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From the mid-nineteenth century, a constantly increasing number of Portuguese settlers started to disembark, but on land they found this already well-established and, if not cultivated, at least literate local bourgeoisie: Portuguese speaking, mixed race, Catholic, cosmopolitan, and also composed of mulatto and black people. Adelino Torres refers to the existence of an authentic colonial bourgeoisie mainly based in Luanda and Benguela, which embraced a class of proprietors employing servile or indentured manpower and possessing assets, material values, capital, prestige, and influence in the colony, regardless of any possible interest or possession held in Portugal or Brazil, and of the ethnic group to which they belonged.
Other than the coffee-plantation owners, clearly an elite among the colonists, the Portuguese settlers were poor, unskilled, uneducated, and, on the whole, they failed to succeed as agriculturists. Unable to compete with Africans and without resources, they moved to the cities and survived as best they could by doing menial jobs. Their presence invariably led to an atmosphere of racism and petty discrimination that affected both Africans and Euro-Africans, who, of course, did not remain silent.
The Press Revolution
The tumultuous period of the Portuguese civil wars (1820–1834) led the metropolis to bankruptcy. At the end of the conflict, the economy was sluggish, unemployment was high, but the formation of a new cabinet coincided with the spreading of a sort of liberal spirit: in 1836 a law passed by Sá da Bandeira extended to the Portuguese overseas possessions the right to print publications that could diffuse essential legal, commercial, and general information to the residents of the colony.
The first rudimentary newspapers turned out to be the main vehicle for local literary proclivities: Luanda and Benguela rapidly became centres of lively cultural, social, and political activity, hosting debates in which the ideals of the French revolution were openly supported and developing an advancing will to achieve political autonomy.