Elsa Dias

A Historical Transatlantic Political Tradition: the Case of Portugal and the United States Elsa Dias

This book examines the impact of American Revolutionary ideals, state formation, and constitution-making on Portugal during the 18th and 19th centuries. The transatlantic relationship between these two nation-states was important for the exchange of ideas to take place at various levels: commercial, scientific, and political. Personal relationships between Portuguese and Americans individuals proved to be rich and critical to the proliferation of political ideas between Portugal and the United States. In the 18th and 19th centuries, liberalism was prevalent amongst intellectuals on both sides of the Atlantic and it was the basis for political transformation. Even though Portugal had a censorship in the years of the American Revolution, liberal ideas and revolutionary ideas were readily available, thus aiding the Portuguese in their formulation of a liberalism that would fit their interests. The transatlantic flow of ideas on constitutionalism was critical for the Portuguese, because the American political developments served as a model in Portugal, both for the Liberal Revolution of 1820 and the Constitution on 1822.