Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: In the early decades of the 19th century, the use of the terms “federation” and “confederation,” as well as their cognates, was indistinct or even synonymous in the philosophical political discourse of Europe, the United States, and Latin America. Frei Caneca’s work did not deviate from this usage. The essential distinguishing feature between federations and confederations is that, in the latter type of arrangement, their components do not lose their sovereignty and, ultimately, retain the right to withdraw. Taking this premise into account, Frei Caneca did not advocate that Brazil should become a confederative arrangement before or after the outbreak of the so-called Confederation of Ecuador. One cannot extract from his work the defense of a right of withdrawal of the provinces in order to legitimize their supposed right to secession. The fact that in 1824 the idea that the Brazilian State was not yet duly constituted or internationally recognized corroborates this conclusion. Considering the intellectual relevance of Caneca's role in the events of 1824 in Pernambuco and neighboring provinces, one must question whether the term “Confederation of Ecuador” is adequate to describe them.
Author: George Rodrigo Bandeira Galindo
Institution: Universidade de Brasília
Language: English
Subfield: History
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W7169045067