The Brazilian Empire: Myths and Histories / Edition 2

by Emilia Viotti da Costa

Overview

This classic work is must reading for anyone who would understand Brazil and Latin America, past and present. First published in 1985 and now expanded to include a new chapter on women in Brazilian history, the book explores the social, political, economic, and intellectual currents that shaped nineteenth-century Brazil and whose reverberations continue to be felt throughout contemporary Brazilian society.

Placing her findings in a rich comparative context with regard to U.S. history, Emilia Viotti da Costa concentrates on crucial moments in Brazilian history to shed light on a number of vexing questions: Why in a nation so rich in material resources is there so much poverty? How was slavery abolished without bloodshed in a country where slaves had represented the main labor force for almost four hundred years? Why did self-described liberal elites twice lead the country toward authoritarian regimes? In exploring these and other puzzles, she uncovers the realities behind many of the persistent myths surrounding the Brazilian empire.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780807848401
Publisher:	The University of North Carolina Press
Publication date:	02/28/2000
Edition description:	Revised Edition
Pages:	352
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.79(d)

About the Author

Emilia Viotti da Costa has written extensively on Brazilian history and on slavery and emancipation. Her books include Da Senzala a Colonia and Crowns of Glory, Tears of Blood: The Demerara Slave Rebellion of 1823. She is also professor of history at Yale University

Table of Contents

Contents

Chronology xi
Note on the Revised Edition xiii
Preface xv
Introduction xix
1 Independence: The Building of a Nation 1
2 José Bonifácio de Andrada e Silva: A Brazilian Founding Father 24
3 Liberalism: Theory and Practice 53
4 Land Policies: The Land Law, 1850, and the Homestead Act, 1862 78
5 Sharecroppers and Plantation Owners: An Experiment with Free Labor 94
6 Masters and Slaves: From Slave Labor to Free Labor 125
7 Town and Country 172
8 The Fall of the Monarchy 202
9 The Myth of Racial Democracy: A Legacy of the Empire 234
10 Patriarchalism and the Myth of the Helpless Woman in the Nineteenth Century 247
Epilogue
Notes
Index

Illustrations

Map of the Brazilian Empire xxviii
1. Prince Pedro acclaimed emperor of Brazil 20
2. Pedro proclaims Brazilian independence 21
3. Quinta da Boa Vista architectural changes 49
4. Fazenda do Secretário in Vassouras 54
5. The immigrant's dream 114
6. Traveling in an oxcart 116
7. Grinding coffee 117
8. Immigrants entering São Paulo between 1855 and 1888 123
9. Slaves departing to the fields 130
10. Master's house and slave's quarters (senzalas) 133
11. A master punishing his slave with the palmatória 139
12. Punishment in the public square 141
13. Capitão do Mato 142
14. Population growth in Brazil from 1823 to 1887 146
15. Slave and free population by region in 1823, 1872, and 1887 147
16. Chinese immigrants: a caricature 150
17. View of Rio de Janeiro 182
18. The white woman at home 187
19. Supper time at the master's house 188
20. Black woman selling goods 189
21. Brazilian farmers run after the Republic 206
22. The Vatican threatens Brazil 210
23. The clergy's control of education 213

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

[Includes] an essay on women that did not appear in the 1985 edition. The fact that this book had been republished once again and is still widely used and cited testifies to the enduring quality of Viotti da Costa's insights and the significance of her work. . . . Republication of this fine pioneering work is a fitting tribute to a historian who has helped transform the history of the Brazilian Empire and the history of Latin America over the past four decades.—Latin American Research Review

The Brazilian Empire remains the indispensable analysis of the all-important Brazilian nineteenth century.—Thomas Skidmore, Brown University

Anyone with an interest in the Brazilian nineteenth century will be familiar with [Viotti da Costa's] trenchant, well-informed clarity. . . . This is one of the best introductions to Brazil in English that one could want.—Bulletin of Hispanic Studies

Perhaps the most thoughtful analysis of nineteenth-century Brazil. . . . Viotti da Costa provides a cohesive picture of the social, political, and intellectual currents that have shaped the nation.—Latin American Research Review

A thoughtful interpretive history that helps us to understand both the Brazilian empire and the republic that replaced it.—Journal of Interdisciplinary History

There is a refreshing quality to Emilia Viotti da Costa's collected essays, which span six decades of the Brazilian empire's social, economic, and political life between independence (1822) and the collapse of its neocolonial political system in 1889. . . . Together the essays are more than an introduction to the Brazilian empire. . . . They reveal a critical mind searching for the links between ruling classes and those ruled, between elites and masses.—American Historical Review

A well-written compilation . . . which brings forth the texture of 19th-century (1822-1889) Brazilian life. All facets of the 'empire'—politics, economics, culture and society—are skillfully interwoven and excellently researched. . . . An excellent book, worth reading by specialists as well as the interested public.—Times of the Americas

Editorial Reviews

All facets of the 'empire'-politics, economics, culture and society-are skillfully interwoven and excellently researched.

"Times of the Americas"

[These essays] reveal a critical mind searching for the links between ruling classes and those ruled, between elites and masses.

"American Historical Review"

ÝThese essays¨ reveal a critical mind searching for the links between ruling classes and those ruled, between elites and masses.

"American Historical Review"

All facets of the 'empire'--politics, economics, culture and society--are skillfully interwoven and excellently researched.

"Times of the Americas"

"[These essays] reveal a critical mind searching for the links between ruling classes and those ruled, between elites and masses.

"American Historical Review""

"All facets of the 'empire'--politics, economics, culture and society--are skillfully interwoven and excellently researched.

"Times of the Americas""

A thoughtful interpretive history that helps us to understand both the Brazilian empire and the republic that replaced it.

"Journal of Interdisciplinary History"

Perhaps the most thoughtful analysis of nineteenth-century Brazil.

"Latin American Research Review"

This is one of the best introductions to Brazil in English that one could want.

"Bulletin of Hispanic Studies"

From the Publisher