From the restricted to unrrestricted. The Paraguay River recognition diary by Ricardo Franco de Almeida Serra in the Journal of the IHGB

Abstract

The mixed border demarcation commission, determined by the Treaty of San Ildefonso, followed the criteria defined by the Treaty being fundamental the explorations carried out in the Captaincy of Mato Grosso done by a team of engineers and astronomers, which included engineer Ricardo Franco de Almeida Serra (1748-1809). This article analyzes the context in which Ricardo Franco’s travel diary was produced -with confidential information for the Portuguese crown on the territory and with the cartographic descriptions- and the objective of its subsequent publication by the IHGB Journal, whose main goal was to reinforce the idea of nation for independent Brazil in the period prior to the War of the Triple Alliance, legitimizing through documents the domination of the western border territory, object of disputes with neighboring States.