Page:The Forgotten in the Independence Process.pdf/33

 Lucia Maria Bastos Pereira das Neves The forgotten in the independence process: a history to be made

Almanack, Guarulhos, n. 25, ef00220, 2020 http://doi.org/10.1590/2236-463325ef00220 us unexpected clues about its process of separation from Portugal. The social base of such movements is broadened, consecrated by historiography as a process in which only the political and intellectual elites acted. Of course, such elites were the drivers of the movement, but it must not be forgotten that the politician increased his spectrum and started to be discussed in public squares.

In addition to the question of fear of Haitianism, a constant threat from Portuguese deputies and journalists, who inflated the fear of a slave uprising in Brazil, this set must still be expanded with the presence of slaves and freedmen. News circulated in pamphlets and newspapers on such a theme, so much so that the Revérbero Constitucional Fluminense refuted such rumors, arguing that it was


 * Surely very stupid this continuous threat of slave upheaval is well established. How can these moles not see that the slave uprising in which they speak so much [to the Portuguese] will be more fatal than to us. [...] The brown and black in Brazil are divided into two classes - freed and captives - the former ones have enough to fear the uniformed automatons of Portugal; Brazilians fear nothing from the second ones.°

In other words, the threat of a slave rebellion did not prevent from the expectation of Brazil as independent and constitutional state, since maintaining slavery represented the only possibility of guaranteeing the order within the constitutional monarchy under construction. It involved, however, another fundamental matter: was the discussion of the concept of independence at that time, limited to that of politics for Brazil or did it include that of the individual to the slave?

The second point to highlight is the role of women. Such characters deserve to be more detailed, because, when they do not require a new look, like the well-known Soror Joana Angélica or Maria Quitéria, they remain in the limbo of ignorance. In this sense, the study Forum