Antônio Carlos Ribeiro de Andrada Machado e Silva (1 November 1773 – 5 December 1845) was a Brazilian judge (juiz de fora), appellate judge (desembargador) and politician. At the time of Brazilian Independence, he often used the pseudonym "Philagiosetero" in his newspaper articles. He adopted the parliamentary name of "Andrada Machado".
A brother of José Bonifácio and Martim Francisco, he was known for the scathingness of his speech against despotism and for his involvement in the Pernambuco Revolt, in addition to his extensive involvement and role during the first Constituent Assembly of 1823 that was tasked with drafting Brazil's first constitution.
Biography
Early life and education
It is possible to say that, of the three Andrada brothers, José Bonifácio, Martim Francisco and Antônio Carlos, the latter received the least attention from modern historiography. While the stories of José Bonifácio and Martim Francisco are well documented, the life, career and trajectory of Antônio Carlos Ribeiro de Andrada Machado e Silva are quite nebulous.
Antônio Carlos was born in Santos in 1773, his parents were Maria Bárbara da Silva and Bonifácio José Ribeiro de Andrada. His father had the second largest fortune in Santos, being an employee of the Portuguese Crown and also a merchant. He received primary education from his own family, including his uncles who were priests, due to the lack of good quality primary schools in Santos. After that, he moved to São Paulo where he would attend classes in philosophy, grammar and rhetoric as a preparatory education for higher education.
Like other members of the colonial elite at the time, Antônio Carlos wanted to pursue a higher education. But taking into account that there were no university institutions in Brazil, he decided to travel to Portugal to then enroll and study at the University of Coimbra. His arrival in the metropolis coincided with "the period of opening to new ideas due to the initiatives of the Marquis of Pombal". He left Brazil in search of higher education in 1790 to then enroll in courses in Law and Natural Philosophy. It would be there that he would also end up joining the educated elites of Portugal who were also studying.
Antônio Carlos was one of the literate judges who came from the University of Coimbra to then be appointed to a position as a magistrate in Brazil. Upon finishing the course, individuals could request a reading that opened access to the career to compete for the "places of letters". Between the years 1750 and 1808, 3,882 of the bachelors applied for these positions, but only 2,165 passed. Among those who passed, 558 became juiz de fora; 43 ombudsmen and 31 desembargadores. Antônio Carlos was one of these judges.
Arco Cego Typography
While his brother José Bonifácio, after finishing his higher studies at the University of Coimbra, became a member of the Royal Academy of Sciences of Lisbon, which was a liaison center for the reformist ideas of the government of Maria I, Antônio Carlos did not succeed in becoming a member of the institution. He and his other brother, Martim Francisco, would later join the Arco Cego Typography, created by the Overseas Minister in 1799. The typography had as its main associate the naturalist and friar José Mariano da Conceição Veloso, who was immensely concerned with propagating practical and useful knowledge. Antônio Carlos stood out as one of the main translators of these works that offered useful knowledge, especially those dealing with agriculture and how to practice it in different nations and cultures. Translating and publishing these efforts was part of an effort to achieve the regeneration of the Portuguese Empire, by taking better advantage of its colonies.
Among the works translated by Antônio Carlos are: Cultura Americana (1799- vol. 2); Proposals for Forming by Subscription in the Metropolis of the British Empire a Public Institution (1799); Candid and impartial considerations on the nature of the sugar trade, and comparative importance of the British and French isles of the West Indies, in which value is established, and consequences of the islands of Santa Luzia, and Grenada (1800); and Treatise on the Improvement of Canal Navigation by Roberto Fulton (1800).
