Entre lamentos e comemorações: o abolicionismo na imprensa maranhense (1887-1889)

Abstract

This paper aims to analyze the repercussion of the abolition in the newspaper Pacotilha, from 1887 to 1889. Expectations regarding the end of the captivity system generated many social yearnings. The work inserts, in this context, the comprehension of the abolition through the press, analyzing a city with a population contingent of literate and white minority, that were configured like part of the dominant classes of the province. With this, the first moment of this work analyzes the initial steps of the press in nineteenth century Brazil, observing its development. In the second moment, the relation between the press, citizenship and abolitionism is understood, where in this scenario the Maranhian press has served as a stage for several conflicts between slaveholders and abolitionists, making newspapers an important means of articulating their manifestations. Finally, we observe the social expectations manifested through the newspapers, evidencing the various articulated discourses regarding the slave system and the future of the enslaved under a new social perspective.