Constitucionalismo e cidadania nos debates da Assembleia Constituinte de 1823

Abstract

Brazilian and Spanish constitutionalism emerged amid discussions about universal rights, the result of liberal thinking that gained notoriety during the French Revolution. However, each nation in formation adopted liberal principles according to the reality of each country. In Brazil, amid the effervescence of political independence from Portugal, constitutionalism became the nation's solution by enabling the first constitution of the State. Still during the process of political emancipation, in a context of provincial wars, in 1823 the Constituent Assembly was installed in Rio de Janeiro. The objective of the constituents was to define the articles that would make up the first Brazilian Constitution. However, the proposal for citizenship generated an unresolved debate regarding the right to citizenship for blacks and indigenous people. When analyzing these issues, it is necessary to understand how the revolutionary principles in Brazil and “Haitianism” influenced Brazilian constitutionalism regarding citizenship and its degrees of categories. Furthermore, it is essential to understand how citizenship ensured the maintenance of social and racial hierarchies in the Empire, with the main dilemma being the maintenance of black slavery. The continuation of slavery and the maneuvers made by parliamentarians to maintain the slave trade are consistent with the type of liberalism that Brazilian parliamentarians decided to incorporate into the Empire, which makes us reflect on the place that liberal ideas occupied in the Brazilian Empire and how this reflected on the social relations of the time.