https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberal_rebellions_of_1842_%28Empire_of_Brazil%29
For my Wikipedia clean up, I propose I address the article titled “Liberal Rebellions of 1842” due to the importance of the topic and the clear substantive content gaps acknowledged by the article. This article concerns an uprising that occurred during Brazil’s period as an empire, where, in response to increasingly centralized conservative measures, liberals began to take to the streets to overthrow governments in a number of Brazilian states. Thus, this topic represents an important and significant part of Brazil’s history. Now this article does contain some basic information, but in my extremely limited research, I have found there is more to this topic than is covered in the Wikipedia articles that would contribute to the overall thoroughness of the article. While this may be a relatively small part of Brazil’s history, it still has importance in the greater political and social history of the country. Thus, improving this article would help make the rich history of Brazil much more accessible to the public. It also would help contextualize the political drama of modern Brazil and provide a fuller pictures of the country’s complex political history. One major part of this article that I would like to expand on it the effects and after effects section to show how this ultimately unsuccessful revolt affected Brazil at the time. I believe tackling this article will help us understand as small, but not insignificant part of Brazilian history. Furthermore, my background in political science makes me extremely interested in the politics of Brazil generally, and this represents a specific small way of understanding them.
I have found some reputable sources that address this topic. One such book is about the empire and republic of Brazil from 1822-1930 and contains some good information about the rebellion of 1842 that will add a great deal to the article. Another book that focuses more on the state of Pernambuco contains details of the rebellion that will positively contribute to the article. In my preliminary search I also found a journal article called “When Liberalism Goes Local: Nativism and Partisan Identity in the Sertão Mineiro, Brazil, 1831-1850,” which provides further small details about the rebellion. Now this article is not devoid of sources, but it largely relies on a few sources to make its claims. Thus, I would focus not only on expanding this article but also diversifying the sources to further legitimize the content of the article which will overall improve the article. Overall, I believe that this in an important topic to expand, and there exist enough sources to effectively expand the article.
Hi Jordan, I found this topic intriguing as I have never heard of these rebellions. Perhaps you should also consider who led these rebellions, as I saw you said it was by liberals but was it just the liberal elite? Also, where in Brazil did these rebellions take place? Overall, it seems like you have a good plan of action!
This article is of particularly great interest to me, because the event it describes is an attempt at radical political change well before the abolition of slavery in Brazil – let alone the end of the Brazilian Empire and monarchy. Additionally, it should reveal the various forces and tensions at work that might have facilitated the popularization of liberalism in the country and similar regions. This information would also potentially indicate which non-state interests actively opposed liberalization, and why.