O Vale do Paraíba contra a Lei do Ventre Livre, 1865-1871

Abstract

This work studies the agency of the Parahyba Valley's slaveholders in the context of the elaboration and promulgation of the Free Womb Law, from 1865 to 1871. The documentary corpus consists of rulings from the State Council, parliamentary speeches, publications on the press and on book format, minutes of farmers' meetings, petitions against the emancipation of the womb, and inventories from some of the petitioners. Apart from the analysis of the discourse, the texts were interpreted from a Social, Political and Demographic History (specifically the inventories). The first chapter approaches the historical processes that enabled the propositional genesis of liberty from the womb in the Empire of Brazil. The second and third chapters analyze, respectively, the beginning of the petitionary movement among the Parahyba Valley's slaveholders and its geographic expansion. In both cases, it was sought to critically comprehend the argumentative strategies of the petitioners who, despite residing on distinct localities, formulated a unison platform. In the last chapter, it was examined the political dispute waged at the Parliament in 1871, and the future expectations conceived from the emancipation of the slave womb.

A recunhagem da moeda imperial: as reformas do visconde do Rio Branco (1871-1875)

“…Na perspectiva das aspirações estreitas, Paranhos antecipou-se reativamente à torrente de expectativas escravocratas que o pôs em xeque tão cedo quanto em 1872: a mesma legislatura que tragou a Lei do Ventre Livre, aventou, pouco meses depois, uma moção de censura contra o chefe de gabinete. As pressões da lavoura fluminense, por intermédio da Câmara (MIRANDA, 2018), assinalavam as compensações que o gabinete deveria realizar para manter a governabilidade. Do ponto de vista das estruturas amplas, Rio Branco, em que pese a oportunidade do momento, reformou o país nos limites exíguos das condicionalidades históricas em que se encontrou.…”