Mensageiras da liberdade: mulheres, abolicionismo e recrutamento militar (Província do Espirito Santo, 1836-1888)

Abstract

The object of this dissertation are Brazilian women and their political insertion in the nineteenth-century public sphere. Through analysis female political acts in the public sphere of capixaba society, we noticed a common use - but not homogeneous - the same speech and performative of current female identity in the nineteenth century. This identity was defined as the wife, housewife and mother. The women activity was investigated against military conscription in the Espírito Santo Province and abolitionists civil movements and sought to discuss the role of these movements in defining the status and condition of women. It was used the newspapers A Província do Espírito Santo and Folha da Victoria and documents in Accioly Series of Public Archives of Espírito Santo State. Requests sent by women to the Chief of Police of the Province of the Espírito Santo requiring the release of sons and husbands, were in political intervention and women's speech was in line with the representation of the female image. The social roles of women as mothers and wives and how these identities were appropriated by the men and women involved in the abolitionist movement revealed the female elite buildings used politically. Although the movements reached different spheres of nineteenth-century Brazilian society, the common use of female representation linked to family roles showed the same ideal for Brazilian women of the nineteenth century.