BUILDING THE STATE, WEAVING THE PLACE OF POWERS

PROVINCE AND NATION IN THE PRIMEIRO REINADO (SERGIPE 1824-1831)

Abstract

The article analyzes the demands originated in the provincial representation bodies in the post-Independence period forwarded to the Legislative Assembly of the Empire in order to provide elements for the analysis of the relationship between the center of power and the provinces in the First Reign. It addresses the importance of the regional issue in the process of political struggle that led Portuguese America to separate from Portugal (1820-1823) and the concerns related to the construction of instances and routines that would allow the exercise of regional power at some level or intensity. For this reflection, with specialized bibliographic support, the experience of the province of Sergipe is analyzed, its condition and the demands filed for analysis by the Legislative Assembly of the Empire. In the tension between expectations of centralization and decentralization and the observance of matters of absolutely local interest and others of national scope, it is clear that the arrangement found was halfway between the aspirations elaborated at the beginning of the debates that led to Independence, showing that many important decisions for the locality remained dependent on the decision of a higher instance and power in a centralized format.