Building an empire in the Age of Revolutions: Independence and immigration in the Brazilian borderlands

• Published in: Topoí (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) Brazil), 2022-09, Vol.23 (51), p.870-896
• Main Author: Mugge, Miqueias Henrique
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: HISTORY
• ISSN: 1518-3319; 2237-101X; 2237-101X
• DOI: 10.1590/2237-101x02305110

ABSTRACT Throughout Brazil’s Independence process, its central elites and the Crown planned what was to become of their new nation. Arguments over political systems and the continuation of slavery were at the heart of the debate, which drew in rich, poor, and the enslaved alike. As the empires of the Old World were rent at the seams by wars and conflicts, Brazil was rethinking its role in the world. In this article, inspired by the dialogue between micro-history and global history, and by the trans-imperial trajectory of the Bavarian doctor Georg von Schaeffer, I examine the political ideas that informed the consolidation of the Brazilian Empire as a de facto empire. I also situate the ideas and proposals put forth by Schaeffer, a representative of the Brazilian government in Europe, within the crisis of legitimacy sparked by the Napoleonic invasions, the subsequent independence of Portuguese America, and the array of political projects that were able to emerge as a result. Through an analysis of the diplomatic documentation produced by the Brazilian Empire’s main posts in Europe, I reveal a complex web from which the Brazilian government drew information, and the channels that carried news of alliances, clashes, and political repertoires that would go into the making of a tropical empire. RESUMEN Durante el proceso de independencia de Brasil, las élites centrales y la corona planificaron lo que sería del nuevo país. Argumentos sobre sistemas políticos y la continuidad de la esclavitud estaban en el centro del debate, alcanzando a ricos, pobres y esclavizados. Mientras los imperios del viejo continente se desboronaban en guerras y conflictos, Brasil pensaba su papel en el mundo. En este artículo, inspirado por el diálogo entre la Microhistoria y la historia global a través de la trayectoria transimperial del médico bávaro Georg von Schaeffer, examino las ideas políticas que informaban la consolidación del Imperio brasileño de hecho. También sitúo el ideario y las propuestas expresadas por Schaeffer, un representante del gobierno brasileño en Europa, dentro de la configuración que posibilitó que diferentes proyectos políticos emergiesen ante la crisis de legitimidad desencadenada por las invasiones napoleónicas en la Península Ibérica y de la subsiguiente independencia de la América lusa. A partir del análisis de la documentación diplomática originada de los principales puestos del Imperio brasileño en Europa, revelo una compleja red de informaciones que al