To understand the politics of the Brazilian Empire, one must understand the Conselho de Estado. This task has been made easier with the publication of the Atas do Conselho. The document collection is a necessary acquisition for libraries and for serious scholars of the empire.
The Conselho functioned to advise the emperor in the use of his Moderating Power. The emperor picked the twelve life-term members who together constituted an intimate, personal cabinet which in theory could not initiate legislation but which in practice came close. The council debated key policy and legislative issues and conveyed their opinions to the emperor who often passed them along directly to the Senate and Chamber of Deputies.
In his introductory volume, general editor José Honório Rodrigues describes the Conselho as a special “fifth branch” of the government and chronicles its three separate incarnations under the empire (1822-1823, 1823-1834, and 1842-1889). The council first served regent Dom Pedro during the transition to independence; reinstated, it then assisted Dom Pedro (now Emperor Dom Pedro I) and was eventually abolished by the Additional Act in 1834; reconstituted a second time, the council operated throughout most of Dom Pedro II’s reign.
The twelve volumes of Atas do Conselho include an individual preface by editor Rodrigues and his able collaborators, Pedro Calmon, Arthur Cézar Ferreira Reis, Francisco Iglésias, Barbosa Lima Sobrinho, Raimundo Magalhães Júnior, Herculano Gomes Mathias, and José Antônio Soares de Souza. The thirteenth volume is an index of subjects and names. Without access to the manuscripts we must assume that the editing has been faithful to the originals.
