“Murmurando o sagrado nome da pátria”: juízes de paz, elites e antilusitanismo em Rio de Contas (1822-1832)

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the strategies and articulations of the Judges of Peace of the term of Rio de Contas, in the alto sertão of Bahia, during an intra-elite political conflict underway in this village. The time frame established comprises the years 1822 and 1832, in the midst of the great social and political instability in this locality of the sertões de cima and in the province of Bahia. During this period, liberal reforms were implemented that allowed the emergence of new institutions in the Empire of Brazil. The creation of the Judges of Peace, undertaken by moderate liberals, was an important innovation in the imperial judicial structure. Lay magistrates, provided for in the 1824 Constitution and regulated by the law of October 15, 1827, were part of a reformist movement that aimed to expand local autonomy. In the course of the transformations of the political-administrative apparatus that took place in the First Reign, the Judge of Peace came to have great relevance in the communities in which they were chosen through the vote. In Rio de Contas, the elective magistrates were linked to the wealthy social segments of the village and most of them actively participated in the intraelite conflict underway at the time, positioning themselves against the part of the elite that used the latent antilusitanism in Rio-Contense society to hit your opponents. The widespread hatred against the native Portuguese, residing in the village and its territory, made those born in Portugal become victims of political violence – in episodes marked by persecution, beatings, robberies and, in extreme cases, murders. Such violent outbursts, commonly called mata-marotos, were practiced in this locality by bandits sponsored by the region's potentates.