O "Exército Libertador" sob as lentes do jornal O Conciliador: representações da imprensa maranhense sobre as forças expedicionárias no contexto da Independência no Maranhão (1823)

Abstract

This research analyzes the representations constructed by the newspaper *O Conciliador do Maranhão* (1823) regarding the so-called "Liberating Army" during the process of Independence in Maranhão. The study investigates how the periodical—aligned with the Portuguese constitutional project and linked to the province's political elites—employed rhetorical strategies to discredit ground forces composed of *sertanejos* (backwoodsmen), soldiers, volunteers, people from Piauí and Ceará, and armed popular groups. The work engages with debates concerning the press, Independence, political culture, and discourse analysis, utilizing the newspaper *O Conciliador* itself as a primary source and drawing upon "history from below" approaches. *O Conciliador* resorted to a vocabulary of criminalization, barbarism, and disorder to portray the Liberating Army as a moral and political threat, while reinforcing the legitimacy of the Luso-Brazilian order in a context where Maranhão was late to join the Brazilian Empire (on July 28, 1823). The newspaper served as an instrument of political pedagogy for provincial elites, contributing to the consolidation of an official memory of the Independence struggles in the territories of Piauí and Maranhão—one that downplays the role of the common people and privileges narratives of stability, civilization, and authority associated with Portuguese forces.