THE NATIONAL GUARD AND THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CENTRAL AND LOCAL POWERS IN THE PROVINCE OF RIO GRANDE DO SUL IN THE 19TH CENTURY

The article aims at focusing the importance of the National Guard of the state of Rio Grande do Sul in the construction of the brazilian national State as an institution an articulator of the powers of the local to the center of power configured, in the mid 19th century, in Rio de Janeiro. For that, we discuss the main functions carried out by the militia in the Province, highlighting three spheres of activity: as police force in defense of internal order, such as military force in the wars in which the Empire of Brazil has been involved in the Region of Prata and, finally, as symbolic instrument at the service of the imperial State in nation-building