This work analyses the impact of the publications written by the economist, jurist, administrator and historian José da Silva Lisboa, the future Viscount of Cairu, from 1821 to 1822, on the events that led to the Independence of Brazil in 1822. It reassesses the many interpretations of his role throughout the period, repositioning him among those who are part of the broad reformist Catholic Enlightenment. Although a supporter of Brazilian autonomy, a fierce critic of the Cortes of Lisbon and an important figure in the events that unfolded after the departure of Dom João VI from Rio de Janeiro in 1821, he would not openly embrace the Independence from the United Kingdom with Portugal and would instead work towards a solution that would encompass Brazil’s autonomy within a Portuguese Empire, which did not take place.

This work analyses the impact of the publications written by the economist, jurist, administrator and historian José da Silva Lisboa, the future Viscount of Cairu, from 1821 to 1822, on the events that led to the Independence of Brazil in 1822. It reassesses the many interpretations of his role throughout the period, repositioning him among those who are part of the broad reformist Catholic Enlightenment. Although a supporter of Brazilian autonomy, a fierce critic of the Cortes of Lisbon and an important figure in the events that unfolded after the departure of Dom João VI from Rio de Janeiro in 1821, he would not openly embrace the Independence from the United Kingdom with Portugal and would instead work towards a solution that would encompass Brazil’s autonomy within a Portuguese Empire, which did not take place.