Opulent and good lineage people: family, politics and power relations in Paraíba (1817-1824)

Result of the doctoral thesis in History presented by Serioja Mariano to the Federal University of Pernambuco in 2005, the main objective of this book is to study the performance of Paraíba in the period from 1817 to 1824, analyzing family networks and the insertion of these groups in Paraíba politics, notably in the movements of political contestation. It was such families that, through their alliances and strategies, remained in power, politically and economically, in unleashing and repressing insurrectionary movements, mainly in the countryside villages. These family networks survived persecution after the end of these insurrections and the transformations of society, thus revealing their high degree of sophistication as the practice of a given political culture. Understanding Paraíba's participation and its specificities in Brazil's autonomy process is an integral part of this work.
In this perspective, the movements of 1817 and 1824 are analyzed, as well as the administration of the Governmental Boards and the participation of the Paraíba deputies in the General Constituent Assembly, considering that very little has been written about such an important and complex period in the history of Paraíba. Based on the consultation of significant documentation, the work concludes that family ties and their strategies were fundamental in the defense of "local homelands" and served as a basis for local political organization in the post-insurrection period.