Abstract

CAMPOS, Gabriel Afonso. Reserve power in constant’s work and in the Constitution of 1824: death penalty and its commutation and pardon among Brazilian slaves in the 19th century. Estud. filos. práct. hist. ideas [online]. 2019, vol.21, n.2, pp.1-19. ISSN 1851-9490.

The work aims to counteract the political action of the Emperor of Brazil, Pedro II, in commuting and pardoning slave sentences, and the political work of the French Benjamin Constant. Through the analysis of the criminal laws concerning Brazilian slaves and of the constantian writings on the exercise of the prerogative of grace, the study concludes that the Brazilian reserve power did not act according to what had been theorized by Constant.

Keywords : Benjamin Constant; Reserve power; Slavery; Pardon.