“Time Acceleration” in the 19th Century in Desterro (SC): From Provincial Capital to State Capital

Abstract

The article looks at some changes observed in the capital of Santa Catarina from the Independence of Brazil to the immediate post-Proclamation of the Republic. Based on bibliographic and documentary research, it focuses on the transformation of the local space in a path that evokes the idea of “acceleration of time”, the meaning of which is presented in the first section. Next the article addresses, for a space then sparsely occupied, changes promoted by public initiatives about urban infrastructure, built space, education and culture, and also concerning the challenging problems of terrestrial communications. Indications about Santa Catarina's involvement in the participation of Brazil in the universal exhibitions held in Europe and the United States, as much as about the dramatic consequences in Santa Catarina of the political problems witnessed in the beginning of the Brazilian republican regime, expand the approach in terms of “acceleration of time”.