Educating is Civilizing: the Pedagogy of Periodicals and Political Pamphlets of the Brazilian Independence Period (1821-1824)

Abstract Large amounts of circumstantial printed material flooded the city of Rio de Janeiro between 1821 and 1824. Its intent was to inform the population on what the new terms associated with current ideas meant. They became instruments of intervention in what their authors perceived as a public space. This paper aims at identifying what their messages meant, clarifying their rhetorical arguments and also pointing out the factors that limited or prevented them from achieving their goals.