From Conciliation to Threat: Silva Lisboa, Viscount of Cairu, and the Luso-Brazilian Empire in 1821

Abstract

In the year before Brazil's independence, the press played an essential role in influencing the events that resulted in the rupture with Portugal. With his ideas shaped by the Portuguese Enlightenment and economic liberalism, Silva Lisboa initially supported the Cortes of Lisbon and the Luso-Brazilian empire, but, when the Congress decided to legislate against Brazilian autonomy, he became one of the main critics of the legislation that would change the balance of power between the two kingdoms and, eventually, in his opinion, could lead to the ‘recolonisation’ of Brazil.