Abstract
Constitutions are the law of the land, the legal document that sets the framework for political life, defining the structure of a society. Under this construction, the current scholarship has debated how to explain the seeming paradox between the Brazilian Constitution of 1824, with its liberal framework and inalienable rights of the citizen, in contrast to Brazil’s sustained a colossal slavery system during the period. This article argues that this contradiction is apparent only should the concept of constitution encompasses not only the text but also the context underlying sociopolitical reality: legal text and cultural context merge to form the integral constitution, which regulates life in a society and reveals the full character of the social pact at the time of the interpretation.