When researching the topic of Brazil's independence from Portugal and the contexts surrounding its peaceful path to independence, you will find two historians in featured in the study; Kenneth Maxwell and Alan K. Manchester. Kenneth Maxwell is an expert on Portuguese and Brazilian history and currently writes a weekly column for the Brazilian newspaper Folha. Alan Manchester (1897-1983) was an expert on American history Latin and South American and was an authority on economic and political relations between Brazil and Great Britain. In February 1951, Manchester's article, “Recognition of Brazilian Independence,” was published in The Hispanic American Historical Review. Almost half a century later, in April 2000, Kenneth Maxwell gave a lecture at Harvard University entitled “Why was Brazil different? The contexts of independence”. Brazil became an independent nation. Although these historians have the same frame of reference, it is evident that historians' approach to the topic of Brazilian independence has changed significantly over the last fifty years. The reasons for comparing Manchester's and Maxwell's articles are the differences in their arguments for the main contributors and decisive factors involved in the struggle for Brazilian independence. Furthermore, the evidence these historians use to support their arguments has also changed. Time has also altered the questions historians ask about the contexts surrounding Brazil's independence from Portugal. Alan K. Manchester's article, "The Recognition of Brazilian Independence", contains a strong argument for a British pre-eminence in the struggle for Brazilian independence. .... half of the document ......drastically changes the way historians approach the topic of Brazilian independence, the questions they ask, and the evidence they use to support their arguments. Even if it is clear that in the last fifty years this has not been a revolutionary revelation, we can see the movement of historians from a purely Eurocentric vision on the contexts surrounding Brazilian independence and starting to question other factors and offer new points of view be considered. Works Cited Manchester, Alan K. "The Recognition of Brazilian Independence." The Hispanic American Historical Review 31, no. 1 (February 1951): 80-96.Maxwell, Kenneth. “Why was Brazil different? The contexts of independence”. Paper presented at the John Parry Memorial Lecture, Harvard University, April 25, 2000, http://www.drclas.harvard.edu/files/WasBrazilDifferent-TheContextsofIndependence_0.pdf (accessed October 2, 2011).