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The independence movements in the Americas in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries were all born of alliances between elites and the subaltern, most of whom were nonwhites. This article compares the roles of Brazilian nonwhites in the independence struggle to the activities of those in British and Spanish America. The focus is on three groups: slaves, free people of color, and indigenous people. Some members of these groups took the initiative to join revolutionary movements, but many were forcibly recruited. Each group had their own agendas, but few of their demands were reflected in the new constitutions that were adopted. The independence movements in the Americas in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries were all born of alliances between elites and the subaltern, most of whom were nonwhites. This article compares the roles of Brazilian nonwhites in the independence struggle to the activities of those in British and Spanish America. The focus is on three groups: slaves, free people of color, and indigenous people. Some members of these groups took the initiative to join revolutionary movements, but many were forcibly recruited. Each group had their own agendas, but few of their demands were reflected in the new constitutions that were adopted.

Resumo Este artigo versa sobre o viajante e pensador londrino John Walking Stewart (1747-1822), figura pouco estudada entre os historiadores. Quase todos os registros encontrados sobre o andarilho consideram-no, tanto em sua época como na posteridade, um “excêntrico”. De acordo com Benjamin Rush, o próprio autor teria dito que, “enquanto o centro da conduta ordinária for o erro”, ele estaria em “estado de excentricidade para sempre”. Seus textos são permeados por temas como o vitalismo, o espinosismo e o fascínio pela Índia, o que levou os historiadores a o qualificarem como um antecessor do “vegetarianismo romântico”, do “pós-estruturalismo”, do “socialismo owenita” e do “pós-humanismo”. Apoiado na escassa historiografia sobre o assunto, nos escritos do autor (em especial, Apocalypse of Nature e The Revelation of Nature) e nas diversas fontes primárias a que tivemos acesso (principalmente seu obituário, os textos de seu amigo De Quincey e de seu parente Brande), este artigo propõe-se a compreender e superar o paradigma da excentricidade na interpretação da vida e obra de Stewart, auxiliando no entendimento tanto do autor em seu próprio tempo, quanto da própria natureza do Iluminismo Tardio. Pretende-se, em resumo, oferecer outros caminhos de compreensão da vida e da obra de Walking Stewart. Abstract This article focuses on an author scarcely studied by historians: the traveler and thinker John “Walking” Stewart (1747-1822). Almost all available records (produced during his lifetime or later on) portray him as an “eccentric”. According to Benjamin Rush, the author himself would have said that “as long as the center of ordinary conduct is error”, he would remain in “eccentricity forever”. His texts are permeated by themes such as vitalism, Spinozism and a fascination with India, which led historians to qualify him as a predecessor of “romantic vegetarianism”, “post-structuralism”, “Owenite socialism”, and “Post-humanism”. Based on existing historiography on the subject, texts by the author (in particular, Apocalypse of Nature and The Revelation of Nature), and several primary sources (mainly his obituary and texts by his friend De Quincey and his relative Brande), this article aims to understand and to overcome the paradigm of eccentricity in the interpretation of Stewart’s life and works. This effort will allow us to better understand the importance of the author and the very nature of Late Enlightenment. The key intention is, therefore, to offer alternative ways of understanding the life and the works of “Walking” Stewart.

Em setembro de 1822, D. Pedro, Príncipe Regente do Brasil e herdeiro da Coroa Portuguesa, declara o rompimento das relações políticas com o Império Português, assim findando o Reino Unido de Portugal, Brasil e Algarves. Diferentemente das independências hispano-americanas, o caso brasileiro revelou-se singular ao preservar no Novo Mundo o sistema de governo monárquico, além de manter unidas as províncias luso-americanas no novo Estado independente em formação. Esta dissertação de mestrado busca examinar a conjuntura sociopolítica e as circunstâncias subjacentes à concretização deste desenlace, diante da existência de diversas forças atuantes. Amparado por relevante bibliografia e por fontes primárias, o trabalho analisa três marcos de influência histórica: a “Era das Revoluções”; a Transferência da Corte para o Brasil; e as Relações com as Cortes de Lisboa. O trabalho analisa ainda o papel da linguagem na escalada das tensões políticas após a extinção dos censores régios e a sua contribuição para a desfecho secessionista. In September 1822, Dom Pedro, Brazil’s Prince Regent and heir of the Portuguese Crown, severed the political relationship with the Portuguese Empire, thereby ending the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and Algarves. Unlike the hispano-american independences, the Brazilian case was unique insofar as it preserved in the New World the monarchic form of government, while also maintained united the luso-american provinces under one single independent State in the making. This master dissertation seeks to examine the socio-political state of affairs and circumstances that underlie the unfolding of such an outcome, amidst the existence of a number of acting forces. Supported by relevant bibliography and primary sources, this work analyses three main aspects of historical influence: The “Age of Revolutions”; the Transfer of the Portuguese Court to Brazil and the Relationship with the Lisbon Cortes. It also analyses the role of language in the rise of political tensions following the abolition of royal censorship and its contribution to the secessionist outcome.