From the Other Shore: The Impact of Brazilian Independence in Portugal 1820–45

This paper explores the ways in which Portugal, the ex-metropole, reacted to Brazilian independence and how Portuguese politics, intellectual life, and society were shaped by imperial disintegration in the two decades after 1825. Based on Brazilian, Portuguese, and British archival material, the paper focuses on Portuguese constitutional, diplomatic, and imperial episodes decisively influenced by the experience of Brazilian independence, particularly during the Civil War (1828-34). More generally, in a preliminary way, it seeks to further integrate Peninsular history with Latin American history after the demise of formal empire, with special attention paid to how the long aftermath of Brazilian independence continued to exert great influence on Portugal’s historical trajectory well after the Age of Atlantic Emancipations ended.