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JUSTINIANO JOS DA ROCHA AND FIRMINO RODRIGUES DA SILVA:

CRONISTAS, ATLANTES AND THE REGRESSO.


The present work aims at analyzing two papers, published in the Imperial
Court in Rio de Janeiro between the years 1836 and 1839, called O Atlante and O
Chronista. These periodicals circulated during the Regresso period, opposing the
regency of Diogo Antnio Feij, and, at the same time, dialoguing with the chief
regressista leader, Bernardo Pereira Vasconcellos. The editors of the above referred
papers, Justiniano Jos da Rocha e Firmino Rodrigues Silva, were prominent in
Imperial politics.
Justiniano Jos da Rocha was born in November, 1811, in Rio de Janeiro. He
went to Lyceum Henrique IV in Paris and received a Baccalaureate in Law at the
College of So Paulo in 1883. He practiced Law, was a History and Geography teacher
in Pedro II School and professor of Law in the Military School. He was also head of the
Correio Oficial; member of the courts Board of Public Instruction, of the IHGB1
censor of the Conservatory of Dramatic Arts and deputy of the province of Minas
Gerais in the fifth, eighth and ninth legislatures. He published History, Geography and
Law books, besides translating authors such as Alexandre Dumas. He is the author of
Aco, Reao e Transao2, a text that was seen as the conservatives interpretation of
the Empires political transitions. Justiniano debuted in journalism in 1836 writing O
Atlante by himself, and, in the same year, founded O Chronista, to which both Josino do
Nascimento Silva and Firmino Rodriges Silva contributed. In the 1840s he reached the
peak of his career in the paper O Brasil, the main supporter to the Conservative Partys
demands in the press3.
Firmino Rodrigues Silva was born in Rio de Janeiro, on the 23rd of October,
1815. He graduated in Law at the College of So Paulo in 1837. He made a brilliant
career in journalism, politics and in the magistrate. The best rated deputy in the province

1
Instituto Histrico e Geogrfico Brasileiro.
2
Ao, Reao, Transao: duas palavras acerca da atualidade poltica no Brasil. In: MAGALHES
JR., R. Trs panfletrios do segundo reinado. So Paulo: Nacional, 1956, pp. 163-218.
3
BLAKE, Sacramento. Dicionrio Bibliogrfico Brasileiro. Rio de Janeiro: Conselho Federal de Cultura,
1970, Vol. 5, pp. 269-273.GUIMARES, Lucia Maria Paschoal. Ao, reao e transao: a pena de
aluguel e a historiografia. In: CARVALHO, Jos Murilo de (org.). Nao e cidadania no Imprio: novos
horizontes. Rio de Janeiro: Civilizao Brasileira, 2007; VAINFAS, Ronaldo. Dicionrio do Brasil
Imperial: 1822-1889. Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, 2002; MAGALHES JR., R. Trs panfletrios do
segundo reinado. So Paulo: Nacional, 1956. CARDIM, Dr. Elmano. Justiniano Jos da Rocha. So
Paulo: Nacional, 1964.

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of Minas Gerais in 1849, he was senator, judge, police chief and poet. He wrote in O
Brasil, O Chronista, A Ordem, O Bom Senso and O Constitucional 4.
Having made these brief biographical notes on the subjects, I proceed to
highlighting the insertion of these two characters in the political struggles of the
Regresso. Faced with the clash between Feijs supporters and his main opponent,
Vasconcellos, the two journalists stated their opinions and political analyses. This study
intends to analyze Justinianos and Firminos possible political alignments through the
most commented features of their newspapers, as well as to identify the influence of
liberal political culture in their ideas.
The analytic perspective privileged in this work is based on the use of a
theoretical approach influenced by political history, especially on the concepts of public
space, political culture and sociability.
Regarding the idea of public space, the main study of the theme is the work
of Jrgen Habermas. In the book The structural transformation of the public sphere, the
author analyzes the dynamic of the above referred concept from a historical and
sociological perspective, understanding the media and the state organs as dialectic
realities that constitute the public space. Therefore, the interests of the public and the
private are institutionally represented and in conflict in the time of the disputes for the
control of public opinion5.
Another important theoretical basis of the present work is the idea of political
culture. The elements that are part of the definition of political culture listed are diverse,
but the emphasis on the public behaviors and institutions is fundamental in a certain
context. It is important to highlight the tension that involves the struggle between the
values of the Old Regime and the constitutional liberalism6.
Finally, it is necessary to underline the concept of sociability elaborated by
Marurice Agulhon in his book El Circulo Burgus. The importance of this concept
resides in the possibility to perceive the social circles in which Justiniano and Firmino
were inserted, as well as the political influences originated from these spaces and,
consequently, from its social actors7.

