Nas tessituras do império do Brasil: o protestantismo sob o olhar da imprensa periódica secular (1860-1870).

Abstract

The 60 ’s of 18 th century was a busy period for Brazil, due to many factors internal and external. The prohibition of the transatlantic slave trade in the previous decade, for example, commanded the authorities to search for new alternatives to meet the demand for workers in coffee plantations in São Paulo State and the Vale do Paraíba. This provided the arrival of many immigrants coming from Europe and United States. The US war of secession also contributed to this agitation in the Brazilian scenario, since, along with immigrants, came different worldviews of what has long been solidified in Brazil, seeking to put down roots in brazilian lands. And they gave them thus a favorable scenario for the intensification of relations of power, from the ideological debate that emerged from this context. The arrival of Protestant missionaries and their proselytizing activity could involve the commitment of political and social structures designed to Brazil since its formation as an indep endent nation state in 1822. Given this context, our argumentative work investigates how occurred these ideological clashes around the Catholic and Protestant worldviews, from the secular periodical press of the 1860 s . How Protestantism was welcomed and represented by these newspapers? In the name of which political projects are accused or defended the ideas linked to Protestantism? What reverberations around this ideological struggle? These are some of the concerns that have guided our research and we have tried as possible to interpret the possible motivations that encouraged the representations made about the social inclusion of Protestantism in the Empire of Brazil during the second half of the nineteenth century.

The 60’s of 18th century was a busy period for Brazil, due to many factors internal and external. The prohibition of the transatlantic slave trade in the previous decade, for example, commanded the authorities to search for new alternatives to meet the demand for workers in coffee plantations in São Paulo State and the Vale do Paraíba. This provided the arrival of many immigrants coming from Europe and United States. The US war of secession also contributed to this agitation in the Brazilian scenario, since, along with immigrants, came different worldviews of what has long been solidified in Brazil, seeking to put down roots in brazilian lands. And they gave them thus a favorable scenario for the intensification of relations of power, from the ideological debate that emerged from this context. The arrival of Protestant missionaries and their proselytizing activity could involve the commitment of political and social structures designed to Brazil since its formation as an independent nation state in 1822. Given this context, our argumentative work investigates how occurred these ideological clashes around the Catholic and Protestant worldviews, from the secular periodical press of the 1860s. How Protestantism was welcomed and represented by these newspapers? In the name of which political projects are accused or defended the ideas linked to Protestantism? What reverberations around this ideological struggle? These are some of the concerns that have guided our research and we have tried as possible to interpret the possible motivations that encouraged the representations made about the social inclusion of Protestantism in the Empire of Brazil during the second half of the nineteenth century.