Concerns with Brazilian national identity as part of a political strategy have been evident in the work of intellectuals since the nineteenth century. With Brazil's independence in 1822 and mounting external pressure in the 1830s to end the transatlantic trade of African slaves, a preoccupation with the labour force would run side by side with concern about the construction of a national identity, including national culture and the ethnic composition of society (Schwarcz, 1998). Part of that effort was to promote a national image that would differentiate the new independent country from its colonizer, while placing emphasis on the youth and strength of its people, and projecting an image of modernity.  
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[^0]:    6 While a number of studies on Brazilian social and cultural history remain unpublished, one can highlight a few publications in this field. See, for example, Azevedo (1987), Chalhoub (1986, 1990 and 1996), Silva (1997 and 2003), Moura (1995), Castro (1993), Gorender (2000), and Schwarcz (1993).
7 Afro-Brazilian intellectuals having contributed to this movement include Clóvis Moura, Marcelo Paixão, Joel Rufino dos Santos, Flávio Gomes, Olívia Gomes da Cunha, Caetana Maria Damasceno, Abdias Nascimento, Lélia Gonzales and Jurema Werneck.