4
MASCARENHAS, Nelson Lage. Um jornalista do imprio: Firmino Rodrigues Silva. So Paulo:
Nacional, 1961.
5
HABERMAS, Jurgen. Mudana estrutural da esfera pblica: investigaes quanto a uma categoria da
sociedade burguesa. Rio de Janeiro: Tempo Brasileiro, 1984.
6
BERNSTEIN, Serge. A Cultura poltica. In: RIOUX, Jean-Pierre & SIRINELLI, Jean-Franois. Para
uma Histria Cultural. Lisboa, Estampa, 1998.
7
AGULHON, Maurice. El circulo Burgues. Buenos Aires: Siglo Veintiuno. Editorres, Argentina, 2009.

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Therefore, the formation and expansion of the public space in the Imperial
Court can be related through the analysis of Justiniano Jos da Rochas and Firmino
Rodrigues da Silvas opinions and sociability networks. This analysis reveals the
plurality of constitutional liberalism political codes through its appropriations. It is
opportune, at this moment, to outline the four chapters of the present work.
In the first chapter some biographical aspects of the surveyed journalists are
presented. The political influences of the papers O Atlante and O Chronista, as well as
their possible subsidiaries, are identified. Taking into account Firminos and
Justinianos opinions on controversial topics such as the Farroupilha Revolution and the
Cabanagem, the first part of this work aims at revealing the context of the Regresso as a
moment of doubt about the direction the nation state was taking and the search for
solutions to its problems. The diverse opinions that were part of the public space and in
the circles of sociability in which the actors were inserted are also presented.
The second chapter deals with a central matter to the nineteenth century and to
struggles among the main devices of the Ancient Rgime and the new perspectives of
the constitutional liberalism, namely, religion. When listing the opinions and analyses
that involved religion, the focus is on how the issue divided the political groups at the
end of the regency. On one side were the liberal clergy, led by Father Feij, supporters
of reformations such as the end of celibate; on the other were Vasconcellos and the
archbishop D. Romualdo Seixas, defenders of roman traditions. Amid these struggles,
Justiniano and Firmino shared Vasconcellos opinions, reinforceing the opposition to
Diogo Antnio Feij. During the time when the future of the monarchy was discussed,
Catholicism and its influence on the imperial state and society seemed to divide
opinions and political groups.
Giving sequence to the major problems of cultural politics of the nineteenth
century and of Brazilian Empire, the third chapter in concerned with slavery. Regarding
this subject, the studied journalists prove contrary to the slave traffic and demanded the
enforcement the 1831 law. Such opinions affect the activities of Bernardo Pereira de
Vasconcellos, a strong supporter of the traffic of enslaved Africans. Therefore, even
among the opponents of Diogo Antnio Feij there was space for divergences and
criticism to slavery by some sectors of liberal intellectuals.
In the fourth and last chapter two central topics significant to the
comprehension of monarchic reaction are discussed, the majority and the interpretation
of the Additional Act of 1834. Usually when the majority is referred to, the focus in on

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1840s coup, but suggestions involving it date to the second half of the 1830s. The
present study focuses on Vasconcellos maneuver around Princess Januria. In 1836,
Vasconcellos and D. Romualdo Seixas plotted a possible elevation of D. Pedro IIs
sister to the countrys regency, and, despite its failure, the theme was a subject of debate
in the press and in parliament. Once more, Justiniano and Firmino stood against the
Regresso leader, dismissing the princesss possible majority. In addition to this theme,
the Additional Act a reformation occurred in 1834 and strongly questioned by the
regressistas is explored. Therefore, the last part of this study accounts for the
monarchy and its symbols and institutions, stressing the way in which the actors studied
understood these major dimensions of the imperial state and society.
Consequently, the Regresso is seen as a historical moment that reveals a
complex political plot. More than only a reaction that pointed to the return of political
conservatism and centralization, it was a moment of debate and discussion. The liberal
political culture that was being outlined in the Brazilian Empire would be shaped by a
plural historical universe where slavery, the constitution, Catholicism and the monarchy
lived together. These themes would be widely discussed in public space, defining the
networks of sociability and the fronts of political action.
Firminos and Justinianos political positions were more defined by an
opposition to Feij than by a univocal ideological proposition. These journalists begun
their careers discussing central themes to a society based on the structures of the Old
Regime that was going through an incorporation of constitutional liberalism demands.
In a time of uncertainty, young Firmino and Justiniano were attempting to define their
demands and opinions, a hard task before the historical reality of the Regresso.
Although their names were related to the Conservative rank, this association has to be
put into perspective considering the juvenile aspirations and political, social and
economic transformations on the 1800s.

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