Protestant Installation and Religious Freedom Through Education: The Origins of the Debate in 20th Century, Brazil. XIX

Abstract

This research sought to analyze the arrival of the first Protestant missionaries in Brazil in the 19th century. The scenario found was that of an officially Catholic Empire, without religious freedom, however, tolerant of other religions due to intense trade with the English and the necessary immigration to gradually replace slave labor. Due to social clashes with the ultramontanos, radical Jesuit clergy, the missionaries sought strategies that would facilitate the installation of their churches. Education, implemented in the founding of schools at various levels, was adopted under liberal ideas, soon supported by various sectors of Brazilian society at the time.