ABSTRACT
This paper aims to do a first approach to a set of publications of the Royal Press (Impressão Régia) of Rio de Janeiro between 1808 and 1822, which sought to highlight the measures taken by the Portuguese Crown, then established in that city, in order to promote the political integration of the different regions emerged from the Portuguese colonization process of America. These publications are discussed in the context of their importance to implement the project of a new Portuguese Empire in America, born of the enlightened reforms of the existing empire. The goal is to draw attention to the political role played by the press in support of and to legitimate this political project, highlighting the intrinsic relationship between culture and power in the Portuguese enlightened reformism.
Keywords:
press; Portuguese Empire; civilization; hinterlands; colonization