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Lucia Maria Bastos Pereira das Neves The forgotten in the independence process: a history to be made

Almanack, Guarulhos, n. 25, ef00220, 2020 http://doi.org/10.1590/2236-463325ef00220

point of view”^[1]. All this renewal of historiography provided innovative clues regarding the separation process between Brazil and Portugal, but, when referring to the figures of Independence, he made little progress in identifying those who, members of the most diverse segments of society, remained in the shadow, although they fought and interfered in some way in the direction of the split. Undoubtedly, the studies opened up new perspectives to analyze the role of the middle and popular strata over these years^[2]. But much remains yet to be done.

Anonymous Independence and their horizons of expectations

Bringing to light rich documentation, mostly unpublished or little explored by historical researches about the period, such as flyers, handwritten and printed pamphlets, newspapers or even correspondence and various documents, can provide new clues about the constitutionalist movement that Brazil has known in 1821, as well as different interpretations of its process of separation from Portugal. This material constitutes the history of a time, because the facts and characters that are narrated there, can be seen as records with which historians elaborate the reconstruction of a moment in the past. Finally, these are memories that, when presenting different views of the same fact, serve as foundations of history because they also serve to think and rethink the history of Brazil. In this case, it is sometimes

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1. MELLO, Evaldo Cabral de. A outra independência: o federalismo pernambucano de 1817 a 1824 SãoPaulo: Editora 34, 2004. p. 11.
2. As an example, for the issue of slaves cf. REIS, João José. O jogo duro do dois de julho: o “partido negro” na independência da Bahia. In: REIS, João José; SILVA, Eduardo. Negociação e conflito: a resistência negra no Brasil escravista. São Paulo: Companhia das Letras, 1989. p. 79-98. For the popular layers, cf. CARVALHO, José Murilo de; BASTOS, Lucia; BASILE, Marcello (org.). Às armas cidadãos! Panfletos manuscritos da Independência do Brasil (1820-1823). São Paulo: Companhia das Letras, 2012.