Descrição
The province of Minas Gerais had a prominent role on the building of the Imperial State. During the Regency, it was one of the pillars of the moderate liberal project, and staged its agony on the Rebellion of 1842. Therefore, it becomes relevant to study at great length, the political elites responsible for the importance of Minas on this context. From a group of documents formed by inventories, testaments, electoral lists and newspapers from the period, I examined the economic and material bases of some of the farmers around the middle of the XIX century, evaluating simultaneously its political participation on the configuration of the provincial powers, and the larger scope of the monarchic State. For that I elected, as an emblematic character, Manoel Ignácio de Mello e Souza, president of the province, senator, and later honored as Barão do Pontal (Baron of the Pontal). The geographic space featured is part of the north Zona da Mata, more precisely the region that includes the cities of Barra Longa, Viçosa and Ponte Nova.||The province of Minas Gerais had a prominent role on the building of the Imperial State. During the Regency, it was one of the pillars of the moderate liberal project, and staged its agony on the Rebellion of 1842. Therefore, it becomes relevant to study at great length, the political elites responsible for the importance of Minas on this context. From a group of documents formed by inventories, testaments, electoral lists and newspapers from the period, I examined the economic and material bases of some of the farmers around the middle of the XIX century, evaluating simultaneously its political participation on the configuration of the provincial powers, and the larger scope of the monarchic State. For that I elected, as an emblematic character, Manoel Ignácio de Mello e Souza, president of the province, senator, and later honored as Barão do Pontal (Baron of the Pontal). The geographic space featured is part of the north Zona da Mata, more precisely the region that includes the cities of Barra Longa, Viçosa and Ponte Nova.||A Província de Minas Gerais teve um papel de destaque na conformação do Estado imperial. Durante a Regência foi um dos pilares do projeto liberal moderado e palco de sua agonia na Rebelião de 1842. Torna-se relevante, portanto estudar mais detidamente as elites políticas responsáveis pela proeminência mineira nesse cenário. A partir de um conjunto documental formado por inventários, testamentos, listas de eleitores e jornais de época examino as bases econômicas e materiais de um grupo de fazendeiros nos meados do século XIX, avaliando concomitantemente sua participação política na configuração dos poderes provinciais e no âmbito mais amplo do Estado monárquico. Elegi, para tal, como figura emblemática, Manoel Ignácio de Mello e Souza, presidente da província, senador, e posteriormente, nobilitado como Barão do Pontal. O espaço geográfico recortado foi uma parcela da zona da Mata norte, mais precisamente, a região que inclui as cidades de Barra Longa, Viçosa e Ponte Nova.
