Land Law of 1850: Lessons on effects and the results of not condemn "a one fifth part of current agricultural population"

Abstract

The failure of the lands of the Empire policy is perhaps one of the most repeated weightings in historiography that directly or indirectly discussed the Land Law of 1850. However, I consider that the postulated failure of the legislation does not account for capturing deeply the complexity of the situation that was legislated based on the criteria of Law No. 601 of September 18, 1850. Besides giving an absolute character, such a view removes the dynamics of social process and requires the fulfillment of certain legislation be faithful to what is stated in the text. For this article, therefore, I'll start by the principle that the Land Law of 1850 "caught on", but it did it according to the logic, the context, the social and historical reality that characterized the era and the nation in which it was formulated and applied.