Os Estados Unidos como nação-modelo no Brasil oitocentista : o caso da instrução pública (1832-1888)

Abstract

This dissertation aims to investigate how the United States of America emerges as a model nation in the official discourse of the Empire of Brazil, through the analysis of the Ministerial Reports issued by the Secretary of State for Empire Business (Secretaria de Estado dos Negócios do Império) between 1832 and 1888, year in which the last Ministerial Report was presented to the Legislative General Assembly, a year before the Proclamation of the Republic which led to the adoption of the US federal system that marked the moment thereafter the country started to be called United States of Brazil. We based our analytical effort on the hypothesis that the representations of that country which can be found in the above-mentioned documents stem from a mythified image of the United States, which comes, for the most part, from the reading practices of Ministers as well as General Inspectors of Primary and Secondary Instruction.