Political projects in the constitucionalist revolution (Bahia, 1821-1822)

Abstract

Part of the systemic crisis of the Portuguese Ancien Regime, Bahia received with enthusiasm the news on the Porto Liberal Revolution (1820). From then on, a number of political actions occurred in the capital (Salvador), which aimed mainly to reassure a fast and decisive adhesion to the constitutional system. Observing the liberal discourse, different social segments positioned themselves against the absolute government and, in February 1821, proclaimed the Revolution Constitutionalist linking, thus, the Bahian Province to the "General, Extraordinary and Constituents Courts of the Portuguese Nation". The article focuses on how the constitutional political turmoil favored the elaboration of distinct liberal projects, making possible the political participation political of the popular classes in a revolutionary context whose horizons were still to be defined.