influence the Cortes’ resolutions regarding Brazil and by doing so try to influence the course of events and avoid the separation of the two Kingdoms.
The debate in the Rio de Janeiro press around the Cortes and the Fico that led to the rebellion of the Portuguese troops in the capital is Silva Lisboa's main concern until May. After that, he shifted his focus to criticize those who wanted the independence of Brazil from Portugal through the creation of a separate Constituent Assembly. According to Belchior, it is also from May onwards that Silva Lisboa started engaging in heated debates with his opponents, which will last until the end of his life:
A partir desta data (Fico) o precipitar dos acontecimentos não mais permitiu a Cairu afastar-se de seus periódicos e folhetos, mantendo-o em constantes polêmicas, muitas delas repletas de pesadas ofensas pessoais. Vemos então Cipriano Barata de Almeida, alegando que conhecia ‘um Visconde que até a idade de 22 anos andou com casaca (coat) de cotovelos rotos, botões caídos e chapéu casquete’; José Bonifácio de Andrada e Silva apelidando-o de ‘Sílvio – o corcunda, fração de gente, charlatão idoso’. Evaristo da Veiga alcunhando-o de ‘poço de literatura’; o autor anônimo de ‘O Burro Magro’, chamando-o de ‘chafariz das ciências’, vemos, enfim, seus adversários procurando ultrajá-lo de todas as formas possíveis, como se pobreza, cultura e doença fossem desdouros, velhice e verdade, deméritos […].
[From that date (Fico) onwards, the rush of events no longer allowed Cairu to distance himself from his periodicals and pamphlets, keeping him in constant polemics, many of them full of heavy personal offenses.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Influence of José da Silva Lisboa's Journalism on the Independence of Brazil (1821-1822) , pp. 167 - 208Publisher: Anthem PressPrint publication year: 2022