Conflitos e noções de justiça: comunicação política, território e aparelho jurídico nos Campos dos Goytacazes (1786-1807)

Abstract

The present work aimed to analyze the discussions surrounding the legal apparatus, administration and territory of the district of Campos dos Goytacazes between the period from 1786 to 1807. Involving military passengers, councilors, and agents of the Crown, such as lord-lieutenant, ombudsmen, magistrate of the Relation, the political communications issued by different instances of power in the Portuguese empire contributed to the creation of the outside court, division of judicial offices and definitions of jurisdictional competencies in the Goitacá district in the early years of the 19th century. From this analysis it was possible to understand not only the demands presented by the interlocutors of the communication network of Campos dos Goytacazes x Rio de Janeiro x Lisbon, but how they were perceived and expressed through conceptions and categories around the role of justice, good government, administration, territory and control of people. In short, how the local settlers themselves and the perspectives of crown agents in this part of the conquest conditioned changes in the administration of the Goitacá district, contrary to a traditional vision of metropolitan imposition in the construction of legal spaces and territorial definitions.