Os “homens” da administração e da justiça no Império: eleição e perfil social dos juízes de paz em Mariana, 1827-1841

Abstract

The Judge of peace represented the major new paradigm instauration of political and social organization that raised the most learned and liberal innovations of the European legal system to suit a wide tradition and institutionalization in the first instance. Established in Brazil in the 1824 Constitution and regulated in 1827, the Judge of peace, despite the broad functions denoted his position and be a milestone in the development of administration and justice in Brazil, it is little visited theme in the historiography Brazil. This research aims to investigate the individuals elected to justice of the peace in the vast city of Mariana, in the province of Minas Gerais, between 1829-1841. The purpose was addressing the inauguration of this institution as yet unknown, and examine the local elections that elected the men and the functions performed by them. Furthermore, and in parallel, we tried to trace the profile and social integration of those men who, in addition to justices of the peace, made up as economically diverse mining company in the first half of the nineteenth century.